Immigration Minister hits pause on family reunification applications

JOHN IBBITSON

Ottawa— Globe and Mail Update

Jason Kenney is walking a fine political line: seeking to slim a bloated immigration backlog without jeopardizing his Conservative government’s support among new Canadians – many of whom voted Conservative in the last election.

That careful balancing act was on display Friday when the Citizenship and Immigration Minister placed a two-year moratorium on applications from parents and grandparents seeking to reunite with family members in Canada.

The freeze is intended to thin afamily-reunification backlog that could soon produce wait times of up to ten years.

But to counter concerns that Mr. Kenney is trying to curtail family reunification, the Conservative government introduced a new and generous visa for parents and grandparents who want to stay with their family in Canada.

“We understand how important it is for Canadians, including new Canadians, to live with their loved ones,” Mr. Kenney declared at a news conference Friday.

But “we need to change the math.”

About 6 per cent of all immigrants to Canada are parents and grandparents of existing immigrants. But family-unification applications have far outstripped available spaces, creating a backlog of 165,000 applicants and wait times of seven years, which will lengthen to 10 years by 2018 if there are no changes.

“That is why it is absolutely essential that we bring in a temporary pause on applications,” Mr. Kenney said.

The moratorium is expected to reduce the backlog to about 50,000, while the government seeks to craft a new application process that matches the number of people who are allowed to apply to spaces available. In the meantime, the quota for parental and grandparental admissions will increase by 60 per cent, to 25,000 admissions a year, to further clear the backlog.

For those who waiting to immigrate or to get on the list, the new 10-year visa will allow parents and grandparents to stay for as long as two years at a stretch. However they must, if required, take a medical exam first; they must purchase private medical insurance while in Canada, and their children or grandchildren must be able to demonstrate that they can support the visiting relative.

Don Davies, NDP immigration critic, welcomed the new visa and the increased intake of parents and grandparents. But he added that the best way to overcome all of the backlogs in the immigration system would be to increase the intake from about 250,000 a year to about 330,000, or 1 per cent of the population.

“We’re not saying this for compassionate, fuzzy-wuzzy, lefty” reasons, Mr. Davies said. Increasing immigration levels are necessary to meet future labour shortages brought on by an aging society, he maintained.

Friday’s announcement caps a week of new initiatives by the Conservative government that focus on increasing the number of highly skilled and highly educated immigrants coming to Canada.

Overall, however, family-class immigrants continue to make up about 65 per cent of all applicants.

Family reunification changes would ease immigration backlog

STEVEN CHASE

OTTAWA— From Friday's Globe and Mail

The Harper government is moving to restrict applications for a program allowing immigrants to bring their parents and grandparents to Canada – part of a plan to eliminate a massive backlog in this category that has people waiting eight years.

But this is only part of what Immigration Minister Jason Kenney will announce on Friday at noon ET in Mississauga, immigration lawyers predict.

Experts say they expect Ottawa will also increase the number of parents and grandparents admitted annually under this family reunification program. The waiting list is currently at more than 150,000 people.

The Immigration Minister’s announcement will include details of a planned overhaul of the grandparents and parents portion of the program.

Mr. Kenney will also announce that the Department of Citizenship and Immigration will hold consultations in early 2012 to solicit opinion from Canadians on how best to revamp the program.

The federal government each year receives about 40,000 applications from grandparents and parents of immigrants and admits only about 17,500. At the same time, the backlog grows by 13,000 to 14,000 annually.

Mr. Kenney hinted at his plans at a Commons committee in late October, saying the two best ways to eliminate the backlog of applicants are to cut the number of applications considered each year and to increase admissions.

“Is the department going to have to issue directives limiting the number of new applications that we receive? I think that it is a solution that we have to consider,” he told the Commons immigration committee last month.

Vancouver-based immigration lawyer Richard Kurland said he expects the Harper government will restrict applications and increase approvals as a solution to the backlog.

“I think the only way out is going to be a Sound of Music solution, where ‘When a door gets closed, somewhere, a window gets opened,’ ” Mr. Kurland said.

The immigration lawyer suggested Mr. Kenney could find a way to make it work.

“So even if applications are capped, the minister can direct that temporary visas be issued in order to bring families together until the backlog is processed.”

Sources said consultations in 2012 will be used to seek ways to redesign the program to prevent future backlogs. All options are on the table, including different rules for who can sponsor parents and grandparents, or increases in the amount of income required to support newcomers under the program, the sources said.

Mr. Kenney promised to address the backlog in the parents and grandparents class during the federal election campaign earlier this year. Parents often apply for permanent residence on the advice of Canadian visa officers after they are refused a visitor visa, lawyers say.

