Immigration backlog a major challenge

Image by mostlyconservative via Flickr

BY CATHERINE SOLYOM, THE GAZETTE JULY 23, 2011

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MONTREAL - Canada could soon stop accepting applications for immigration in an attempt to clear the backlog of more than a million people currently awaiting processing around the world, Federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said Friday.

In Montreal to hold consultations on how many immigrants should be accepted into Canada per year - and just as importantly what kind of immigrants - Kenney told an audience at the Armenian Community Centre that clearing the huge backlog is one of the main challenges faced by his department as it plans for the years ahead.

"There's an unlimited number of people who want to come to Canada," Kenney said, adding that about 254,000 would be accepted this year, down from 281,000 in 2010.

"We used to have hundreds of thousands of applications more than we could process, and it's stupid and unfair to make people wait seven, eight, nine years for their application to be even looked at. That's the rationale for limiting the number of new applications."

Two years ago, Parliament modified immigration laws to give the minister the authority to place a cap on applications, and this year Kenney has so far chosen to limit the number accepted in the Federal Skilled Worker program, for example, to 10,000. He emphasized, however, that Canada would still be accepting 65,000 skilled workers into the country, most of them chosen out of the backlog of applications.

It remains to be seen which other categories may be capped, and at what level.

Stakeholder consultations across the country on the right "mix" or "balance" of immigrants for Canada began two weeks ago, with employers' associations, immigration lawyers, refugee advocates and other interested parties. Friday's session

in Montreal was postponed until October, however. Public consultations will be held online starting in August.

Apart from dealing with the backlog, Kenney said he is looking for solutions on how to deal with an impending labour shortage as the population ages, without overburdening Canada's housing, health care and education systems with too many newcomers.

Janet Dench of the Canadian Council for Refugees worries the minister will place too much emphasis on economic immigrants at the expense of refugees.

More than 35,000 refugees - government-assisted and privately sponsored - are already on the waiting list to come to Canada, and the numbers, especially in Africa, are growing day by day.

Kenney said he has recently added resources to deal with the huge backlog at the Nairobi mission, which serves 18 countries in East Africa, most of them in conflict, and now also struck by famine.

But he also put a cap on the number of privately sponsored refugee applications out of the Nairobi office, Dench said.

csolyom@montrealgazette.com

Read more:http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Immigration+backlog+major+challenge/5148208/story.html#ixzz1Sy3A8u3q

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Bill C-35

Image via WikipediaSome applicants may choose to use such a representative to act on their behalf with Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), the Immigration and Refugee Board or the Canada Border Services Agency.  There are two types of immigration representatives: paid and unpaid.  Paid immigration representatives  Only the following people may charge a fee or receive any other type of consideration, to represent or advise you in connection with a Canadian immigration proceeding or application:  lawyers and paralegals who are members in good standing of a Canadian provincial or territorial law society Notaries who are members in good standing of the Chambre des notaires du Québec, and Immigration consultants who are members in good standing of the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council The Government of Canada will not deal with non-authorized immigration representatives who charge for their services.  NEW: Other people who offer paid immigration advice  With the coming into force of Bill C-35, anyone who provides paid advice prior to the filing of an application or the commencement of a proceeding will need to be an authorized representative. This means that some third parties who were not formerly required to be recognized to provide paid advice will now have to refer people to an authorized representative or become authorized themselves. Some examples of paid advice or representation that will now be captured through the implementation of Bill C-35 include:  representing the applicant during an immigration proceeding by speaking on their behalf. providing guidance to a client on how to select the best immigration stream and complete the appropriate forms. Unpaid immigration third parties  Unpaid third parties, such as family members, friends, non-governmental or religious organizations will still be allowed to act on your behalf.  To protect your privacy, CIC will not share any of your personal information with your consultant, lawyer, and other representative unless you provide your written consent using the Use of a Representative (IMM 5476) form.  Other people who offer immigration advice or assistance  People who provide immigration-related advice or assistance for a fee before the application is filed are not obliged to be authorized consultants. However, be aware that non-authorized consultants, lawyers, and other representatives or advisors are not regulated. This means that they may not have adequate knowledge or training. It also means that you cannot seek help from the professional bodies (that is, the law societies, ICCRC, etc.) if that person provides you with the wrong advice or behaves in an unprofessional way.

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Manitoba population booms

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Manitoba’s population is continuing to balloon, new figures show.

According to Statistic Canada, as of April 1, it grew by just over 16,000 people in the last 12 months to reach about 1.25 million. This growth of 1.31 per cent is the biggest growth in the past 40 years.

