A reflection on immigration policy: two years after Adjusting the Balance.


Source: Maytree Conversations.
By Naomi Alboim, Maytree Senior Fellow and Adjunct Professor, School of Policy Studies, Queen’s University
Naomi AlboimWhen I wrote Adjusting the Balance: Fixing Canada’s Economic Immigration Program, published by Maytree, I argued that the federal government was making incremental changes to immigration policy, which together represented a radical negative shift in immigration policy, without debate, without consultation and without the benefit of a national framework.
Two years later – things are worse, not better.
When we wrote the paper in 2009, the federal government had limited the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) Program to applicants with experience in 38 occupations or a job offer. We argued that Canada’s dynamic, knowledge-based economy needs a much broader range of occupations and skills. The federal government’s own evaluation of the FSW Program in 2010 (PDF) found that, historically, those immigrants chosen for their human capital have higher incomes than those selected because of their occupation.
Yet, this month the government announced that it would continue to limit applicants to those with job offers or on a list of occupations (now a shorter list of 29). A maximum of 10,000 applications will be considered for processing until July 2012. Within this 10,000 cap, each of the 29 occupations is also capped at 500 applications.
Instead of increasing the number of FSWs, the government has continued to give priority processing to Provincial Nominees and Temporary Foreign Workers, at the expense of the Federal Skilled Worker Program.
In other words, they are continuing to place limits on those selected under the FSW Program despite the fact that they have the highest incomes and best long-term job prospects of all immigrants to Canada.
To its credit, the federal government is reviewing the current point system for Principal Applicants within the FSW Program. They appear to be taking into account the findings of their evaluation, to improve labour market outcomes for these immigrants even further. This could include allotting more points for demonstrated language capacity, youth and experience in the skilled trades, as we recommended in 2009. However, these changes will be for naught if the numbers and proportion of new applicants continue to be reduced and restricted to 29 specific occupations.
As well, there are ongoing concerns with a system that continues to prioritize temporary foreign worker applications.
Most temporary foreign workers arriving to Canada are highly skilled. But, among other concerns, our 2009 report highlighted the problematic growth in the Pilot Project for Occupations Requiring Lower Levels of Formal Training, suggesting that it should be abolished. These workers are filling jobs that aren’t necessarily “temporary” but rather harder to fill, for example in meat packing plants and in hotel janitorial services. Rather than improving the wages and working conditions for these jobs, reaching out to unemployed and under-represented groups already in Canada, or bringing in more family class members and refugees to fill those jobs on a permanent basis, the government has chosen to continue bringing in significant numbers of temporary foreign workers under this “pilot” program.
While they have the right to most of the same protections as other Canadians and permanent residents under provincial employment legislation, temporary foreign workers filling low or unskilled jobs are more vulnerable to abuse because of language barriers, lack of knowledge about their rights, limited access to agencies that can help them (especially when they are working in remote parts of Canada), and inadequate enforcement of employment legislation. Further, temporary foreign workers are not eligible for federally funded settlement services.
Regulatory changes effective April 2011 introduced penalties for employers who exploit temporary foreign workers but they still do not address the root problems of this program. Instead, they rely on vulnerable workers themselves to initiate complaints who are unaware of their rights and fear loss of employment or deportation. The four-year time limit for temporary foreign workers to legally remain in Canada serves to penalize them further. It also serves to keep them in limbo for a long period of time, with no access to services or permanent residency, and the additional rights and protections that come with that status.
A dramatic sea change in Canada’s immigration system, policies and priorities is under way, including:
  • a significant reduction in the number of sponsored parents and grandparents to be admitted to Canada;
  • a delay in the awarding of permanent resident status to sponsored spouses with a concomitant withholding of rights and access to services, resulting in increased vulnerability;
  • recently re-tabled legislation proposing that refugee claimants be placed in detention for one year if they arrive by “irregular” methods to Canada;
  • the legislation also proposes the draconian treatment of claimants who are determined to be bona fide refugees despite their “irregular” arrival (including delayed access to travel documents, permanent residence status, and family reunification); and
  • a reduction in federal funding for settlement programming.
All of this suggests there is a need for real public debate about what kind of country we want to be and what kind of immigration policy best leads us there.

Will Canadian Retirees Be Supported By Future Immigrants?

