By Stefania Seccia, Canwest News ServiceMarch 22, 2010 1:02 PM
TOFINO — Wealthy investors from Iran toured Tofino Sunday looking for potential financial prospects that may help them immigrate to Canada, according to Tofino-Long Beach Chamber of Commerce president Ram Tumuluri.
B.C. has the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) that opens the doors for both business investors and skilled workers to immigrate to Canada. "If a foreigner invests a minimum of $200,000 in B.C. they are considered for permanent residency," Tumuluri said. "It could be more, but it's a minimum of $200,000 to qualify."
There were about 15 members of an Iranian family touring and each had a net worth of approximately three million CAD, Tumuluri added. The family wants to escape its country's current struggle and move to a more peaceful nation, he explained.
"It helps the Canadian economy," he said. "It's the right approach and the right program." Larger cities tend to get a lot more attention from foreign investors and Tumuluri said he knew the Iranian family was traveling to Nanaimo for a tour.
"So we organized a day trip and a program including going out on a boat and eating lunch," he said. "So they could get a feel of the natural beauty here." However, the incumbent immigrants must invest in a related field of their occupations.
"For instance if one of them is a restaurateur in his own country he has to invest in a restaurant," Tumuluri said. The members in the group have backgrounds in the media, medical and real estate development professions, according to Tumuluri.
B.C.'s PNP is a collaboration between the Ministry of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development and the federal Citizenship and Immigration Canada, according to its website www.welcomebc.ca.
There are two components to the program: strategic occupations and business immigrations. A successful applicant to the PNP program accelerates the permanent resident application process. "Tofino can use the exposure," Tumuluri said
Putting skills to the best advantage
By Ian MacLeod, The Ottawa Citizen March 19, 2010
Henry Akanko is the director of Hire Immigrants Canada, which is one of five winners of the 10th annual Arthur Kroeger College Awards for Public Affairs.
Henry Akanko is the director of Hire Immigrants Canada, which is one of five winners of the 10th annual Arthur Kroeger College Awards for Public Affairs.
Photograph by: Chris Mikula, The Ottawa Citizen, The Ottawa Citizen
Hire Immigrants Ottawa has been working since 2006 to assist employers who are integrating skilled new Canadians into the workforce.
It is a commitment that has led the group to be one of five winners of the 10th annual Arthur Kroeger College Awards for Public Affairs presented by Carleton University.
Hire Immigrants Ottawa "brings together employers, immigrants, agencies and other stakeholders, including post-secondary institutions and labour groups to address the systemic barriers that affect the effective integration of immigrants into the local labour forces," said the organization's director Henry Akanko.
"We know that the average skilled immigrant isn't working in a job that reflects the education and experience they bring to this country. So if you look at the underutilization of their talents, that's huge, both from the point of view of the loss to the economy in terms of what they're capable of producing and what they are able to earn for themselves," he said.
The organization has helped 750 skilled immigrants find meaningful employment over the past four years. It is funded by the government of Ontario, Citizenship and Immigration Canada and with support from the United Way.
With lower birthrates, declining numbers of post-secondary graduates and unprecedented numbers of retirements, labour shortages will soon be felt across several sectors of the economy.
Ottawa is the second largest recipient of immigrants in Ontario, says the organization. The underusage of skilled immigrants costs Canada's economy between $3.4 and $5 billion per year, according to the Conference Board of Canada.
Akanko said about 20 per cent of new immigrants to Ottawa have backgrounds in licensed professions such as medicine, pharmacy, law and engineering. The other 80 per cent, "should be able to apply to a position and don't need to have their qualifications assessed and require a licensee to be able to work in their field. That's quite a big number."
Akanko said "there's a wide range of issues that account for this. There are employers who are not familiar with the education or the institutions that these people attended and so don't know how that compares with Canadian university standards. You often hear immigrants talk about employers' preferences for Canadian work experience. It becomes a chicken-and-egg then. That becomes a barrier," he said.
He said "you meet people who have incredible work experience and incredible levels of education and yet have been unable to find skills appropriate to work in their fields and are doing other dead-end jobs. There are lots of individuals who are doing jobs very unrelated to their skills in terms of what they're able to contribute."
