Immigration Canada

Targeting Canada’s ‘invisible’ Hispanic community

SIMON HOUPT — MARKETING REPORTER

From Friday's Globe and Mail

When there’s a gold rush on, smart people look for silver.

In the last few years, Canadian marketers have been retooling their organizations to target newcomers to the country. Ethnic media are bursting with ads targeting Chinese, Filipino and South Asian immigrants. (Or at least as bursting as media outlets are these days.) But there’s another group of newcomers, all but unknown and ignored, that some people believe present a sweet opportunity to savvy companies willing to learn another language: Hispanic-Canadians.

“Latin America is the fourth-largest source of immigration to Canada,” said Fabiola Sicard, the Toronto-based director of Latin markets for Bank of Nova Scotia, who is charged with convincing new Hispanic-Canadians to open accounts at her bank. On Wednesday evening, Ms. Sicard told a meeting of the Toronto Hispanic Chamber of Commerce that the number of immigrants from Latin American countries jumped by 121 per cent from the five-year periods of 1996-2000 to 2001-2006.

That much, at least, is known. But in sharp contrast to the U.S., where the Hispanic community is a 50 million-strong economic and political force that marketers study intently, their Canadian counterparts are practically invisible.

Chalk it up, said Ms. Sicard, to three obstacles: Hispanic-Canadians are a smaller market than other immigrant communities, they are geographically fragmented (stretching from the Venezuelan oil workers in Lethbridge, Alta., to IT professionals in Oakville, Ont., to dentists in Montreal), and there is almost no significant research that delves into their unique needs. Making matters worse, the eradication of Statistics Canada’s long-form census last year means the one half-decent source of information that marketers depended on is now gone.

But what little research exists suggests the Hispanic market – which numbers between 600,000 and 1.2 million, depending on the definition – is not just its own unique beast, but a valuable one.

Ms. Sicard presented Statscan data suggesting that, in contrast to the U.S. Hispanic community – which is stigmatized by its large proportion of illegal immigrants who have few English skills and a paucity of formal education – almost 50 per cent of Hispanic Canadians have at least a bachelor’s degree; another 12 per cent have a non-university diploma.

Which is why Scotiabank is making them a priority. While most Canadian banks provide special services to newcomers, from flexible accounts to Welcome Guides that provide basic information about citizenship, geography, customs and traditions, Ms. Sicard’s employer has identified Hispanic Canadians as an important growth market, especially for its StartRight bank accounts, which are tailored to the needs of newcomers.

But rather than using mainstream media to reach them, the bank is marketing at the grassroots, through professional associations, street festivals, and blogs aimed at people living in Latin American countries who are mulling a move north.

“We are targeting the Philippine and Hispanic community as well as the Chinese and South Asian communities,” Ms. Sicard said. “And guess what? We have more StartRight customers who speak Tagalog and Spanish than Mandarin or Punjabi. So the opportunity’s huge, because nobody’s targeting them, and everybody’s after the Chinese and South Asians.”

Still, there are reasons for caution.

“Chinese and South Asian are still the predominant groups,” said Bobby Sahni, the head of multicultural marketing for Rogers Communications Inc., who also addressed the THCC meeting. “So from a marketer’s perspective, obviously you’re going for scale, you’re trying to cover your big wins. That’s just the reality of any marketing – whether it’s multicultural, mass mainstream, or whatever – you want to get the biggest bang for your buck.”

But by focusing on the big fat targets, nimble marketers may be missing out on other opportunities. Ms. Sicard noted that, while Hispanics make up approximately 10 per cent of Canadian immigrants on an annual basis, they are overrepresented in Quebec, where they make up 20 per cent of immigrants.

“Within Montreal, it’s easier to target the Latin community,” Ms. Sicard said. “There, we offer a mortgage seminar in Spanish, 150 people show up. We don’t get that many attendees for our seminars in French or English. So that’s a big hit, just to provide it in Spanish.”