Immigration lawyers say a more permanent solution to the backlog should include changing visitor visa rules.

They say Ottawa should devise a way to allow parents of immigrants to visit without incurring the risk of a drain on medicare if they fall ill while in Canada.

Mr. Kurland estimated that about 20 per cent of those parents and grandparents in the queue for permanent residency would withdraw their application if they could instead secure a long-term, multiple-entry visa that stipulated they cover their own health insurance in Canada.

Canada expects to admit 254,000 immigrants this year in total.

Ottawa urged to help expedite licences for foreign-trained doctors

KIM MACKRAEL

Globe and Mail Update

The federal government should fund temporary work programs that help foreign-trained doctors get their licences faster, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada says.

Andrew Padmos, the college’s chief executive officer, said between 6,000 and 10,000 doctors can’t practise in Canada because there aren’t enough spots in residency programs.

“If they require residency, there are severe constraints,” Dr. Padmos told the Commons standing committee on human resources. He said that’s because there are only slightly more residency spots in Canada than there are medical school graduates each year. “It’s insufficient to deal with several thousand foreign-trained grads,” he said.

The committee is looking for ways to speed up the recognition of foreign qualifications in a bid to improve work opportunities for immigrants and make Canada more economically competitive.

Dr. Padmos said qualifying doctors can sometimes get around the residency backlog by working under the temporary supervision of a Canadian-trained physician – but that option has its own price tag.

“The federal government should fund the salary of the international graduate, plus something for the supervisor to make it possible,” he said after the meeting.

He also recommended the creation of an arms-length observatory to study health and human resources and advise the provinces on where doctors and specialists are most needed.

Governments have long promised to help internationally trained professionals find work at their skill level. In 2009, the federal government announced workers in eight fields would not have to wait longer than a year to find out how the credentials they obtained abroad compare with Canadian standards. At the time, the government promised to add foreign-trained doctors to the list of professionals by the end of 2012.

Robert Young holds the Canada Research Chair in multilevel governance and his research includes immigration and settlement policies. He said that while the federal government’s efforts to reduce wait times on qualifications are laudable, they often aren’t the biggest barrier for professional immigrants – whether they are doctors or work in another field.

“In many cases, it’s not the credentials that matter but getting the Canadian experience,” Mr. Young said in a telephone interview.

Canadian immigration by the numbers

By Tobi Cohen and Jordan Press, Postmedia News

Read more: http://www.canada.com/Canadian+immigration+numbers/5647556/story.html#ixzz1ckHe218W

Highlights from Citizenship and Immigration's annual report:

- Canada expects to have welcomed about 260,000 immigrants to Canada by the end of this year;

- Canada admitted 280,681 permanent residents in 2010, an increase of 11.3 per cent over 2009 and the highest level recorded in 50 years;

- Canada welcomed 182,276 foreign workers in 2010, an increase of 2.2 per cent over the previous year;

- The number of international students permitted into Canada in 2010 was up 13 per cent over 2009 to 96,157;

- Canada issued 12,452 temporary resident permits in 2010 to foreigners deemed inadmissible under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act but who offer compelling reasons for special consideration;

- By 2013, such foreign nationals will be required to provide their biometrics as part of a border security initiative;

- The number of asylum claimants fell by 10,000 in 2010, in large part due to the introduction of temporary resident visa requirements for people from the Czech Republic and Mexico;

- Immigration levels for 2012 will remain between 240,000-265,000;

- For the second consecutive year, Canada resettled 12,000 refugees in 2010;

- 26.6 per cent of new immigrants don't know either official language; 57.1 per cent know English, six per cent know French, 10.3 per cent know both;

- Authorities fell shy of processing time targets for family class applicants. Officials expect to meet the 12-month target by March.

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Read more: http://www.canada.com/Canadian+immigration+numbers/5647556/story.html#ixzz1ckHjifwM

Chinese rich are keen to emigrate

By Shi Jing and Yu Ran (China Daily)

Print Mail Large Medium  Small 11

SHANGHAI - About 60 percent of the rich Chinese people, each of whom has a net asset of at least 60 million yuan ($9.44 million), said they intended to migrate from China, a report has found.

About 14 percent of them have either already migrated from China or have applied for migration.

The three most favored destinations by the Chinese rich are the United States, Canada and Singapore. The US is the first choice of some 40 percent of the people interviewed, according to a white paper jointly released by Hurun Report and the Bank of China (BOC) on Saturday.

According to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the number of Chinese applicants for investment immigration has exceeded applications from any other country or region.