Hire Immigrants Ottawa's objective is to increase the capacity of employers in the Ottawa region to effectively integrate skilled immigrants into the local workforce. This objective is being achieved through three key elements:
- Employer Council of Champions: Hire Immigrants Ottawa's "Employer Council of Champions" (ECC) is a cross-sector council featuring senior executives from top Ottawa public and private sector employers, influential business associations, and labour groups. The ECC gives employers a collective voice, enabling them to champion successful integration of skilled immigrants into the workforce.
- Working Groups: To complement the work of the ECC, there are sector-specific Working Groups in health care, information technology, finance, public service and biotech industry. Human resource representatives from ECC organizations sit on the appropriate sector working group, working together with expert stakeholders to address systemic barriers to employment for skilled immigrants.
- Create Awareness: Hire Immigrants Ottawa is creating local awareness to promote greater understanding of the social and economic value immigrants bring to Ottawa.
As well, said Akanko, Hire Immigrants Ottawa hosts sector-specific coaching events, bringing together employers, potential employees and other stakeholders.
Kroeger award organizers say the success of Hire Immigrants Ottawa in working with employers, immigrant assistance agencies and other stakeholders is a model for other municipalities to follow.
The Arthur Kroeger Awards, named after the late chancellor of Carleton University and a public servant of singular distinction, celebrate commitment to the public good.
The awards will be presented at a gala dinner at the Fairmont Château Laurier on April 8.
Henry Akanko is the director of Hire Immigrants Canada, which is one of five winners of the 10th annual Arthur Kroeger College Awards for Public Affairs.
Henry Akanko is the director of Hire Immigrants Canada, which is one of five winners of the 10th annual Arthur Kroeger College Awards for Public Affairs.
Photograph by: Chris Mikula, The Ottawa Citizen, The Ottawa Citizen
Hire Immigrants Ottawa has been working since 2006 to assist employers who are integrating skilled new Canadians into the workforce.
It is a commitment that has led the group to be one of five winners of the 10th annual Arthur Kroeger College Awards for Public Affairs presented by Carleton University.
Hire Immigrants Ottawa "brings together employers, immigrants, agencies and other stakeholders, including post-secondary institutions and labour groups to address the systemic barriers that affect the effective integration of immigrants into the local labour forces," said the organization's director Henry Akanko.
"We know that the average skilled immigrant isn't working in a job that reflects the education and experience they bring to this country. So if you look at the underutilization of their talents, that's huge, both from the point of view of the loss to the economy in terms of what they're capable of producing and what they are able to earn for themselves," he said.
The organization has helped 750 skilled immigrants find meaningful employment over the past four years. It is funded by the government of Ontario, Citizenship and Immigration Canada and with support from the United Way.
With lower birthrates, declining numbers of post-secondary graduates and unprecedented numbers of retirements, labour shortages will soon be felt across several sectors of the economy.
Ottawa is the second largest recipient of immigrants in Ontario, says the organization. The underusage of skilled immigrants costs Canada's economy between $3.4 and $5 billion per year, according to the Conference Board of Canada.
Akanko said about 20 per cent of new immigrants to Ottawa have backgrounds in licensed professions such as medicine, pharmacy, law and engineering. The other 80 per cent, "should be able to apply to a position and don't need to have their qualifications assessed and require a licensee to be able to work in their field. That's quite a big number."
Akanko said "there's a wide range of issues that account for this. There are employers who are not familiar with the education or the institutions that these people attended and so don't know how that compares with Canadian university standards. You often hear immigrants talk about employers' preferences for Canadian work experience. It becomes a chicken-and-egg then. That becomes a barrier," he said.
He said "you meet people who have incredible work experience and incredible levels of education and yet have been unable to find skills appropriate to work in their fields and are doing other dead-end jobs. There are lots of individuals who are doing jobs very unrelated to their skills in terms of what they're able to contribute."
Hire Immigrants Ottawa's objective is to increase the capacity of employers in the Ottawa region to effectively integrate skilled immigrants into the local workforce. This objective is being achieved through three key elements:
- Employer Council of Champions: Hire Immigrants Ottawa's "Employer Council of Champions" (ECC) is a cross-sector council featuring senior executives from top Ottawa public and private sector employers, influential business associations, and labour groups. The ECC gives employers a collective voice, enabling them to champion successful integration of skilled immigrants into the workforce.
- Working Groups: To complement the work of the ECC, there are sector-specific Working Groups in health care, information technology, finance, public service and biotech industry. Human resource representatives from ECC organizations sit on the appropriate sector working group, working together with expert stakeholders to address systemic barriers to employment for skilled immigrants.