Best of all, she says, the Hispanic community is culturally cohesive, so marketers can avoid the pitfalls they encounter when trying to target other groups that may be riven by divisions. “You have a lot of people from Africa and the Middle East, but there are so many conflicts between them that it’s difficult to target and not offend another group. The advantage with Latinos in Montreal is that, just by marketing in Spanish, you cover them all and you don’t get in trouble.”

The Wednesday discussion included much breast-beating about the low profile of the Hispanic community in Canada. “We’re invisible,” complained Eduardo Uruena, founder and president of the local newspaper Diario El Popular. “It hurts.”

It may be that, before marketers pay attention to Hispanic-Canadians, the community is going to have to get better at marketing itself.

“When many of the Australian wines were starting to become popular in Canada, instead of Wolf Blass or Yellowtail or these different companies trying to take on the entire market and trying to build the profile and the brand of their wine alone, they actually unified and worked together to build the profile of Australian wines collectively,” Mr. Sahni noted.

“In the same case, whether it’s Hispanic media or Hispanic businesses – instead of trying to go at it on your own, I think there’s a lot of opportunity to work together.”

Until they do, they’ll be either invisible or mischaracterized. A few years ago, the mainstream Tex-Mex food brand Old El Paso aired an ad featuring Francesco Quinn (the Italian-born son of actor Anthony Quinn) laying on a thick Spanish accent while surrounded by chickens in a living room. It didn’t go over well among Hispanic-Canadians. “We are not that,” said Ms. Fabiola curtly. “There’s not a single Latin person I’ve asked about that ad who’s not mad about it.”

Canada: Once Again a Destination for European Immigration

While Canada, since the 1970’s, has progressively seen more of its immigration come from Asian countries, there has been at least some hard evidence that immigration from Europe is increasing as well.

Canada remains one of the few open immigrant-friendly countries. What’s more, in many respects it has suffered much less than most during the worldwide financial crisis that started in 2008—with its banks declared the best in the world.

With the effects of this financial crisis still being felt, and even intensifying in Europe, Canada has once again, like generations ago, become an option for European immigration.

Recent news stories on CanadaVisa.com highlight booming resource and energy-driven economies in provinces from one end of Canada to the other, such as:

Saskatchewan (see Destination Saskatchewan),
Alberta (see Alberta tops in North America for economic freedom),
British Columbia (see BC looking to boost skilled worker immigration), and
Newfoundland and Labrador (see Newfoundland and Labrador, another province in need of skilled labour).

The articles listed above point out that along with these economic booms, there has been a resulting skilled labour shortage that extends into the future. They also demonstrate that viable immigrant destinations exist in many of Canada’s provinces, not just in traditional immigrant enclaves like Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.

Another article on CanadaVisa.com explains that at least some of this skilled labour gap being felt across the country is being filled with Europeans: see Irish influx to Canada, more to come.

Florin Tiron, a Romanian carpenter, will be among these European newcomers. While he has been working in Italy for the past ten years, because of recent economic hardship in Italy he can only get work part time. He has therefore decided to leave, not to return to his native Romania, but instead to come to Canada under the Quebec Skilled Worker program.

Florin will come with his wife and young child, exactly the kind of demographic Quebec is after.

While Quebec is a great destination for highly skilled and educated workers, as profiled in last month’s CIC News articleQuebec’s Attraction for Knowledge-based Workers, it is also a great destination for trades people, such as bricklayers, and in the case of Florin, carpenters. Several trades like these score high in Quebec’s point-based immigration system, which also does not require a job offer like many other Canadian immigration programs.

Quebec is also home to an increasingly large number of Francophone Europeans who fill a spectrum of jobs in their new homebase.

With Spanish unemployment hovering around 20%, and Greek immigration to Germany up 84% this year alone—Germany being virtually the only vibrant economy left in Europe—Europeans are left looking for other options.

Nudrrat Khawaja is another case in point. She was born and lived most of her life in Lahore Pakistan, working as a Senior Associate Producer at the television station Express 24/7. More recently, however, she has been completing a Master’s of Business Administration in Liverpool, in the UK.

