Why immigration limits hurt Canada’s mid-sized cities

VANCOUVER, CANADA - MAY 28: Vancouver Whitecaps fans look on during the MLS game between the Vancouver Whitecaps FC and the New York Red Bulls May 28, 2011 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Vancouver and New York tied 1-1. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

DAVID CAMPBELL

The Globe and Mail

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney recently tweeted the following: “In 2013 we’ll keep immigration levels at ~250,000. The NDP says we should increase immigration by 40 per cent to at least 350,000.What do you think?” He went on to further tweet that 90 per cent of Canadians oppose higher immigration levels.

I wonder if those 90 per cent of Canadians understand just how important immigrants are to population growth across Canada – particularly in the country’s growing mid-sized urban centres?

Historically, the vast majority of immigration into Canada has clustered in the Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) as well as some of the smaller urban centres surrounding Toronto and Vancouver.

In recent years, however, there has been a substantial increase in the annual immigrant levels in mid-sized urban centres that historically relied on inter-provincial migration and natural increases for most of their population gains.

Statistics Canada data estimating the components of annual population growth shows the relative share of immigrant population has been shifting away from Toronto and Vancouver. Between 2002 and 2006, the Toronto CMA attracted 206 immigrants per year for every 10,000 in the overall population. From 2007 to 2011, the average annual immigrant level (per 10,000 population) dropped by 19 per cent to 159 per 10,000. The Vancouver CMA witnessed a 16 per cent decline.

Toronto and Vancouver still attract the most immigrants – by a fairly wide margin – but their share of the total is waning.

Contrast this trend with some of Canada’s fast growing mid-sized urban centres. The Moncton CMA only attracted 8.8 immigrants per 10,000 population on average between 1997 and 2001. Between 2007 and 2011, the average annual number of immigrants had increased to 37.5 per 10,000 population – a 324 per cent increase compared to the 2002-2006 timeframe. As a reward for this boost in foreign-born population, Mr. Kenny closed the local Citizenship and Immigration Canada office in Moncton.

It’s not just Moncton. Using the same time frames for comparison, Saskatoon has witnessed an average annual immigrant per 10,000 population growth rate of 188 per cent. Regina is up 206 per cent. Saint John immigration is up 165 per cent. Trois-Rivières’ relative share of immigrants is also up strongly. While not CMAs, Charlottetown and Fredericton have among the fastest growing immigrant populations in Canada.

During the 2010/2011 year the immigrant population in Canada’s CMAs alone was estimated to have increased by nearly 240,000.

I am told that the Ontario government wants to revert back to the immigration levels it saw back in the early to mid-2000s to boost both its economy and population. The CMAs of Toronto, Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo, Windsor, Ottawa-Gatineau, Hamilton, Guelph, Kingston, St. Catharines-Niagara, Oshawa, Brantford and Peterborough all witnessed relative declines in their share of new immigrants to Canada in recent years. If Ontario increases its share of newcomers, the rest of the country’s urban centres will suffer.

If the federal government sticks to its guns and holds down immigration levels, the losers could very well be Canada’s mid-sized urban centres – the very communities that have been increasingly relying on immigration to foster population growth and supply labour markets.

One reasons why Mr. Kenny is retrenching on immigration levels is to force chronic users of Employment Insurance back into the year round labour market. But this is a risky gambit. Immigrants are being attracted to cities such as Moncton and Regina because of job opportunities that are not being filled – for whatever reason – by the local population. In addition, most of the chronic use of EI is in rural regions and not the growing urban centres.

While it is appropriate for government and industry to work together to address the skills gaps in the work force, choking off immigration with the expectation that those jobs will be filled by current residents could end up causing more harm than good. There is already some anecdotal evidence in New Brunswick that businesses are losing immigrant workers because of the EI reforms.

Mr. Kenny wants to cap immigration at 250,000 per year. I’m not sure he can achieve that level, keep Ontario happy and assure a steady supply of new immigrants to Canada’s fast growing mid-sized urban centres.

If his immigration cap stifles population growth, the 90 per cent may well end up regretting their position.

David Campbell is the president of Jupia Consultants Inc., an economic development consulting firm based in Moncton, N.B. He is a research fellow with the Canadian Institute for Research on Public Policy and Public Administration at the Université de Moncton. He also authors a daily blog on economic issues in Atlantic Canada, which can be found atwww.davidwcampbell.com.

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Open Letter to Canadian Colleges/Universities and Educational Institutions who use International Recruiters to bring Students to Canada

English: Passport Stamp issued by Immigration Canada at Toronto Lester B. Pearson Airport. Category:Passport stamps of Canada (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We are asking Canadian educational institutions to protect international students by encouraging their recruiters to operate within Canadian laws.

As the official body that oversees the regulation of immigration consultants for any immigration matter to Canada, we would encourage all Canadian institutions to be cautious of the type of practices their agents are engaged in.