Last year, the USCIS issued 772 EB-5 visas, meant for investor immigrants, to Chinese people. They account for 41 percent of the total EB-5 visas issued by the agency.

"Among all the destinations in terms of investment immigration, the US always outstand all other options as the country does not impose any quota," said Jiao Lingyan, a client executive of the investment immigration department of the Beijing-based GlobeImmi International Education Consultation Co.

"The minimum amount required for investment immigration to the US is $500,000. But it should be noted that this applies to investments in projects recommended by authorities in the US. People considering these projects should take into account that they may not make profits," Jiao said.

"It is worth noting that the minimum amount for investment immigration will be raised in the coming years, because the number of rich people in China is rapidly growing," she said.

Among the 980 people interviewed by Hurun Report and the BOC, one-third said they have assets overseas, which on an average account for 19 percent of their total assets.

While 32 percent of the interviewees said they have invested overseas with a view to immigrate, half of them said they did so mainly for the sake of their children's education.

Zhang Yuehui, a Beijing-based immigration expert, said children's education is also the top concern among those who want to immigrate.

"A growing number of parents in China have realized that children growing up in the examination-oriented education system in China will find it hard to compete in an increasingly globalized world," Zhang said.

Wang Lilan, 38, a mother of two who immigrated to Australia from her home province of Fujian two years ago, was one of those parents.

"My 12-year-old elder daughter used to do her homework very late into the night. But here in Australia, she does quite a lot practical assignment, in a playful way. And she has more spare time to do the things she likes," Wang said.

"I feel very delighted to see my children having fun while studying," Wang said.

Chinese immigrants are also getting younger, with the largest group aged between 25 and 30, compared to the 40-45 age group in the past, Zhang said.

China Daily

Employers failing to put diversity into practice

Many Canadian employers are finding it easy to put diversity and inclusiveness into a mission statement but difficult to put them into practice, according to a white paper by Deloitte based on roundtable discussions in eight cities across Canada with representatives of business, community-based diversity and immigrant organizations, and Deloitte professionals.

Often, organizations are clinging to outdated notions, such as requiring employment experience in Canada, said Welcome to Canada. Now what? Unlocking the Potential of Immigrants for Business Growth and Innovation. The dreams of educated newcomers are being eroded by unrecognized credentials, no Canadian experience, a lack of support for networking and lingering biases in recruitment.

“Canada does have one of the best immigration processes globally but there is a broken promise because we tell people that their skill-set is going to be recognized and then they can’t get a job and they end up driving taxis,” said one participant.

A lack of fit or acceptance was another issue raised by the white paper, which said companies have much to gain by broadening their thinking.

“Only by taking calculated risks and being open to learning from the experiences of immigrants will Canadian companies fully capitalize on the potential for innovation and growth that comes with their hiring,” said Jane Allen, a partner and chief diversity officer at Deloitte.

It’s time to put the theory of diversity into action — more proactive steps must be taken to quickly enable skilled foreign-born workers to contribute to Canada’s economy and achieve their own dreams, said the white paper. Various provinces offer programs through community organizations and government ministries — these and other initiatives provide a solid base of best practices for employers across Canada.

“Often, organizations don’t see the systemic barriers to integration and acceptance that have been created within their workplaces. Considering Canada’s global reputation for welcoming immigrants, it doesn’t make sense that they exist. By erecting barriers to employment for foreign-born workers, we’re actually blocking our own potential for innovation and growth,” said Allen in Welcome to Canada.

“What we discovered is that the specific challenges and success stories differ from province to province, but the call to action was consistent: Canada needs to do a better job of integrating skilled, foreign-trained workers into our workforce by identifying the barriers to integration and breaking them down.”

Saskatoon drives Canada’s economy

As Saskatchewan benefits from more than $10 billion in new mines and expansions, Saskatoon is staying out front in the race to lead Canada’s economic growth.

The Conference Board of Canada has predicted that Saskatoon’s economy will expand by 4.1% this year, leading the nation’s economic growth right through to 2013. The city’s nearest rival was Calgary, where the economy was expected to grow by 3.4%.

Tim LeClair, Chief Executive Officer of the Saskatoon Regional Economic Development Authority (SREDA), said that other sectors of the city’s diverse economy had also played their part, including manufacturing, agriculture, transportation and communication.

Business entrepreneurs were also creating more jobs, with more than 1,000 new business licenses issued every year to Saskatoon entrepreneurs.

"If each of those new businesses has 1.5 employees or higher, that's tremendous job creation," says LeClair.

In addition, the strong mining investment is creating high quality jobs, says LeClair, with local mining companies expecting to recruit between 500 to 700 engineers. "These positions have annual incomes of $150,000 and up.”