“I would have liked to stay in the UK,” she says, “but there are no jobs here for foreign students, or a clear way to become a resident, Canada is my only option.”

Nudrrat is planning to pursue her studies in Canada, where she then can become eligible for immigration under programs such as the Canadian Experience Class, or through the newly available PhD eligibility criteria of the Federal Skilled Worker program.

“Every time something bad happens in the world,” says Attorney David Cohen, “people think of Canada as an optional destination for them. Unfortunately there has been a lot of turmoil in the world these past few years, including in Europe. We are seeing that Canada has again become popular as a destination for Europeans like it was generations ago for my own family.”

Both for native born Europeans, like Florin, and for those in transit who might have in other circumstances remained in Europe, like Nudrrat, Canada’s stability, and varied provincial booms, position it once again to become a hot ticket for those across the pond.

Source: http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-once-again-a-destination-for-european-immigration.html

Harper Announces “Major Transformation” of Canadian Immigration

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this past week, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper outlined a plan for broad and lasting economic change in Canada.

Key to this plan is ‘significant reform of our immigration system’. Standing in front of an international audience of state representatives and private businesspeople, Harper stated: “We will ensure that, while we respect our humanitarian obligations and family reunification objectives, we make our economic and labour force needs the central goal of our immigration efforts in the future”.

Specific details as to how Canadian immigration systems will accommodate a large-scale shift in priorities were not included in his speech. However, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney later quantified some planned initiatives to address Harper’s goal of using the immigration system to directly respond to economic needs. He underscored Canada’s continued commitment to keeping immigration levels high, and was quick to point out that despite the global recession, Canada has accepted more immigrants per capita than any other developed country.

One significant change that Kenney expanded upon referred to the points grid used to assessFederal Skilled Worker applications. It will be changed to “look at younger workers, people with pre-arranged jobs, and also go to a system that’s more proactive; more reaching out and recruiting people who have the skills we need rather than just being an entirely passive system”. Central to this change in the points system will be a renewed emphasis on skilled trades learned through experience rather than higher education. Kenney states that “the skilled worker program basically selects people with advanced university degrees. But a lot of the job shortages in Canada are people with more basic [skills] – skilled trades for example”.

Many Provincial Nominee Programs have already been expanded to accommodate individuals who will contribute to the Canadian economy in this way. It is now hoped that by pursuing a similar structure federally, Canada will be able to use a more flexible immigration program to fill gaps in the job market.

These changes have the possibility to facilitate immigration for workers that were previously unable to qualify for permanent residency. “Skill is not necessarily defined by a college degree,” says Attorney David Cohen. “If this issue is addressed wisely, Canada will have the opportunity to attract valuable immigrants in the international labor pool who have been previously overlooked”. However, he cautions those now seeking to immigrate to Canada, stating that “currently qualified immigrants should not wait until changes take place, as it is unclear how they will stand under the new protocols”.

Kenney finished by noting that additional changes will be made in entrepreneurial and investor programs. Greater attention will be paid to individuals who come to Canada to set up “high tech and research & development-based companies that will create the wealth of the future”.

It is expected that a detailed and comprehensive plan for immigration reform will be presented some time in the spring. Though it targets immigration in skilled worker categories, it is unclear how (if at all) this will affect other streams of immigration such as family class. However, it appears that through these announced (and yet to be announced) changes, Prime Minister Harper is setting the stage for immigration policies that will affect a generation to come.

Source: http://www.cicnews.com/2012/01/harper-announces-major-transformation-canadian-immigration-011352.html

Websites to help recognize foreign credentials

The Canadian government has announced a new website, available now, that will help in the recognition of foreign credentials for newcomers to Canada. This comes on the back of a similar initiative announced recently from the government of Quebec specifically geared towards engineers.