- Create Awareness: Hire Immigrants Ottawa is creating local awareness to promote greater understanding of the social and economic value immigrants bring to Ottawa.
As well, said Akanko, Hire Immigrants Ottawa hosts sector-specific coaching events, bringing together employers, potential employees and other stakeholders.
Kroeger award organizers say the success of Hire Immigrants Ottawa in working with employers, immigrant assistance agencies and other stakeholders is a model for other municipalities to follow.
The Arthur Kroeger Awards, named after the late chancellor of Carleton University and a public servant of singular distinction, celebrate commitment to the public good.
The awards will be presented at a gala dinner at the Fairmont Château Laurier on April 8.
600,000 skilled workers in line for Canadian visas
By Mata Press Service
Close to 600,000 skilled workers around the world are waiting in line to get into Canada with some processing missions showing visa queues that could stretch up to 15 years, a top immigration expert said.
Using data obtained via Access to Information requests, Richard Kurland, a lawyer and one of Canada’s top immigration analysts said that the numbers are an early warning sign for Immigration Canada to act and reduce the waiting times.
There are 594,274 people in inventory waiting for 80,055 skilled workers visas in 2010, Kurland estimated.
“Parliament does not want long processing queues for skilled workers, and gave the Minister of
Citizenship and Immigration harsh policy tools (“C-50”) to be deployed in this kind of situation,’ said Kurland in his latest Lexbase information bulletin.
“The Minister needs to consider downsizing the number of eligible occupations from the current 38, to a much smaller number.”
The global average waiting times for all categories at all missions is 2.64 years.
“But then we examined the skilled workers. A very different picture emerges. Global average for all missions is 7.62 years ,” Kurland noted.
Kurland said downsizing the total number of eligible occupations does not mean Canada loses out on potential immigrants.
“The people who are no longer eligible federally, may apply under Provincial Nominee Programs, or can choose to seek temporary status in Canada under the Foreign Worker Program and subsequently apply under the Canada Experience Class… Canada’s door remains open,” said Kurland.
“It may be unpopular politically, but the Minister needs to fix this.”
Current projections and estimates show processing times for skilled workers of 12.79 years (New Delhi 117,098 people); 7.69 years (Hong Kong 30,763 people); 57.80 years (Nairobi 8,960 people); 33.51
years (Accra 18,688 people), or 30.06 years (Islamabad).
“Experience shows that unless a Minister is able to say ‘no’, processing inventories will bloat, and processing times will continue to lengthen beyond reasonable limits,” warned Kurland.
Kurland’s warning comes as Statistics Canada reported that Vancouver’s visible minority population is on track to become the majority over the next two decades.
The report shows visible minority groups are growing rapidly and will account for 59 per cent of the metro region’s total population by 2031, up from a current figure of about 40 per cent.
Immigration — led by China and South Asia — is a leading factor in the changing demographic picture.
Of the estimated two million visible minorities living in the region in 20 years’ time, one in three will be Canadian-born, the report states.
Nationally, Vancouver’s diversity projections are second only to Toronto, which could be home to 63 per cent of visible minority residents by 2031. The Abbotsford-Mission region ranks third with an estimated population of 39 per cent over the same time period, followed by Calgary (38 per cent), Ottawa (36 per cent), Windsor, (33 per cent) and Montreal (31 per cent).
Meanwhile, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney said he is streamlining the process for assessing the language skills of applicants to the Federal Skilled Worker and Canadian Experience classes.
“The language requirements themselves have not changed,” said Minister Kenney.
“But beginning April 10, 2010, prospective immigrants will be required to prove their English and French language abilities at the time they apply. This requirement supports our commitment to fast, fair and efficient application processing.”
Previously, to prove language ability in French or English, applicants could either submit an independent, third-party test or a written submission to a visa officer.
An immigrant’s English or French language ability is one of the strongest predictors of their success in the job market.
Kenney also announced a new internet resource for newcomers to help them quickly and easily find a range of government services, in addition to settlement services, in their communities
This resource is easy to find at www.servicesfornewcomers.cic.gc.ca.
Close to 600,000 skilled workers around the world are waiting in line to get into Canada with some processing missions showing visa queues that could stretch up to 15 years, a top immigration expert said.
Using data obtained via Access to Information requests, Richard Kurland, a lawyer and one of Canada’s top immigration analysts said that the numbers are an early warning sign for Immigration Canada to act and reduce the waiting times.