It has come to our attention that foreign students are often victim of abuse and improper advice. Either they are being coerced into purchasing airline tickets at a higher fee, or they are threatened and intimidated by agents, especially when the students ask for a refund when applications are refused.

At the same time, some schools refuse to accept new students from Authorized Representatives, referring them to Educational Agents who do not follow Canadian law when it comes to providing immigration advice and services. It does not matter whether they are paid for this advice by the student, because they are compensated by the schools for their work, and are covered under the Act and Regulations.

We would like to raise awareness about this issue in light of new Canadian immigration laws that prohibit such kind of activity from unauthorized representatives. According to Immigration Processing Manuals from CIC (IP 9 Section 5.4 “Other Stakeholders”)

Educational agents abroad 

Educational agents, who are often engaged by Canadian educational institutions to assist their foreign students, typically charge a fee for their services up to and including sending a signed study permit application to the Canadian embassy. 

Under the Regulations, such agents must be authorized representatives if they provide immigration advice or representation to their clients, even if these activities occur prior to the submission of the application.

Similarly, agents who wish to represent students on immigration matters after their student applications have been submitted need to be authorized representatives.

ICCRC's mandate is to fairly and effectively regulate immigration consultants with accountability and transparency, to protect the public interest, to maintain a public list of registered/regulated consultants and to administer a stringent complaint and discipline process to crack down on unauthorized providers of immigration services.

For Further Information Please Contact: info@iccrc-crcic.ca

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Moving to a Fast, Flexible Just-in-Time Immigration System

Cic ipn 1 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Toronto, November 2, 2012 — Today, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney announced that by the end of 2013, Canada’s immigration system will be transformed from one that was plagued by backlogs into one that is fast, flexible, and responsive to the labour market.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) announced today it will admit up to 55,300 persons in the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) category in 2013. Combined with previous actions taken to manage the backlog, this means by the end of 2013 we will be able to process new applications as they are received – a “just in time” system – and aim to process them in less than a year, instead of up to eight years under the old FSWprogram. In addition, CIC expects to clear the FSW applications received to date by the end of 2014, three years earlier than originally expected.

This will allow for the introduction of an Expression of Interest (EOI) system to be put in place for FSW and possibly other economic immigration streams. CIC is moving to a just-in-time system that recruits people with the right skills to meet Canada’s labour market needs, fast tracks their applications, and gets them working in a period of months, instead of years.

“The Government’s number one priority remains the economy and job growth,” said Minister Kenney. “Immigration backlogs are detrimental to our ability to attract the world’s top talent. With the decisive actions we’ve taken to tackle the backlog, we will finally be able to select immigrants who better meet the needs of the Canadian labour market. We will aim to process their applications in less than 12 months.”

The volume of FSW applications has been a longstanding dilemma, since the number of applications received inevitably exceeded the space available within the Immigration Levels Plan each year. As a result, wait times in the FSW program were as high as eight years.

Over the past few years, CIC has taken concrete measures to tackle this problem, including the following:

• Under the 2008 Action Plan for Faster Immigration, CIC began to limit FSWapplication intake to priority occupations.
• In 2010, the Department added caps to the number of new applications.
• In June 2012, the Jobs, Growth and Long-Term Prosperity Act eliminated most of the remaining FSW applications received before February 27, 2008.
• In July 2012, CIC issued a temporary pause on new FSW applications, excluding candidates with a qualifying job offer or those applying under the PhD stream.

Taken together, these efforts have dramatically reduced the total number of people waiting in the FSW backlog from a height of 640,000 people in 2008 to approximately 100,000 today, even with new applications received since the 2008 Action Plan.

“By tackling the backlog to make way for a faster, more flexible just-in-time immigration system, newcomers to Canada will be able to fully participate in the economy more quickly,” said Minister Kenney. “Immigration plays a vital role in our country’s long-term prosperity. By improving our economic immigration system, we can ensure that Canada is competitive on the world stage.”

In 2013, CIC plans to admit between 53,500 to 55,300 Federal Skilled Workers, including their spouses and dependants. CIC intends to lift the current pause on FSW applications in 2013, when the new selection criteria are expected to take effect. The final regulatory changes will be available in the Canada Gazette later this year.

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Canada's skilled immigrants backlog to be eliminated soon

Canada's Conservative government says a backlog of skilled immigrant applications, which has clogged the system for years, is declining rapidly and will be eliminated by the end of next year.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says about 100,000 applications are still in the system, down from 640,000 just a few years ago.

Kenney told a news conference that the eradication of the wait list means a new immigrant labour pool from which employers and provinces can choose will be established ahead of schedule.

The backlog was culled by a measure in last spring's contentious omnibus bill, which threw out 280,000 applications filed prior to 2008, a controversial move that saw the federal government refund $130 million in application fees.

