Canada announces new funding to deliver settlement assistance to newcomers and refugees

To help newcomers settle, adapt and integrate into Canadian society, Canadian government, in partnership with provinces, territories and settlement providers, has been delivering programs and services to migrants, and providing stakeholders necessary funding to support these initiatives.

Under the Workplace Skills Initiative of Advantage Canada plan, government is investing over $560,000 in the Work in Nova Scotia (WINS) project. Nova Scotia designed WINS not only to help integrate newcomers into the workplace but also to address skills gaps and labor shortages in small- and medium-sized businesses. It is estimated that approximately 350 individuals and 250 small- and medium-sized enterprises will benefit from this project. WINS is managed by the Metropolitan Immigrant Settlement Association (MISA) and was launched as a bridging program to help newcomers in Nova Scotia achieve their employment goals. The Nova Scotia Office of Immigration will also contribute $36,275 to support the project.

As part of $1.4 billion ‘additional settlement funding package’ to provinces and territories other than Quebec, the Multicultural Association of Fredericton in New Brunswick will receive about $2.7 million to deliver services that will help newcomers become established in Fredericton and surrounding areas. These services include language training, translation and interpretation, and referrals to community resources. The Association will also provide youth settlement workers who will work with newcomer youth in the community.

Under the same federal package, the Multicultural Association of the Greater Moncton Area (MAGMA) in New Brunswick will also receive $1.3 million funding to help newcomers access orientation and other services, including referrals to community resources and assistance, language training in both French and English, and help establishing contacts in their field of work.

For 2008-09, New Brunswick will be receiving more than $2.7 million in basic settlement funding, an increase of more than $900,000 over the previous year.

Under the $6.5 million Resettlement Assistance Program of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) for 2008-09, the Immigrant Services Society of British Columbia will receive more than $1.3 million to assist up to 800 refugees with temporary accommodations, food and incidentals, orientation sessions and counselling and referral services. This is in addition to $109 million settlement funding that is being provided to the Province directly for 2008-09 to design and deliver settlement support services to all newcomers including refugees.

Canada and Yukon announce new agreement to encourage immigration in the territory

To establish a collaborative approach encouraging immigration to Yukon, the federal government and the territorial government of Yukon have decided to strengthen their existing partnership by announcing a new agreement on immigration.

The ‘Canada-Yukon Cooperation on Immigration’ agreement will provide a framework to the governments at both level in discharging their shared responsibility on immigration. Build upon the original agreement signed between the two governments in 2001, the new agreement introduced various new provisions aimed to help Yukon’s businesses and economy continue to grow.

For example, new agreement includes a provision that will enhance cooperation between Canada and Yukon in overseas promotion and recruitment activities to help attract skilled immigrants, temporary workers and students to Yukon. Similarly, a modified Yukon Nominee Program (YNP) will run on a one-year pilot with no annual limit.

To address the settlement and integration needs of immigrants and refugees, both governments will promote better working relationship to secure recognition of foreign qualifications and faster integration of immigrants into the labor market.

The new agreement also ensures that federal government will continue to invest in basic settlement services delivered in Yukon through partner agencies. The ongoing funding to the territory since 2006-07 has reached to more than $1 million after a recently announced $341,000 and $219,000 in December 2007. This funding is going toward the delivery of programs and services for newcomers such as information and orientation sessions, language training, and support in establishing networks and contacts.

Besides this settlement funding, federal government is also contributing more than $800,000 over four years to help Yukon launch an immigration web portal for the territory. The new territorial web portal (http://www.immigration.gov.yk.ca/) complements the agreement by enhancing online content, tools and services for newcomers. The portal will serve to promote the territory as a destination of choice, and help immigrants settle and prosper in the region. The portal will also be used to support eligible municipal-level online projects relevant to newcomers.

The agreement also recognizes the territory’s interest in enhancing the vitality of French linguistic minority communities in its jurisdiction.