There are 594,274 people in inventory waiting for 80,055 skilled workers visas in 2010, Kurland estimated.
“Parliament does not want long processing queues for skilled workers, and gave the Minister of
Citizenship and Immigration harsh policy tools (“C-50”) to be deployed in this kind of situation,’ said Kurland in his latest Lexbase information bulletin.
“The Minister needs to consider downsizing the number of eligible occupations from the current 38, to a much smaller number.”
The global average waiting times for all categories at all missions is 2.64 years.
“But then we examined the skilled workers. A very different picture emerges. Global average for all missions is 7.62 years ,” Kurland noted.
Kurland said downsizing the total number of eligible occupations does not mean Canada loses out on potential immigrants.
“The people who are no longer eligible federally, may apply under Provincial Nominee Programs, or can choose to seek temporary status in Canada under the Foreign Worker Program and subsequently apply under the Canada Experience Class… Canada’s door remains open,” said Kurland.
“It may be unpopular politically, but the Minister needs to fix this.”
Current projections and estimates show processing times for skilled workers of 12.79 years (New Delhi 117,098 people); 7.69 years (Hong Kong 30,763 people); 57.80 years (Nairobi 8,960 people); 33.51
years (Accra 18,688 people), or 30.06 years (Islamabad).
“Experience shows that unless a Minister is able to say ‘no’, processing inventories will bloat, and processing times will continue to lengthen beyond reasonable limits,” warned Kurland.
Kurland’s warning comes as Statistics Canada reported that Vancouver’s visible minority population is on track to become the majority over the next two decades.
The report shows visible minority groups are growing rapidly and will account for 59 per cent of the metro region’s total population by 2031, up from a current figure of about 40 per cent.
Immigration — led by China and South Asia — is a leading factor in the changing demographic picture.
Of the estimated two million visible minorities living in the region in 20 years’ time, one in three will be Canadian-born, the report states.
Nationally, Vancouver’s diversity projections are second only to Toronto, which could be home to 63 per cent of visible minority residents by 2031. The Abbotsford-Mission region ranks third with an estimated population of 39 per cent over the same time period, followed by Calgary (38 per cent), Ottawa (36 per cent), Windsor, (33 per cent) and Montreal (31 per cent).
Meanwhile, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney said he is streamlining the process for assessing the language skills of applicants to the Federal Skilled Worker and Canadian Experience classes.
“The language requirements themselves have not changed,” said Minister Kenney.
“But beginning April 10, 2010, prospective immigrants will be required to prove their English and French language abilities at the time they apply. This requirement supports our commitment to fast, fair and efficient application processing.”
Previously, to prove language ability in French or English, applicants could either submit an independent, third-party test or a written submission to a visa officer.
An immigrant’s English or French language ability is one of the strongest predictors of their success in the job market.
Kenney also announced a new internet resource for newcomers to help them quickly and easily find a range of government services, in addition to settlement services, in their communities
This resource is easy to find at www.servicesfornewcomers.cic.gc.ca.
Canada’s Open Arms Immigration Policy: A Stark Contrast with US and Western Europe
Posted on March 18, 2010
by Andrés T. Tapia; research by Susan Welch–
Canada faces an unprecedented labor shortage. In Calgary, Alberta McDonald’s is paying $15/hr and bookstores are forced to close at 3:30 pm because there are not enough workers to keep the stores open. A Globe and Mail report announced in 2008, that due to its aging population, the growth of Canada’s workforce is slowing down considerably each year, and by 2016 its workforce growth will be zero. This spells economic and societal trouble for Canada in the years ahead, which according to demographers and economists will lead to lower living standards as the ratio between workers contributing to state pensions through payroll taxes and retirees gets increasingly unbalanced.
The bright spot in this demographic shift is the youth and vitality new immigrants continually bring to Canada. And it’s Canada’s Open Arms policy to newcomers that keeps this labor pipeline flowing. In fact, in the developed world, Canada has the highest rate of immigration. This in turn is dramatically transforming the face of Canada.
Check out these eye-popping stats. While, by 2001 the census had already crowned Toronto the world’s’ most diverse city, with half its population born outside Canada, here’s what the picture is going to look like by 2031 as reported in The Globe and Mail:
* one-third of Canada’s residents will be visible minorities (what Americans refer to racial/ethnic minorities)
* one-fourth of Canada’s residents will be foreign-born
* 63% of Toronto will be visible minorities
* 60% of Vancouver will be visible minorities, with a majority from China
* 30%+ of Montreal will be visible minorities, most will be Blacks and Arabs
* 28% of visible minorities will be South Asians from India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka; 21% will be Chinese.