The flags of Canada and the United States of A...Image via Wikipedia
In a report released by Schroder Investment Management North America Inc on Thursday, July 21, two authors revealed that Canada will be facing a “baby bust” as its aging population goes into retirement.
In the report, co-authored by Virginie Maisonneuve and Katherine Davidson, the two authors describe how the future GDP of Canada will not be able to support the aging population unless significant changes take place in the labor market.
Specifically, the authors point out that the only way Canada will be able to survive the lower GDP growth and surge in retiring baby boomers will be “to increase immigration or raise participation rates, especially of older workers.”
The authors point out that an increase in immigration will not solve all of the Country’s financial problems caused by the effects of an aging population.
In addition to immigration changes, the country will still need to increase productivity in order to support the high costs of having an aging population. The situation threatens Canada’s reputation for “superior health status”.

Canada and the Aging Population

The report also points out that:
–> From 2020 onward, the country’s population growth is going to exclusively come from immigration. The report states that there will be entire segments of the Canadian economy that will be completely dependent upon foreign workers.
–> With such an older population, the financial and healthcare sectors of the economy will encompass a larger share of the country’s GDP. The report predicts that education, manufacturing, construction and retail will all decrease.
Why would an investment firm care about Canada’s aging population? Well, the report was released as a way to gauge what the future will look like in the Canadian marketplace, and where investment opportunities will exist.
Virginie Maisonneuve explains:

Demographic analysis is part of a coherent macroeconomic and thematic road map that serves as a framework to our stock analysis and selection. Many of our current holdings listed in Canada are resource companies. They will need to adapt to the demographic challenges that we have highlighted in this report in order to ensure success and shareholder value.”
The authors also seem to take pleasure in pointing out a comparison between Canada’s elderly pension system vs. that of the United States.  The report points out that Canada is fiscally responsible enough to have already started strategically positioning resources and making the necessary changes to meet this future financial challenge.
It also points out that Canada’s pension plan is expected to be solvent by 2050…in direct contrast to the United States Social Security system, which many experts believe will start experiencing financial shortfalls in 2016, and complete insolvency by 2039.
Of the report out of Schroder Investment is at all accurate, then elderly Canadian citizens are likely going to be dependent upon foreign workers to serve their needs. And, if the U.S. social security crisis does really come to fruition, then many of those immigrant workers will probably consist of elderly Americans, trying to survive the collapse of the U.S. Social Security system.

Immigration backlog a major challenge

Jason KenneyImage by mostlyconservative via Flickr
1
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.


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

Bill C-35

Minister of the Economic Development Agency of...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.

Manitoba population booms

A map of Canada exhibiting its ten provinces a...Image via Wikipedia
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.

Crime rate falls to lowest level since 1973

Map of violent crime rates across Canada, 2007...Image via Wikipedia
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.



After Strong Baby Boom, a "Baby Bust"?

Canada Facing Up to Economic Challenges of Ageing Population, Schroders Study Says, - Demographic changes to impact economic growth, - Strong resource base and "supercycle" trend will provide cushion, - Net present value of ageing population 35 times high

Published: Thursday, Jul. 21, 2011 - 9:10 am
/PRNewswire/ -- Canada's unique demographics and rapidly ageing population will create challenges for future GDP growth if left unchecked. The country is already taking important steps to tackle its ageing population, but there is more to be done, argues a new research report by Schroders, the global investment management company.
In the report, co-authors Virginie Maisonneuve, Head of Global Equities at Schroders, and Katherine Davidson, examine how the larger-than-usual baby boom in Canada and significant immigration in the 50s and 60s has resulted in a unique demographic profile.
Canada has been quick to recognise its impending demographic transition and adjust its institutions accordingly. The only ways to break the relationship between reduced labour supply as baby boomers retire and lower GDP growth is "to increase immigration or raise participation rates, especially of older workers," quotes Virginie, and Canada is doing just that.
However, this will not be enough to meet the growth challenge. Future growth will have to be driven by improvements in labour productivity. Furthermore, Canada is expected to face the highest age-related spending of any OECD member state(2): "The challenge for Canada today is to manage the costs of a rapidly ageing population without compromising its superior health status and further worsening standards of service" the paper states.
With a strong record in controlling costs, Canada is well-placed to meet this challenge. For example, it spends 10% of GDP on health care versus the US at 16%(3). There is also a lower reliance on the state for pension provision with private pensions and other investments providing over 40% of retirement income, compared to the OECD average of 20%(4).
Other interesting findings:
  • By the 2020s, all population growth is expected to come from immigration and many sectors of the economy will be dependent on foreign workers. It is unlikely that immigration could be raised to high enough levels to fully offset the effect of domestic population ageing(5).
  • While the healthcare and financial sectors should increase their share of GDP, other sectors – education, manufacturing, construction and retail – will decrease in importance(6).
  • Early recognition and steps to address the demographic issue result in a pension plan that is expected to be perfectly solvent by 2050 – a marked contrast with US Social Security, which is expected to face a permanent shortfall by 2016 and be completely exhausted by 2039(7).
  • Canada is well-placed to address its demographic challenge with one of the strongest fiscal positions in the OECD, a well-developed private pensions sector and a strong record for controlling healthcare spending(8).
Virginie Maisonneuve, Head of Global & International Equities at Schroders:
"Demographic analysis is part of a coherent macroeconomic and thematic road map that serves as a framework to our stock analysis and selection. Many of our current holdings listed in Canada are resource companies. They will need to adapt to the demographic challenges that we have highlighted in this report in order to ensure success and shareholder value.


Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/07/21/3784728/after-strong-baby-boom-a-baby.html#ixzz1SqTYxMFr




Changes to application forms for permanent residency in Canada now in force

A new form for immigrants seeking permanent residence in Canada has been introduced this week as part of changes aimed at making the processing of applications quicker.
The Generic Application Form for Canada’ (IMM0008) has now replaced all existing permanent residence application forms and is for all applications from both Canada and outside Canada.
The form is considered as a logical continuation from temporary residents to permanent residents and creates one universal application for all permanent residence categories.
The changes mean that applicants can now save an incomplete application in order to complete it at a later time. Applicants will be prompted electronically to help with the completion of the form through the use of drop down lists included for select fields.
‘This reduces the time it takes to fill out an application. It is expected that this will also increase the accuracy and consistency of responses,’ said a Canadian Immigration spokesman.
Once the application is completed and validated online by the applicant, a bar code will be generated. This page will be printed and accompany the application form. This will facilitate the entry of data in CIC’s processing system, which should also reduce the amount of data entry required as well as reduce the number of data entry errors that can occur.
The Schedule A Background/declaration is now designated as IMM5669 and needs to be completed by all applicants over 18. The in-Canada application forms IMM5202, IMM5001 and IMM5002 have been replaced with the new IMM0008.
In addition, the sponsorship application form IMM1344A and the sponsorship agreement form IMM1344B have been combined into one form called Application to Sponsor, Sponsorship Agreement and Undertaking (IMM1344).
From now all applications for permanent residence where a sponsorship is applicable, must include both the IMM1344 and the IMM0008. This will form a more complete application package that will streamline processing, the spokesman explained.
To achieve gains in efficiency, applicants are strongly encouraged to complete the form electronically by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. However, those completed by hand will still be accepted until March 31, 2012.

VISA IMPROVEMENTS MAKE IT EASIER TO VISIT

Source: MuchmorCanada
Improvements to make it easier to visit Canada are coming soon, announced the Honourable Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism. A new ten-year multiple-entry visa will make applying more efficient for applicants and better use government resources.
“More applications and higher expectations mean that Citizenship and Immigration Canada needs a more responsive and flexible processing system,” said Minister Kenney.  “To achieve that, the Department is providing applicants and staff with the right tools to deliver on those expectations.”
Citizens of certain countries require a visa to come to Canada temporarily. Currently, the maximum validity period of a multiple-entry visa is five years. However, increasingly, countries are issuing passports which are valid for ten years. In light of this, CIC is changing its policy for visa issuance. Where applicants apply for multiple-entry visas, they may now be issued to the maximum validity according to the length of the passport validity (up to ten years, minus one month).
This practice, already recommended for parents and grandparents with sponsorships in process, may now be extended to other clientele, such as business visitors.
As Canada is becoming a preferred destination for visitors and business travellers alike, CIC continues to balance the need to facilitate this travel while responsibly managing our borders. We will increasingly focus attention on applications with the greatest potential for threat and vulnerability, while streamlining low risk cases. Further limitations on validity may apply on a case-by-case basis.
The ten-year visa will be an option available to more low-risk travellers who are citizens of visa-required countries. As of Monday, the technical changes needed to issue it were in place.

Leave us a message

Check our online courses now

Check our online courses now
Click Here now!!!!

Subscribe to our newsletter

Vcita