As of December 2007, Yukon's population was 32,335, an increase of only 379 compared to December 2006. Additionally unemployment is relatively low at 3.9 per cent. In 2006, Yukon welcomed 193 newcomers: 65 permanent residents and 128 temporary residents.

Proposed amendments: Finance Committee starting clause-by-clause study of Bill C-50; final reading is expected in two weeks

As far as the final vote time on Bill C-50 is approaching, the situation about the proposed amendments in Canada’s immigration laws is becoming more and more confusing.

The Budget 2008-09 Implementation Bill, or Bill C-50, that proposes few controversial amendments in current immigration procedures is under review of House of Common’s Finance Committee these days. The committee is starting a clause-by-clause study of the said bill this week, after that it will be sent back to Commons for a third and final vote. The House of Common will sit for another two weeks until June 6, but the government could extend the sitting time to June 20.

Meanwhile, the House of Common’s Immigration Committee has submitted a report to Finance Committee and recommended to kill these controversial amendments from Bill C-50. The report argues that proposed amendments in immigration laws would not apply to applicants before February 27, 2008, and due to the prioritization of new applications, the current wait times will further increase for applicants who applied before February 27.

The New Democratic Party (NDP) of Canada also suggested Finance Committee to split the budget bill into two bills by separating the budget reforms and proposed immigration reforms.

Outside of the Parliament, the Canadian Bar Association, the Canadian Labor Congress, the faith groups and immigrant communities across Canada have expressed their reservations about the proposed amendments.

While on the other hand, government seems very confident that the proposed changes will help reduce a backlog of nearly one million applications of permanent residence and make Canada’s immigration system more responsive to labor market needs. Conservatives are fully struggling to pass the bill in its actual form and declared that no amendment in the proposed legislation will be accepted.

Now in the emerging situation, the role of Liberals will become more and more important in the coming days. Liberals dominate in the Senate of Canada and they may support government’s proposed amendments in the Senate as they did in the House of Commons. Liberals have also refused to support the cross-country hearings on this important legislation when the Finance Committee proposes to launch a study to come up with an alternative approach that would accomplish the same goals while protecting the integrity of the system.

Ontario funds 40 new bridge training programs for internationally trained newcomers

The Ontario government has announced to invest $24.7 million in providing skilled newcomers a better access to jobs that match their qualifications and experience.

The funding will be used for 40 new provincial projects that will help internationally trained newcomers bridge their credentials and experience into Ontario qualifications. This bridging will be provided in various job sectors including education, engineering, finance, healthcare, research and innovation, social work and trades through occupation-specific language and technical trainings, mentorship, skills assessment and work experience.

For example, University of Toronto will receive $192,630 in funding to develop a language assessment tool recognized professionally to help more internationally trained pharmacists pass their licensing exam. Likewise, the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers will receive $83,800 in funding to design a pre-exam course to prepare engineers to write the Professional Practice Examination, part of the licensure process for internationally trained engineers.

These new bridging projects are expected to benefit 3,000 skilled newcomers to GTA, Kitchener-Waterloo Region, Hamilton, London, Niagara Region and Ottawa.

As part of the Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement, the federal government is contributing $8.1 million to partially fund some of these bridging projects.

Since 2003 the Ontario government has invested over $85 million in 145 bridge training programs, helping more than 20,000 newcomers improve their language skills, prepare for exams and work in their field sooner.

Canada launches third pilot of Off-Campus Work Permit scheme for international students to private institutions in B.C.

As part of its efforts to make Canada a more attractive choice for international students, Canadian government has now announced to expand the pilot version of its Off-Campus Work Permit (OCWP) program for international students to 11 private institutions in the Province of British Columbia (B.C.).

The OCWP, which allows international students at post-secondary institutions to work off-campus, is recognized as a tool that provides international students with an opportunity to participate in robust labor markets of Canada, gain Canadian work experience, and finally convince many of them to establish career in Canada after graduation. It was launched nationally on April 27, 2006 after a series of successful pilot projects at publicly funded institutions in the provinces and territories.