The federal website, called The International Qualification Network (IQN), is a platform where regulatory bodies and professional organizations will post a variety of tools and information that can be used to accelerate the recognition of international credentials, something which has sometimes proved difficult for newcomers to Canada.

“The Government of Canada is committed to improving the process of recognizing foreign worker qualifications, and the IQN website will help find solutions that will allow immigrants to integrate better into the Canadian labour market,” said Immigration Minister Jason Kenney.

Early contributors to the service include nursing and midwifery organizations.

The site is not geared for immigrants themselves, but instead as a networking platform for subject matter experts involved in the recognition of foreign credentials, to improve their respective practices, which will reflect in how they serve their constituents: newcomers to Canada that require some form of professional recognition of their credentials to work in their field.

This differs from Quebec’s proposed website for foreign engineers, which will serve immigrants themselves, for exampleaccording to a previous CanadaVisa.com article, allowing them to “self-evaluate the estimated time it will take for them [to have their credentials recognized] and associated costs, and even track the progress of their applications as they progress through the process.”

New tools such as the one offered by Quebec, along with similar provincial initiatives across the country, then, will be able to tap into the IQN website, to further improve and accelerate the recognition of foreign credentials.

Source: http://www.canadavisa.com/news/entry/website-solutions-to-recognizing-foreign-credentials-011212.html

From Temporary Work Permit to Permanent Residency: A Brief Synopsis and Analysis of Options

Permanent Resident Card (2002-2007) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The path to Permanent Residency (PR) in Canada can be daunting in its complexity. However, some individuals find work in Canada before achieving permanent status, first entering on a Temporary Work Permit. This temporary permit can be a stepping stone towards PR. Indeed, in some ways the possession of a temporary work permit will ease a PR candidate’s overall application experience. For an individual who is already in Canada on a work permit, there are four main paths to transforming one’s temporary status to PR status.

Arranged Employment (through Federal Skilled Worker program)

Time Period: Approximately 12-18 months

For an educated, experienced worker in a skilled position, this program often presents the most straightforward path to PR. It consists of two steps

Step 1: The employer for whom the individual is working for on a temporary basis can offer a position of indefinite length. This is referred to as Arranged Employment.
Step 2: The worker must pass the FSW points system. This system attributes numerical value to things such as a job offer, adaptability, and education. If one has a job offer, higher education, and some language skills, they often have ample points to qualify.

Canadian Experience Class

Time Period: Approximately 1 year

Workers in skilled positions can apply under this program. This is often a choice option for individuals who are unable to meet the point requirements necessary for the Federal Skilled Worker program. The key difference between the two programs is that this category requires a candidate to garner the following experience in Canada:

2 years of work in Canada or
Post-secondary studies completed in Canada and 1 year of work

If one qualifies for this path they must be prepared to maintain continuous employment for one of the above time periods before applying for PR.

Provincial Nominee Program

Time Period: Varies by province, approximately 12-18 months in total

Many provinces, through agreements with the federal government, have robust provincial programs, which allow them to nominate foreign workers for PR. Pursuing this path from within Canada will vary greatly from province to province. However, in general these applications must be for workers with skilled positions, and will require involvement on the part of the employer. There are some things to note:

Some provinces have more active programs than others. Some prefer to target specific skill sets. This can dictate how one’s PNP application moves forward.
Like other programs, PNP seeks skilled laborers. In Alberta only, there are some avenues to be nominated with an unskilled job.

For individuals outside of Canada, it is worth noting that if nominated, a foreign worker can receive a temporary work permit while they wait for PR.

Quebec Experience Class

Time Period: varies greatly, less than 1 year

The province of Quebec has unique agreements with the federal government that allow it to put special immigration systems in place. Generally, candidates on temporary work permits must work in Quebec for a minimum of 1 year in a skilled position. Most importantly, they must speak at least intermediate French under this particular program. After approval, they will receive a Quebec Selection Certificate, which will allow them to reside permanently in the province.

Unlike other programs, Quebec allows individuals on temporary Working Holiday visas to apply for PR, providing they meet the aforementioned requirements.

