Is N.L. immigration plan too ambitious? 3 migrants share their thoughts

St. John's, Newfoundland (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Geoff Bartlett, CBC New

The Newfoundland and Labrador government's new immigration strategy aims to boost the number of people coming to the province from other countries by 50 per cent in the next five years — but what do immigrants already living here think of that plan?

CBC's St. John's Morning Show put together a panel of three immigrants who all said that employment is the key to keeping new citizens.  

Sean Charters (South Africa)

Sean Charters moved to St. John's 18 years ago from Johannesburg, South Africa to escape the crime and violence there.

"When I came there was the absolute sense of relief that you could relax in your own home," he said.

South Africa is the most southernmost country in Africa with a population of nearly 55,000,000 people. (Google Maps)

He likes the idea that Newfoundland and Labrador are open to accepting new immigrants, but wonders if setting a target of 50 per cent over five years is a sound plan.

Charters, who works in marketing and communications, would instead like to see a correlation between the number of jobs available in any given year, and a number of people allowed in.

"It's all very well saying you're going to have people coming and be a positive influence on society, but unless you have something for them to do it's difficult for them to stay," he said.

Bumble (Nigeria)

Memorial University business student Olubunmi Adetutu Ogunsakin, better known as Bunmibee, has been studying in St. John's for nearly two years, and feels much safer here than she did back home in Nigeria.

Nigeria is a country in West Africa with a population of roughly 188,465,000 people. (Google Maps)

Bunmibee would like to stay in the province to work when she finishes her degree, but said it all depends on job opportunities at the time.

"What I like most about St. John's is that the people are very nice," she said. "The environment here is kind of relaxed. I'm not really a big city person all of the time."

Romel Maligaya (Philippines)

More than seven years after being transferred to St. John's by his employer, Transocean, Romel Maligaya has lived previously in Trinidad and the Middle East, as well as his home in the Philippines.

Maligaya said his family still very much enjoys it here — and surprisingly even likes the weather.

The Philippines is a country in Southeast Asia with a population of about 101,000,000 people. (Google Maps)

"It's the peace and quiet. It's a really good place for families and small kids," he said. "The weather in the Philippines is dangerous. The snow doesn't damage homes here."

He shares the sentiment that the government's plan to bring in 50 per cent more immigrants in the next five years may be a little ambitious, and thinks 10 years would be more reasonable.

"They need to create jobs first and then bring people," said Maligaya, a chartered professional accountant. "There is a danger of people being unemployed or underemployed."

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/immigration-panel-newfoundland-1.4043649

Students turn to Canada in Trump immigration era

Deutsch: Toronto: Hart House (Studentenzentrum der Universität Toronto am St. George Campus) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Source: By The Washington Post  on March 28, 2017, at 10:50 AM, updated March 28, 2017, at 10:54 AM

Khaled Almilaji has been stranded in Turkey since January. His wife, pregnant with their first child, is waiting at their home in Rhode Island. His classes at Brown University's School of Public Health are well into the second semester. Ever since his student visa was revoked, he has been trying to keep up, somehow, from across the ocean.

After a federal judge had frozen President Donald Trump's executive order on immigration this month, Almilaji had more hope of getting back to his wife. But he understands his new reality as a Syrian trying to study in the United States: "I have to accept being lost between orders and anti-orders."

Suddenly, Canada is looking like a really good option.

"Canada is having a moment," Ted Sargent, vice president-international at the University of Toronto, said last month. "It is a time of opportunity."

Applications from international students have increased at universities across the country, said Paul Davidson, president of Universities Canada.

The number of international students coming to Canada doubled in the past decade. But in the last year, some events globally have added to its appeal for some students. The Brexit vote for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, and the U.S. election, seem to have been factors, Davidson said.

Traffic to the Universities Canada website, an entry point for many people looking for more information about schools in the country, has doubled since November. Many of the most elite Canadian universities had large increases in applications from the United States: Up 25 percent at McGill, 35 percent at McMaster.

At the University of Toronto, U.S. applications increased almost 80 percent this year.

Rebekah Robinson, a high school senior from Severn, Md., was drawn to Toronto for its academic reputation and climate, as well as the diversity in the city. As an African American at a predominantly white school who hopes to one day be a translator working in diplomacy, she found the ethnic mix particularly appealing.

And she's not a Donald Trump supporter, so his presidential win made Canada look even better. "After the election, when more and more things were happening - it just seemed like a really great idea," she said.

Andrew Hong, a 17-year-old from New Jersey, is going to the Toronto next fall as well, eager to study artificial intelligence at a top-ranked university. The tuition isn't high compared to many U.S. schools, and the exchange rate makes it particularly affordable, he said. He wasn't thinking much about Trump when he was considering which colleges to apply to, either, but given election results he doesn't agree with, he said, "Maybe going to another country would be nice for a change."

Read more at http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2017/03/immigrant_student_canada.html

Application for a Temporary Work Permit – Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program

Map highlighting Atlantic Canada (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If you are eligible to apply for the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program, you may also be eligible to apply for a one year work permit. To qualify for a temporary work permit, you must:

• have a job offer from a designated employer in an Atlantic Province;
• have a job offer that is full-time and not seasonal;
• have an offer of employment number (LMIA-exemption number) from your employer;
• have a Referral Letter issued by one of the Atlantic Provinces asking us to issue a work permit;
• commit to apply for permanent residence within 90 days of submitting your work permit application; and
• meet all other requirements to apply for a work permit.

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