Saskatoon's unemployment rate for August, 2011 was 5.1% – the fourth lowest rate of any metropolitan area in Canada. 

Saskatchewan province enjoys the lowest unemployment rate in the country (4.5% in August), with full-time employment recently reaching an all-time high of 454,300 in August 2011. 

Canada faces decade of trades shortages

31 October 2011

Insulators and steamfitter-pipefitters top the list of sought after trades

Canada's ageing work force and multi-billion dollar resources projects are driving labour and skills shortages in the construction trades, with up to 320,000 new tradespeople needed between now and 2019.

Alberta, where a resurgence in mining activity has seen $193 billion in major projects on its books, accounts for almost half of the projected shortfall, with 157,000 new workers needed by 2019.

Insulators and steamfitter-pipefitters are the trades most sought-after, says the Construction Sector Council, a finding bourne out by SAIT's School of Construction in Calgary.

"As with all the trades right now, there seems to be a shortage of them and this one is rising to the top," says the Dean of SAIT's School of Construction, Larry Rosia.

Rosia adds that the challenges of keeping pace with fluctuations in demand for various trades is complicated by mining’s cyclical nature, particularly in energy-rich provinces where the top trades in demand can change quickly.

"It takes us four years to put out a journeyman, so for us to get ahead of these shortfalls is always a challenge and something we strive to work with industry to accomplish."

Rosia said that skill shortages existed across the board in trades.

"There are pockets across Canada where activity is particularly intense. Looking at the number of large-scale industrial projects in each province provides a strong indication of where the trades will be most in demand. The challenge is that all the sectors are looking for people."

Alberta’s energy sector ramps up hiring

31 October 2011

Skills shortage of 77,000 forecast for Alberta, Canada

A “perfect storm” is developing as Alberta’s baby boomers leave the workforce in unprecedented numbers, and the province’s buoyant oil and gas sector continues to ramp up hiring.

Elsbeth Mehrer, director of research, workforce and strategy for Calgary Economic Development, said Calgary business leaders cited the labour shortage as the biggest challenge facing them over the coming year, but the latest figures reveal a longer-term problem.

Over the next decade, the number of Alberta workers aged 55 and older is predicted to top more than a million – that’s about 25 per cent of the total workforce, according a recent report by the Alberta government.

By 2019, the province has also predicted a shortage of 77,000 people across all industries, in particular the burgeoning oil & gas sector that fuels Alberta’s economy and job growth.

Greg Stringham, vice-president with Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, said he expected to see substantial growth in the sector, with increased oil production stemming from new advances in drilling technology.

"It's up by about 200,000 barrels a day in our forecast," says Stringham."That alone is pulling on the drilling rigs and support services and leading to a need for labour and manpower in that area."

Alberta's oilsands currently employ about 75,000 people (both directly and indirectly) and that figure is expected to shoot as high as 900,000 by 2035.

There are already signs in the north and northeast of the province that employers are struggling to fill labour shortages, with towns like Fort McMurray, Lloydminster, Cold Lake and Lac Labiche hardest hit.

According to Statistics Canada, Alberta has created 97,700 jobs in the 12 months while the Calgary region has created 20,400. The province is expected to lead the nation in job growth over the next 20 years.

Canada Learning Bond

Luke who is just 17-months old could have up to $2,000 in a Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) account in his name by the end of this week, thanks to the federal government’s Canada Learning Bond initiative.

Luke’s family, as well as 60,022 other low income households in the city of Toronto, will receive vouchers this week, informing them of their children’s entitlement to government funds toward their post-secondary education.

Smart SAVER, a project of the Omega Foundation, funded by the government of Canada’s Education Savings Community Outreach program, made the announcement at a special event hosted by Daniels Corporation on Nov. 3.

“I’m so happy hearing this news,” says Luke’s mother Arlene Pimentel, who immigrated to Canada from the Philippines in 2008. Pimentel who is a health care assistant while studying nursing, earns well under $41,544, the maximum net income that makes an individual or family eligible for the Canada Learning Bond. Any child born in 2004 or later who lives within the postal area code starting with letter ‘M’ and whose family receives the National Child Benefit Supplement is eligible to receive it.

According to a recent Statistics Canada study, recent immigrants such as Pimentel were two to three times more likely than non-immigrants to experience low income, regardless of sex, level of education, family type, or province of residence.

“You have to have an RESP account to take advantage of this money and to deposit it for the child’s benefit,” says Jennifer Tory, RBC Royal Bank’s regional president for Greater Toronto.