Canada’s foreign-born boom is rooted in an immigration policy change enacted in the 1960s. Following World War II, Canada opened its doors to European immigrants (later closing them to Eastern European immigrants as the Cold War began). Eventually, as racial and ethnic discrimination increasingly was discouraged, Canada eliminated racial, ethnic, and religious barriers to immigration. By 1971, a majority of immigrants to Canada were non-European.
Today, Canadian leaders such as John Barrett, Ambassador to Austria and whom I heard speak at the World Diversity Leadership Summit held in Vienna in early March 2010, believe their country is poised to reap the benefits of its open immigration policies: “Immigrants are welcomed to Canada,” Barrett said. But listen to how he then captures Canada’s open-arms policy in an extraordinary and simple statement: “We see immigrants as future citizens.” He then goes on to explain the rationale: “We believe that bestowing the honor of full citizenship on them begets full participation from them. We say to the new arrivals, ‘Welcome to Canada. Make it better.’”
Canada’s welcome provides a dramatic contrast to current attitudes toward immigrants elsewhere in the U.S. and Europe, where the presence of the foreign-born elicit for many a spectrum of negative feelings anywhere from discomfort with their different looks and ways to fears that lead to outright hostility. The US and countries throughout Western Europe face contentious and controversial debates around immigration policy that, unlike Canada’s stance, reveal a lack of social consensus as to whether immigrants are welcome or not, or whether or not they are good for the economy.
In the meantime, Canada has made up its mind: immigration is good for us. It has bet its future on it.
by Andrés T. Tapia; research by Susan Welch–
Canada faces an unprecedented labor shortage. In Calgary, Alberta McDonald’s is paying $15/hr and bookstores are forced to close at 3:30 pm because there are not enough workers to keep the stores open. A Globe and Mail report announced in 2008, that due to its aging population, the growth of Canada’s workforce is slowing down considerably each year, and by 2016 its workforce growth will be zero. This spells economic and societal trouble for Canada in the years ahead, which according to demographers and economists will lead to lower living standards as the ratio between workers contributing to state pensions through payroll taxes and retirees gets increasingly unbalanced.
The bright spot in this demographic shift is the youth and vitality new immigrants continually bring to Canada. And it’s Canada’s Open Arms policy to newcomers that keeps this labor pipeline flowing. In fact, in the developed world, Canada has the highest rate of immigration. This in turn is dramatically transforming the face of Canada.
Check out these eye-popping stats. While, by 2001 the census had already crowned Toronto the world’s’ most diverse city, with half its population born outside Canada, here’s what the picture is going to look like by 2031 as reported in The Globe and Mail:
* one-third of Canada’s residents will be visible minorities (what Americans refer to racial/ethnic minorities)
* one-fourth of Canada’s residents will be foreign-born
* 63% of Toronto will be visible minorities
* 60% of Vancouver will be visible minorities, with a majority from China
* 30%+ of Montreal will be visible minorities, most will be Blacks and Arabs
* 28% of visible minorities will be South Asians from India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka; 21% will be Chinese.
Canada’s foreign-born boom is rooted in an immigration policy change enacted in the 1960s. Following World War II, Canada opened its doors to European immigrants (later closing them to Eastern European immigrants as the Cold War began). Eventually, as racial and ethnic discrimination increasingly was discouraged, Canada eliminated racial, ethnic, and religious barriers to immigration. By 1971, a majority of immigrants to Canada were non-European.
Today, Canadian leaders such as John Barrett, Ambassador to Austria and whom I heard speak at the World Diversity Leadership Summit held in Vienna in early March 2010, believe their country is poised to reap the benefits of its open immigration policies: “Immigrants are welcomed to Canada,” Barrett said. But listen to how he then captures Canada’s open-arms policy in an extraordinary and simple statement: “We see immigrants as future citizens.” He then goes on to explain the rationale: “We believe that bestowing the honor of full citizenship on them begets full participation from them. We say to the new arrivals, ‘Welcome to Canada. Make it better.’”