It is important to remember that there is no ‘best’ or ‘worst’ road to achieving PR, and that a temporary work permit is not required to secure PR. Each program has been designed to facilitate the entrance of workers who will positively contribute to Canada’s labor market. All those wishing to immigrate permanently to Canada should choose the path which best matches their unique experiences and abilities.

Source: http://www.canadavisa.com/from-temporary-work-permit-to-permanent-residency-a-brief-synopsis-and-analysis-of-options.html

Refusal rate of visitors’ visas at its peak: Liberal

The refusal rate of visitor visas has skyrocketed under the current Conservative government, Liberal MPs charged at a series of community outreach meetings and town halls they held across the GTA last week.

That is what’s really happening behind the smoke-and-mirrors thrown up by Citizenship and Immigration Canada Minister Jason Kenney through the Super Visa, and the temporary, two-year parental sponsorship freeze, they alleged.

They added there would also be cuts to overall immigration levels.
“This year alone, they (the Conservatives) estimate cutting the number of immigrants admitted to
Canada by 30,000,” said Liberal Citizenship and Immigration critic Kevin Lamoureux.

“With their majority government, the Conservatives are choosing to ignore all the hard-working new Canadians who elected them based on their empty promises,”? Lamoureux added.

He noted the Super Visa was supposed to bring families closer together by allowing parents and grandparents to visit their children in Canada for up to two years at a time over a decade.

“But the reality is that most families won’t be able to afford the high-costs involved with the visa, including meeting minimum salary levels and paying thousands for private health insurance.

“Worse, the Super Visa controversy is distracting attention from the Conservatives’ decision to freeze parental sponsorship applications for two years — breaking a promise to new Canadians,” Lamoureux added.

He said that for some, having the right to sponsor their parents is the reason they chose to come to Canada. “What the Conservatives have done — no matter what their excuse — is not right,” he said.

Other MPs who formed part of last week’s Liberal offensive included Kirsty Duncan, John McCallum, Frank Valeriote, John McKay and Jim Karygiannis, who is also the party’s multiculturalism critic.

Karygiannis in particular took aim at the Tories’ stand on parental sponsorship.

“The family, which includes grandparents, is the very foundation of many of our multicultural communities,” he noted.

“While the Harper Conservatives say they are the party of family values, Kenney has proved that this is not so,” Karygiannis said.

Source: http://www.southasianfocus.ca/news/article/103763

Study suggests that Canada’s Provincial Nominee Programme is working well

The majority of immigrants selected by provinces and territories under the Provincial Nominee Programme (PNP) are succeeding in Canada, according to a new study.

The PNP is the second largest economic immigration programme after the Federal Skilled Worker Programme (FSWP). It allows participating provinces and territories to nominate potential immigrants who they believe will meet their particular economic and labour market needs. The PNP has grown almost six fold since 2004 and currently accounts for over 36,000 new permanent residents per year.

The study by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) focused on the economic outcomes and mobility of provincial nominees (PNs) admitted between 2005 and 2009. Overall, the report has found that the programme is working well, although there are differences in economic outcomes by province or territory and by PNP stream.

The scope of the study was limited to assessing the PNP from a national perspective. Provinces and territories are expected to conduct regular evaluations of their own PNPs.

‘Clearly, provincial nominees have strong economic outcomes and are making a positive contribution to Canada,’ said Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney.

According to the report more than 90% percent of PNs declared employment earnings after one year in Canada. After three years, their average income ranged between $35,200 and $45,100. Although results varied by stream and location, about 70% of the PNs surveyed held a job in line with their skills.

CIC’s study confirmed that the PNP is effective in helping to spread the benefits of immigration across the country. Today, 26% of all economic immigrants are destined for provinces other than Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec, compared to 11% in 1997. However, retention rates of PNs in their province or territory of nomination vary widely, from 23% to 95%.