To extend the OCWP to private institutions on a pilot basis, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) started discussions with interested provinces and territories in December 2006. Following extensive consultations, federal and provincial governments reached on an agreement to implement the project on a province-by-province basis and for only those programs and institutions, including privately-funded post-secondary education institutions, that offer degrees recognized or authorized by that Province or territory.

On September 12, 2007, first pilot project of this series was implemented in the Province of Alberta. As a result of this project, eligible international students who were enrolled in specific qualifying programs at Ambrose University College, Canadian University College, Concordia University College of Alberta, St. Mary’s University College, Taylor University College and Seminary, and The King’s University College became eligible to apply for off-campus work permits.

Just after a day, second pilot project of this series was implemented for eligible international students in qualifying programs at the Canadian Mennonite University, Providence College and Seminary and William and Catherine Booth College in the Province of Manitoba.

Now, on May 20, 2008, third pilot of this series has now been implemented in the Province of B.C. After this expnasion, eligible international students who are enrolled in specific qualifying programs at the following private post-secondary institutions will become eligible to apply for off-campus work permits immediately: Adler School of Professional Psychology, Alexander College, City University, Columbia College, Fairleigh Dickinson University, New York Institute of Technology, Quest University Canada, Sprott-Shaw Community College, Trinity Western University, University Canada West, and University of Phoenix (British Columbia).

Eligible international students at the private post-secondary institutions in participating provinces and territories will be able to work up to 20 hours per week off-campus while classes are in session, full-time during summer and winter breaks, and over their reading weeks. Because OCWP remains valid for up to 90 days after graduation, it will help international students in obtaining an open type work permit of three-year duration with no restrictions on the type of employment and no requirement for a job offer under the recently amended Post-Graduation Work Permit scheme for international students.

These pilot expansions of the OCWP will run for a period of four-year following a comprehensive review undertaken by the province.

Canada announces more relaxed rules for the renewal of permanent resident card

Canadian department of Citizenship and Immigration (CIC) has recently announced few changes to the process of applying for renewal of a permanent resident card (or PR card) that will allow valid card holders to still travel outside of Canada while their application for renewal of PR card would be in process.

Effective April 21, 2008, Canadian permanent residents seeking renewal of their PR cards can hold on to their still-valid cards and return them to a CIC officer at time of collecting the new card. If the card is already expired, then it should be returned with the application for renewal. In all cases, a replacement card will not be issued until the previous card is returned or otherwise accounted for.

In past, applicants applying to renew their PR card were required to submit their soon-to expire card along with their renewal application, which prohibit them to leave Canada for the waiting period of approximately ten weeks. Canadians living abroad could still apply to renew their PR cards via mail by providing enough documents to prove their identity at a Canadian government-approved law firm.

The PR card is a status document that provides secure proof of permanent resident status to landed immigrants. To be eligible for a PR Card, an individual must be a permanent resident of Canada and be physically present in Canada. A permanent resident who is under an effective removal order may not be found eligible for the card. Permanent residents who are outside Canada and do not have a valid PR Card must apply for a travel document from a Canadian visa office in order to return to Canada.

Canada attempts to remove vestiges exist in its in-Canada related policies and procedures

Despite few government Bills, such as C-17 and C-50, that are still pending in the Parliament of Canada and propose few controversial amendments in Canada’s current immigration laws, there are other significant developments side-by-side that drives government to review contentious immigration policies and fix them. Following are the details of such two important improvements occurred in last few days.

The Canadian Parliament has recently passed a legislative amendment in Canada’s immigration law that will end deportations of spouses, of Canadian citizens or permanent residents, having outstanding in-Canada applications until a decision is rendered on their cases.

Currently, the married couples living in Canada and who have outstanding in-Canada applications for spousal sponsorship can still be separated and even deported before a decision is made on their case.