Without flushing the system, it was estimated the backlog wouldn't be cleared until 2017, but the decision is being challenged in court by lawyers who plan to launch a class-action lawsuit on behalf of people whose applications were expelled.

Kenney says that by the end of 2013, the government will be able to process skilled immigrant applications within a year, rather than eight years, which had become the norm.

He says the reforms are "finally unshackling Canada from the outrageous backlogs and wait times of the past," and will bring people who are likely to find and keep good jobs into the country.

"The system had become totally dysfunctional. It was broken, and it was getting worse," Kenney said. "Strong action was necessary."

The Conservatives in 2008 imposed limits on the number of skilled immigrant applications they would accept, and with that action alone, Kenney says, the backlog was sliced in half.

Kenney has also announced that Canada plans to admit between 53,500 and 55,300 new Canadians in 2013 under the revamped federal skilled worker program, which will be geared more toward accepting young people.

Overall immigration targets will remain frozen at between 240,000 and 265,000.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2012/11/02/pol-kenney-backlog-skilled-workers.html

New immigration rules could ease Alberta labour crunch

BY JASON VAN RASSEL, CALGARY HERALD

An opportunity to do advanced research in biomedical engineering lured PhD student Pierre Wijdenes to Calgary from France two months ago.
Wijdenes, 24, isn’t sure if he’ll remain in Canada when he finishes his research and his student visa expires, but a federal announcement on Wednesday has cleared the way for a greater number of highly skilled foreigners like him to stay as permanent residents if they want.
Wijdenes grew to appreciate Canada’s cultural diversity and Calgary’s proximity to the mountains during a prior internship in the city, and those things may yet play a role in getting him to settle here.
“The economic situation in Europe is quite bad,” said Wijdenes, whose research at the University of Calgary focuses on neurological implants that could help rehabilitate stroke patients or restore sight to the blind.
“There are much more opportunities here.”
With many sectors in Alberta continuing to grapple with workforce shortages, one labour market watcher welcomed measures designed to make it easier for employers to recruit and retain skilled people.
“It provides confidence for businesses and reduces their administrative burden,” said Ben Brunnen, chief economist at the Calgary Chamber of Commerce.
Federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced in Ottawa that the government is increasing the number of international students and skilled foreign workers who will be eligible to stay in Canada permanently.
The overall level of immigration will remain unchanged for the sixth year in a row, but the federal government is tweaking the makeup of newcomers who will be granted permanent residency.
Kenney announced Canada would admit between 240,000 and 265,000 newcomers in 2013, a target that’s gone unchanged since 2006.
However, there will be a significant change in the number of foreigners admitted in what’s called the Canadian Experience Class: a stream that fast-tracks highly-skilled immigrants who have prior experience studying or working in Canada.
The government intends to admit 10,000 permanent residents in that category in 2013, a dramatic increase from about 7,000 admitted in the Canada Experience Class in 2012 and significantly higher than the 2,500 admissions in 2009.
“They will complete their studies with degrees or diplomas that will be recognized by employers, they will have perfected or improved their English or French language skills and it will be very easy for them to find successful employment in Canada. Many of these young people will represent, we hope, the future of Canada’s large and generous immigration program,” Kenney told reporters in Ottawa.
Expanding the Canada Experience Class isn’t a cure-all, but Brunnen said it will make a difference.
“It helps employers keep the immigrants they’re attracting to Canada and it adds predictability from a workforce planning perspective,” he said.
Chamber of Commerce members have ranked labour shortages as one of their top concerns, said Brunnen, with the service industry being one of the most dependent on temporary foreign workers.

Brunnen noted the Canada Experience Class doesn’t cover the lower-skilled jobs typically needed in the service industry, but Brunnen said there are still many sectors that stand to benefit.
“We’d like to see (the government) expand it in the foreseeable future,” he said.
The Canadian Association of Petroluem Producers has predicted the industry will spend approximately $55 billion on capital projects this year, making it particularly hungry for skilled tradespeople.
A Calgary company that manufactures steel tanks and structures for the petrochemical industry said it has formed close bonds with institutions like SAIT, so it can hire locally trained workers, but it must also look abroad to meet its needs.
“We really support the trades and we want to build it in Canada for the future, but the reality is, that takes time,” said Tom McCaffery, general manager of Plains Fabrication and Supply.
Companies invest money training foreign workers, who in turn often make personal sacrifices in pursuit of employment in Canada.
Increasing the opportunities for temporary foreign workers to stay in Canada is a good way of rewarding employers and employees for taking those risks, said McCaffery.
“It means our money is well spent and we’ve invested in someone for ourselves and for the country,” he said.

With files from Tobi Cohen, Postmedia News
jvanrassel@calgaryherald.com
Twitter:@JasonvanRassel

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