Immigration lottery discriminates against “one-child families,” Federal Court hears
Immigration lottery discriminates against “one-child families,” Federal Court hears
The Federal Court has denied a request by scores of new Canadians to modify the lottery system that determines whose parents are invited to immigrate into the country, which they say discriminates against one-child families, especially from China.
The Court, in a decision released this morning, said it is up to the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to fix the “design-flaw” of the Parents and Grandparents Sponsorship Program (PGP) lottery, as the test cases brought before it involved the process relating to the lottery and not actual applications that resulted in a violation of the applicants’ rights.
“All the applicant families were asking for was an equal chance to enter the lottery and get an invitation to apply to bring their parents and grandparents to Canada,” said Richard Kurland, a Vancouver-based immigration lawyer.
Kurland said the design flaw in the lottery process favours families that have more children than others.
“Families with one child get one lottery ticket. Families with more than one child get more than one lottery ticket. The more children in a family, the more lottery tickets,” he said.
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