Canada’s welcome provides a dramatic contrast to current attitudes toward immigrants elsewhere in the U.S. and Europe, where the presence of the foreign-born elicit for many a spectrum of negative feelings anywhere from discomfort with their different looks and ways to fears that lead to outright hostility. The US and countries throughout Western Europe face contentious and controversial debates around immigration policy that, unlike Canada’s stance, reveal a lack of social consensus as to whether immigrants are welcome or not, or whether or not they are good for the economy.
In the meantime, Canada has made up its mind: immigration is good for us. It has bet its future on it.
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative
By:Fareed Zakaria
Source: www.newsweek.com
The legendary editor of The New Republic, Michael Kinsley, once held a "Boring Headline Contest" and decided that the winner was "Worthwhile Canadian Initiative." Twenty-two years later, the magazine was rescued from its economic troubles by a Canadian media company, which should have taught us Americans to be a bit more humble. Now there is even more striking evidence of Canada's virtues. Guess which country, alone in the industrialized world, has not faced a single bank failure, calls for bailouts or government intervention in the financial or mortgage sectors. Yup, it's Canada. In 2008, the World Economic Forum ranked Canada's banking system the healthiest in the world. America's ranked 40th, Britain's 44th.
Canada has done more than survive this financial crisis. The country is positively thriving in it. Canadian banks are well capitalized and poised to take advantage of opportunities that American and European banks cannot seize. The Toronto Dominion Bank, for example, was the 15th-largest bank in North America one year ago. Now it is the fifth-largest. It hasn't grown in size; the others have all shrunk.
So what accounts for the genius of the Canadians? Common sense. Over the past 15 years, as the United States and Europe loosened regulations on their financial industries, the Canadians refused to follow suit, seeing the old rules as useful shock absorbers. Canadian banks are typically leveraged at 18 to 1—compared with U.S. banks at 26 to 1 and European banks at a frightening 61 to 1. Partly this reflects Canada's more risk-averse business culture, but it is also a product of old-fashioned rules on banking.
Canada has also been shielded from the worst aspects of this crisis because its housing prices have not fluctuated as wildly as those in the United States. Home prices are down 25 percent in the United States, but only half as much in Canada. Why? Well, the Canadian tax code does not provide the massive incentive for overconsumption that the U.S. code does: interest on your mortgage isn't deductible up north. In addition, home loans in the United States are "non-recourse," which basically means that if you go belly up on a bad mortgage, it's mostly the bank's problem. In Canada, it's yours. Ah, but you've heard American politicians wax eloquent on the need for these expensive programs—interest deductibility alone costs the federal government $100 billion a year—because they allow the average Joe to fulfill the American Dream of owning a home. Sixty-eight percent of Americans own their own homes. And the rate of Canadian homeownership? It's 68.4 percent.
Canada has been remarkably responsible over the past decade or so. It has had 12 years of budget surpluses, and can now spend money to fuel a recovery from a strong position. The government has restructured the national pension system, placing it on a firm fiscal footing, unlike our own insolvent Social Security. Its health-care system is cheaper than America's by far (accounting for 9.7 percent of GDP, versus 15.2 percent here), and yet does better on all major indexes. Life expectancy in Canada is 81 years, versus 78 in the United States; "healthy life expectancy" is 72 years, versus 69. American car companies have moved so many jobs to Canada to take advantage of lower health-care costs that since 2004, Ontario and not Michigan has been North America's largest car-producing region.
I could go on. The U.S. currently has a brain-dead immigration system. We issue a small number of work visas and green cards, turning away from our shores thousands of talented students who want to stay and work here. Canada, by contrast, has no limit on the number of skilled migrants who can move to the country. They can apply on their own for a Canadian Skilled Worker Visa, which allows them to become perfectly legal "permanent residents" in Canada—no need for a sponsoring employer, or even a job. Visas are awarded based on education level, work experience, age and language abilities. If a prospective immigrant earns 67 points out of 100 total (holding a Ph.D. is worth 25 points, for instance), he or she can become a full-time, legal resident of Canada.
Companies are noticing. In 2007 Microsoft, frustrated by its inability to hire foreign graduate students in the United States, decided to open a research center in Vancouver. The company's announcement noted that it would staff the center with "highly skilled people affected by immigration issues in the U.S." So the brightest Chinese and Indian software engineers are attracted to the United States, trained by American universities, then thrown out of the country and picked up by Canada—where most of them will work, innovate and pay taxes for the rest of their lives.
