Canadian needs to double Immigration targets
Canadian needs to double Immigration targets
CANADIAN IMMIGRATION NEWS AND VIEWS
Canada already has a very generous immigration system that sees somewhere between 225,000 and 250,000 new permanent residents each year. The government of the day, whether Liberal or Conservative, often boasts of how well the system has worked in achieving their targeted goal. Recent Statistics Canada results suggest that within the next few decades 100% of Canadian growth in population will be the result of immigration only. That is, we will have to do twice as good at selecting and processing immigrants if Canada is to survive.
Canada has been lucky enough or blessed enough to be one of the premier destination countries for foreign nationals who are looking for a new home. Skilled workers, professionals, business people, spouses and children, parents and grand-parents and refugees all make up the rich resource of new permanent residence that Canada receives each year. But the recent Stats Can assessment reveals that we need twice as many.
Before the Liberal government took power in 1993 they held up their “Red Book” as a promises the on hand stating they intended 300,000 immigrants for Canada but they used the other hand to slash and gut the immigration department by retiring skilled and experienced officers and closing visa posts. They looked for new and efficient ways to process applicants including restricting where applicants could file, a new Act, new selection systems, a method of “down-loading” to the provinces (the ever so popular Provincial Nominee Programs), allowing and encouraging foreign workers and students to stay in Canada (despite the inherent contradiction that to be able to come as a worker or student you will be denied if you say you want to stay in Canada), ultimately, the backlogs have increased ten-fold going from six months to six years where there are now an estimated 800,000 people waiting for processing. A plaque to immigration and it turns out on Canada since our natural replacement rate is far too low to sustain a population.
The Conservatives had done little else to try and get the process moving better. We see increasing deals with the provinces, a “simplified” form that “simply” means that they want to hold your money but do nothing else for five or six years, but we do see more money for settlement which is nice because we will need ways to help people establish themselves quickly in Canada.
Immigration has traditionally been Canada’s equalizer as a method of adding well-trained skilled working age people to our economy without the great expense of raising and training those people. The nature of the immigrants themselves has changed as well. Whereas years ago many would come to Canada happy with the opportunity to work at anything and build their lives, the expectation today is that immigrants should be able to just start where they left off. It is not the fault of the immigrant. After all, the government “advertises” that they need certain types; employers say they need certain types and have job shortages, but when the people arrive the infrastructure is not as developed to allow them to start where they left off.
The global situation too has changed. Many of these skilled and professional workers come from countries where there is some level of prosperity but for a variety of reasons (children’s future, insecurity, instability) they decide to give another country a try. Perhaps some does or reality should be injected to them too.
We see the great boom in western Canada where new cities have been created because of work opportunities. Are those cities ready to handle ethnic diversity? How will Fort McMurray retain the foreign workers who have come there putting their blood, sweat and tears into the booming economy? Will the workers leave when the jobs dry up and why? If we want other cities in Canada to develop, these are the hard questions we need to look at. Really look at ourselves in the mirror and see who we are.
Despite these problems new applicants are added everyday. Some of them luck enough to find a fast ticket to Canada through a Work Permit or Provincial Program, while others will wait 3, 4, 5 and 6 or more years for their turn to come to Canada. The backlog grows everyday. Will Canada only act when we see our population decline? Do we think we can turn on the tap in an instant?
Have a question? Send them to Berto Volpentesta or to the editor.
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Berto Volpentesta of Cannex Immigration Specialists is a Certified Canadian Immigration Consultant and has been a practicing consultant in Toronto since 1991, Member of the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants. Contact him at: (416) 398 8882 or (416) 787 0612 or by email at berto@canneximmigration.com and on the web at www.canneximmigration.com
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