The evaluation also pointed to certain areas of the PNP in need of improvement, such as some aspects of programme design, delivery and accountability. Currently, each province and territory with a PNP is responsible for the design and programme requirements for their nominee categories, which must always respect federal immigration regulations.

To ensure better economic outcomes, the report recommends that there be minimum language standards for all PNs and stronger links between PN occupations and specific local labour market needs.

It also calls for greater clarity in the roles and responsibilities of the provinces and territories and CIC visa offices abroad in areas such as fraud detection.

In addition, the report recommends that CIC work with the provinces and territories to strengthen the focus on the PNP objective of encouraging the development of official language minority communities. Finally, the evaluation proposes that a common PNP monitoring and reporting framework be established to strengthen overall accountability.

‘As I’ve said in the past, we are excited about this programme but realise that it needs improvement in key areas,’ said Kenney.

In 2012, CIC plans to admit between 42,000 and 45,000 immigrants under the PNP category, including spouses and dependants. This year, the provinces and territories will retain the same overall and individual PNP nomination allotments as in 2011.

Changes to immigration system will help Canada bring in tradespeople: Kenney

BY ROBERT HILTZ, POSTMEDIA

OTTAWA — Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says changes are coming to Canada’s immigration system to make it more flexible in an effort to combat labour shortages.

Kenney told CTV’s Question Period that the government is planning to change the points system for selecting immigrants to recognize the skilled trades. This policy change would alter the focus of the traditional immigration preference for university-educated migrants including engineers and doctors.

“People who are skilled tradespeople have an almost impossible job of coming to Canada under our current system because the skilled worker program basically selects people with advanced university degrees,” Kenney told CTV.

He said by opening up the border to more trade-oriented workers, the federal government will be able to attract “hidden jewels” that will help fill labour shortages in specific areas.

NDP MP Olivia Chow said the federal government would serve Canadians better by training people out of work at home, before looking abroad to fill labour needs.

“We have 1.4 million Canadians looking for work and the apprenticeship programs and school training programs can certainly be ramped up,” Chow said. “Those (companies) that train workers — and train unemployed workers especially — should be rewarded with a tax break.”

She said Canada has relied on immigration too often to fill needs in the labour market, where there are plenty of options at home.

Chow said only bringing in workers would make it difficult for those who gain residency or citizenship to bring their families to Canada.

Kenney said there were plans to make it easier to deport people from the country found to be inadmissible by immigration officials.

“We’ll be coming forward with legislation on that in this term of Parliament to streamline the number of almost endless appeals that exist,” he said.

“When these people hire clever lawyers, they’re able to go back with endless appeals,” Kenney said. “We need to say, ‘You get your day in court in Canada, but not 20 years in court.’ ”

Chow said there is no need to change the rules surrounding deportation to remove people from Canada. Instead, she said, the Canada Border Services Agency should keep better track of individuals set for deportation.

A scathing auditor general’s report released in November said the CBSA was lacking guidance, training and information to properly determine who should and shouldn’t be let into Canada.

In an effort to track down people set for deportation, the CBSA rolled out a most wanted list to enlist the public’s help in tracking down people convicted of serious crimes and suspected war criminals that have slipped past the CBSA.

Kenney used as example the case of Leon Mugesera, a suspect wanted in his native Rwanda and accused of inciting the 1994 genocide — where close to one million minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered. Mugesera was shipped back to his homeland this month after at 15 year legal battle over his deportation — an example that Chow said was extreme.

The minister also said there were no plans to expand the recent changes to government regulations making it mandatory for immigrants taking the oath of citizenship to reveal their faces, even if they wear traditional coverings like the niqab or burka.

He said it was already standard procedure for face coverings to be removed in interviews with visa officers.

“The general principle should be that when citizens are interacting with the government, with the state, they should be showing us who they are, uncovering their faces, and I think we’re taking a reasonable approach to that,” he said.

rhiltz@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/robert—hiltz

Immigration flexibility will attract ‘hidden jewels’ to Canada: Kenney

By Robert Hiltz