If President Obama is looking for smart government, there is much he, and all of us, could learn from our quiet—OK, sometimes boring—neighbor to the north. Meanwhile, in the councils of the financial world, Canada is pushing for new rules for financial institutions that would reflect its approach. This strikes me as, well, a worthwhile Canadian initiative.
© 2009
Source: www.newsweek.com
The legendary editor of The New Republic, Michael Kinsley, once held a "Boring Headline Contest" and decided that the winner was "Worthwhile Canadian Initiative." Twenty-two years later, the magazine was rescued from its economic troubles by a Canadian media company, which should have taught us Americans to be a bit more humble. Now there is even more striking evidence of Canada's virtues. Guess which country, alone in the industrialized world, has not faced a single bank failure, calls for bailouts or government intervention in the financial or mortgage sectors. Yup, it's Canada. In 2008, the World Economic Forum ranked Canada's banking system the healthiest in the world. America's ranked 40th, Britain's 44th.
Canada has done more than survive this financial crisis. The country is positively thriving in it. Canadian banks are well capitalized and poised to take advantage of opportunities that American and European banks cannot seize. The Toronto Dominion Bank, for example, was the 15th-largest bank in North America one year ago. Now it is the fifth-largest. It hasn't grown in size; the others have all shrunk.
So what accounts for the genius of the Canadians? Common sense. Over the past 15 years, as the United States and Europe loosened regulations on their financial industries, the Canadians refused to follow suit, seeing the old rules as useful shock absorbers. Canadian banks are typically leveraged at 18 to 1—compared with U.S. banks at 26 to 1 and European banks at a frightening 61 to 1. Partly this reflects Canada's more risk-averse business culture, but it is also a product of old-fashioned rules on banking.
Canada has also been shielded from the worst aspects of this crisis because its housing prices have not fluctuated as wildly as those in the United States. Home prices are down 25 percent in the United States, but only half as much in Canada. Why? Well, the Canadian tax code does not provide the massive incentive for overconsumption that the U.S. code does: interest on your mortgage isn't deductible up north. In addition, home loans in the United States are "non-recourse," which basically means that if you go belly up on a bad mortgage, it's mostly the bank's problem. In Canada, it's yours. Ah, but you've heard American politicians wax eloquent on the need for these expensive programs—interest deductibility alone costs the federal government $100 billion a year—because they allow the average Joe to fulfill the American Dream of owning a home. Sixty-eight percent of Americans own their own homes. And the rate of Canadian homeownership? It's 68.4 percent.
Canada has been remarkably responsible over the past decade or so. It has had 12 years of budget surpluses, and can now spend money to fuel a recovery from a strong position. The government has restructured the national pension system, placing it on a firm fiscal footing, unlike our own insolvent Social Security. Its health-care system is cheaper than America's by far (accounting for 9.7 percent of GDP, versus 15.2 percent here), and yet does better on all major indexes. Life expectancy in Canada is 81 years, versus 78 in the United States; "healthy life expectancy" is 72 years, versus 69. American car companies have moved so many jobs to Canada to take advantage of lower health-care costs that since 2004, Ontario and not Michigan has been North America's largest car-producing region.
I could go on. The U.S. currently has a brain-dead immigration system. We issue a small number of work visas and green cards, turning away from our shores thousands of talented students who want to stay and work here. Canada, by contrast, has no limit on the number of skilled migrants who can move to the country. They can apply on their own for a Canadian Skilled Worker Visa, which allows them to become perfectly legal "permanent residents" in Canada—no need for a sponsoring employer, or even a job. Visas are awarded based on education level, work experience, age and language abilities. If a prospective immigrant earns 67 points out of 100 total (holding a Ph.D. is worth 25 points, for instance), he or she can become a full-time, legal resident of Canada.
Companies are noticing. In 2007 Microsoft, frustrated by its inability to hire foreign graduate students in the United States, decided to open a research center in Vancouver. The company's announcement noted that it would staff the center with "highly skilled people affected by immigration issues in the U.S." So the brightest Chinese and Indian software engineers are attracted to the United States, trained by American universities, then thrown out of the country and picked up by Canada—where most of them will work, innovate and pay taxes for the rest of their lives.
If President Obama is looking for smart government, there is much he, and all of us, could learn from our quiet—OK, sometimes boring—neighbor to the north. Meanwhile, in the councils of the financial world, Canada is pushing for new rules for financial institutions that would reflect its approach. This strikes me as, well, a worthwhile Canadian initiative.
© 2009
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