It’s the third-highest growth rate among all Canadian provinces and well above the national rate of 1.06 per cent.

In the last 10 years, the population rose by 96,700 people, more than twice the growth of the previous ten year period.

"This is equivalent to welcoming another Brandon, Thompson, Portage la Prairie, Steinbach, and Winkler to our province," said Peter Bjornson, the entrepreneurship, training and trade minister.

Statistics Canada estimates that Manitoba received 15,707 new immigrants between April 2010 and April 2011. And there were 16,214 newborns in the province during that period.

Bjorn accredited the Provincial Nominee Program for 75 per cent of all immigration to Manitoba. The program encourages skilled workers from abroad to apply for permanent residency.

Provincial Nominee Program a success, admission to increase five folds, says Kenney

Source: Canadianimmigrant.ca

Minister Jason Kenney speaks to meida on the success of provincial nominee program after public consultations in Toronto, July 20.

Provinces and territories are on track this year to welcome a record number of immigrants selected under their own nominee programs, says Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney.

“Our government recognizes the importance of nominee programs in spreading out the benefits of immigration around the country,” he said addressing the Vancouver Board of Trade, recently. “That is why we plan to admit about 40,000 immigrants in the provincial nominee category in 2011, five times more than the 8,000 welcomed in 2005. The previous high was 36,428 provincial nominees in 2010.”

Provincial nominee programs are being discussed as part of this month’s cross-Canada consultations on immigration levels and mix.

In addition, a comprehensive evaluation of the provincial nominee programs is underway, the ministry says. “With the knowledge gained through each of these processes, CIC will be able to work with provincial and territorial partners on a longer-term approach to levels planning.”

Traditionally, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver have attracted a disproportionate share of skilled immigrants coming to Canada, a press release said, however noting that the top three provinces for provincial nominees are Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan. Thanks in large part to the provincial or territorial nominee programs, 26 per cent of economic immigrants accepted as permanent residents of Canada are now destined for provinces or territories other than Ontario, British Columbia or Quebec, compared to just 11 per cent in 1997.

“We understand the desire of provinces and territories to identify their own economic immigrants and that is why we have continued to increase our projected admissions for nominees each year,” noted Minister Kenney. “At the same time, we are committed to working with our provincial and territorial counterparts to continue to improve the program design, integrity, selection standards and management of the nominee programs.”

Through PNP, applications are processed within 12 months on average.

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Crime rate falls to lowest level since 1973

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Canada's crime rate is the lowest in nearly 40 years, according to Statistics Canada, as the volume of crime dropped five per cent in 2010 from the year before.

"The national crime rate has been falling steadily for the past 20 years and is now at its lowest level since 1973," Statistics Canada reported.

The agency said that Canadian police services reported nearly 2.1 million Criminal Code incidents in 2010, about 77,000 fewer than in 2009. The police-reported crime rate measures the overall volume of crime.

The Crime Severity Index, which measures the severity of crime, also fell six per cent and reached its lowest point (82.7) since 1998.

Police reported just over 437,000 violent incidents in 2010, about 7,200 fewer than in the previous year.

Fewer homicides

Homicides dropped by 10 per cent from 2009 to 2010 with the national rate of 1.62 homicides per 100,000 population the lowest since 1966. This decline was led by the decrease in British Columbia's homicide rate.

Attempted murders were also down from 2009, as were break-ins, motor vehicle theft, serious assaults, robbery and impaired driving.

But police reported an increase in sexual assaults, firearm-related offences, child pornography and drug offences.

Other findings:

• Alberta and British Columbia reported the largest declines in crime in 2010, with the crime rate falling by six per cent in both provinces.
• Nunavut and the Northwest Territories continued to report the highest Crime Severity Index values. Among the provinces, Saskatchewan reported the highest Crime Severity Index, followed by Manitoba and British Columbia. The lowest Crime Severity Index values were seen in Ontario, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick.
• St. John's had the largest increase in crime severity
• Regina reported the highest Crime Severity Index, followed by Saskatoon and Winnipeg.

Tough-on-crime agenda questioned

Simon Fraser University criminologist Neil Boyd said the figures undermine the federal Conservative's tough-on-crime agenda.

"They want to spend billions of dollars building prisons, saying that there is a real problem with crime. The truth of the matter, through police reported data and victimization surveys, is that crime is down — not up," said Boyd.

"Spending billions of dollars on prisons isn't going to make our communities any more safe," he said.

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