The motion was moved by the immigration critic of New Democratic Party (NDP) Olivia Chow, which will help to remove the backlog of nearly 22,000 such cases waiting to be deported. In last year February, a similar motion by NDP forced government to change its policy that require gay immigrants to marry inside Canada for their marriages to be recognized and at least one partner had to be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. As a result, same-sex marriages legally performed in Canada and in foreign jurisdictions are now recognized for all immigration purposes. The same-sex marriages were made legal throughout Canada in 2005.

On the other hand, the officials at the department of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) are now seriously considering to simplify the landing process for those skilled workers and business immigrants who have filed their immigration cases to visa posts outside Canada but have moved to Canada in some lawful temporary status before a permanent resident visa is issued to them overseas. The new policy change, if implemented, will allow such applicants to get their landing without leaving Canada. Presently, applicants in skilled worker and business immigrant categories are required to drive or fly to the nearest Canadian port of entry to seek landing.

Canada plans to make language tests mandatory for fresh applicants in Economic class

Although the Bill C-50 that proposes controversial legislative amendments in Canada’s immigration law is still pending, the ministry of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has plans to make mandatory for all applicants in the Economic Class (Skilled workers and business immigrants) to undergo a formal third-party language test in English or French to prove proficiency in one of Canada's official languages, regardless of their nationality, mother tongue, or language of instruction.

The policy change, if implemented, would not be applied hopefully to applications already in process, or to those who have applied under the family class.

At present, applicants in skilled worker and business categories can “elect” to take a language test from any of CIC’s approved organizations or submit other evidence of their abilities in one of Canada’s official languages. However, the proposed change will require a fresh applicant in these categories to undergo a language test from an approved organization, which includes IELTS (International English Language Testing System) for English and TEF (Test d’évaluation de français) for French.

In my opinion, this planned requirement will actually not hurt the current frequency of fresh applications worldwide, but a fair policy with reasonable exemptions would be acceptable for everyone. It is a fact that assessing an individual’s language skills based on evidences other than IELTS or TEF is typical and affect the overall process time of an application but requiring native English or French speakers to take the test would not be fair and consistent. Likewise, it would also not fair to use the same language benchmark for applicants in different job categories. For example, applicants in Skill Level B, C and D may require a lower score in language test than Skill Level A or Skill Type 0.

For you, it should be helpful to know that proficiency in English, French or both will significantly help you in your settlement in Canada and in Canadian job market. If you feel more comfortable in English than French (or don’t know French) your score in IELTS can help you to claim up to 16 points in immigration assessment. CIC recognizes IELTS as a trusted and valid indicator of your English language abilities and awards points based on your individual scores in Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking capabilities. For the purpose of immigration to Canada, you will be required to select the General training option of IELTS test while you can use language test result for one year from the time you took the test.

IELTS is one of the fastest growing English language tests in the world, which is jointly managed by British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia and University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations. IELTS tests are available up to 48 times a year at 500 authorised test centres in 120 countries. More than 6,000 education institutions, faculties, government agencies and professional organisations in over 68 countries recognise IELTS. In 2007, over 940,000 candidates around the world join IELTS to fulfill university entrance requirements, new immigration policies and professional recognition throughout the English-speaking world.

Peterborough formed a partnership council to develop and implement local immigration strategy

Following a partnership between the Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) and the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration (MCI) to strengthen the role of local and regional communities in serving and integrating immigrants, the city of Peterborough has recently formed a council to draw immigrants and sought funding from federal and provincial governments to plot their integration plan.

The Peterborough Partnership Council (PPC) includes more than 25 representatives from Peterborough city, economic development agencies, law enforcement, education, and the industry. This Council will not only prepare a strategy to increase immigration to Peterborough area but also develop a resettlement strategy for comprehensive integration and retention of newcomers to Peterborough. This Council will also prepare an application to demand federal and provincial funding for the development and implementation of local solutions and take ownership of social and economic integration of new immigrants.