Tory, who joined the event held in the Regent Park neighbourhood, notes her bank is taking an active part in the program to publicize RESP among newcomers. According to her they could find banking in Canada different from their own countries of origin and so newcomers might wonder what to do with the vouchers that they find in their mailbox. “So the complexity of first, what is an RESP, why is the government giving money, where do I get it? … we are going to try, as all of our competitors will as well, to make this process as simple as possible.”

The vouchers will notify families of the amount that the government will deposit into qualifying children’s RESP accounts. Families can open an RESP account with any provider they choose.

Smart SAVER is organizing a series of special sign-up events across the city. Schools and community organizations across Toronto will promote voucher use and families will be able to access more information in 16 languages though a telephone information line, 416-479-8957 or through smartsaver.org.

1

Without substantial action, Canada faces debt crisis: report

BY DEREK ABMA, POSTMEDIA NEWS NOVEMBER 3, 2011

 

STORY 

• PHOTOS ( 1 )

 

 

Governments in Canada must adjust to coming changes brought on by an aging population, or risk a situation of unsustainable public debt that approaches what's now being seen in European countries like Greece, says a new study.

Photograph by: Chris Wattie, Reuters

Governments in Canada must adjust to coming changes brought on by an aging population, or risk a situation of unsustainable public debt that approaches what's now being seen in European countries like Greece, says a new study.

A report released Thursday from the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, an Ottawa-based research group, indicates that the amount of government debt in comparison to the size of the economy — or the debt-to-GDP ratio — will rise to almost 100 per cent by 2040 from less than 50 per cent now, under current public spending trends.

Jason Clemens, the think-tank's director of research, said this report takes into consideration government plans to eliminate deficits in the coming years, but looks at "structural deficits" that will emerge over the longer term.

The report, authored by Christopher Ragan, an economics professor at Montreal's McGill University, says this is the result of mass retirements of baby boomers leading to a combination of fewer workers to create economic growth and more demand on government spending, largely related to health care and the needs of the elderly.

The reports warns that Canada could hit the kind of "debt wall" seen in European countries, and almost faced by Canada in the 1990s. This can limit a country's access to international investment and lead to surging interest rates, it noted.

"A quick glance at the current situation in Greece and other highly indebted European countries should be all that is necessary to remind us of the dangers," wrote Ragan.

The study presents a number of measures that could help the situation, though most have their own pitfalls.

It emphasizes spending restraint and reductions in government, despite the fact such measures will be unpopular with the public.

"This essay is not the place to review the relative merit of specific spending programs, though this is precisely the exercise that all Canadian governments will soon need to embark upon in a serious and ongoing way," the report says.

Increasing taxation is also an option, it points out, while acknowledging this can carry political and economic costs. The report says most economists agree raising sales taxes, like the GST, would be the most effective way to raise lots of money with minimal drag on the economy, but it adds that "it is likely the least popular tax increase one could imagine implementing."

While the public might be more open to higher corporate taxes, the paper notes this can have negative consequences on economic growth.

"Finding the right balance between the economic costs and political costs requires considerable finesse on the part of the government, a balancing act that would be aided with clearly stated objectives and careful but honest communications," the report says.

Clemens added that the pain caused by action to deal with the aging population would be more easily absorbed if dealt with incrementally over a number of years rather than waiting until a crisis develops.

"We can implement difficult policy changes over 20 years where we don't displace people to any great extent, and we can methodically, incrementally implement these changes," he said. "Or we can do it in the middle of a crisis where we do have to displace people."

Some of the other recommendations include changes in government policy to increase the immigration rate, getting a bigger proportion of the population in the labour force and boosting the fertility rate.

However, these ideas also come with complications.

For example, for an increase in immigration to be effective it would have to focus on newcomers with higher-than-average labour-force participation rates and lower-than-average demand on public services, it says. Such emphasis could come at the expense of objectives, such as family reunification, and create controversy.

Coincidentally, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced Thursday that as many as 10,000 more skilled-worker immigrants would be allowed into Canada next year, resulting in between 55,000 and 57,000 immigrants under the skilled-worker program.

The report also says more people could be encouraged to join the labour force through things such as tax incentives, investment in child care, retraining programs and wage subsidization. But direct costs to government from these things versus their economic benefits would have to be carefully weighed, the paper notes.

It also raised the possibility of raising the age at which people can start receiving Canada Pension Plan payments, or the equivalent program in Quebec.

While financial incentives, such as "baby bonuses," could be used to encourage people to have more children, the case of Quebec using such measures shows the effect it has could be minimal in comparison to the decline in fertility rates over the last several decades. It notes that Canada has gone from an average of 3.6 children for every woman on average during the "baby boom" from the mid-1940s to the mid-1960s to just 1.7 children now.

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