Other associations which are playing a major role in the partnership process include the Greater Peterborough Area Economic Development Corporation (GPAEDC), Community and Race Relations Committee, Trent University and the New Canadians Centre Peterborough. The role of these associations in the partnership council is to help ensure a strong labor force for the future by focusing on different areas such as settlement services, language training, international students and labor market integration.

Peterborough has the second oldest workforce in Canada but one of the lowest attractions of immigrant rate. Statistics Canada's 2006 census population numbers, released in December 2007, show that 12,450 immigrants live in Peterborough and area. That's about 10 per cent of the 131,520 total populations. Of the more than 12,000, about 10,000 are from Europe and the United States, and only 2,625 are visible minorities from Asia, Africa and Latin America. According to Statistics Canada, immigrants living in the Peterborough region had a median wage 3.5 per cent more than all residents.

Canada announces new funding to support the advancement of newcomer women and their families

To help newcomers settle, adapt and integrate into Canadian society, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), in partnership with provinces, territories and settlement providers, has been delivering programs and services to migrants and providing stakeholders necessary funding to support these initiatives.

A new funding of $947,370 has recently been announced for St. Joseph Immigrant Women’s Center to continue delivering settlement services to an estimated 530 newcomers in Hamilton and surrounding area. In addition to already granted over $2.5 million for this organization in 2008, this new funding will specifically be used to start a new Family Settlement Center in addition to support the essential settlement services including language and job skills training, finding job and getting settled in their new community. The new proposed Family Settlement Center in East Mountain area will specialize in providing settlement services to newcomer women and their families, support their advancement and full participation in the community.

Similarly, a new funding of more than $8.4 million has been announced for five partner agencies in the Kitchener-Waterloo region to deliver settlement services, including language training and employment-related support, to new immigrants. These five agencies include the following: YMCA of Kitchener-Waterloo ($4,330,299), Kitchener-Waterloo Multicultural Center ($411,306), English at First ($848,065), Waterloo Catholic District School Board ($2,861,477) and Conestoga College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning ($36,539). This funding is expected to help an estimated 1,200 immigrants in Kitchener-Waterloo area.

Few weeks earlier, Conestoga College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning has been granted $3.2 million for developing and delivering brand new English-language training services to meet the increasingly diverse needs of newcomers. That funding was provided to Conestoga under the Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) program to train more than 250 newcomers in Kitchener-Waterloo area.

Likewise, the YMCA Cross Cultural and Community Services in Kitchener-Waterloo and Cambridge has recently received $1.4 million to fund a business mentoring program for immigrants, developed and administered by YMCA.

These funding for essential settlement services and advancement of newcomer women and their families to Ontario are provided under the $920 million Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement (COIA) over five years and are part of $1.4 billion package over five years to provinces and territories other than Quebec, which was committed by the Canadian federal government in budget 2006.

Newfoundland introduces new immigration stream to help reunite immigrant families

The provincial government of Newfoundland and Labrador has recently added a new immigration stream to its Provincial Nominee Program (NL-PNP), which would allow immigrant families living in the province for at least one year to sponsor their overseas family members wishing to relocate and work in the province.

The specialty of this new Family Connections category is that it will allow eligible sponsors in Newfoundland and Labrador to sponsor their overseas family members, which are not covered in the regular Family Class category of Federal immigration program. These include brother and sister (plus step brother and sister), brother and sister in-law, uncle, aunt, first cousins, niece, nephew, grandchild, and son and daughter (plus step son and daughter).

To be eligible, these overseas family members (or beneficiaries) must have to fulfill few conditions in terms of age, guarantee of settlement assistance from their sponsor, education/training, job experience, language skills and settlement funds.

For the sponsors, it would be necessary that they must be living in Newfoundland and Labrador for at least twelve consecutive months, must be self-supporting, and able to provide settlement assistance to family members during the immigration process and after arrival.

Primarily, the provincial government has imposed no limit to the number of family members that can be sponsored nor require that a sponsor earn a minimum income before being eligible to support a family member.