Conservative’s ethnic-outreach specialist promoted as the new Minister for Citizenship and Immigration

The Honorable Jason Kenney has been appointed new Minister for Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism by the Prime Minister Stephen Harper after a sweeping cabinet shuffle on Thursday.

Former Secretary of State for Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity Jason Kenney’s duties since January of 2007, when he took on the Secretary of State position, have been to connect new Canadians, and the various communities they populate, with the government of Canada and unofficially advocate as a Conservative ambassador to these groups on behalf of the party.

As a junior minister for multiculturalism for nearly two years, Mr. Kenney was well-known for his endless strings of dinners and gatherings with minority communities across Canada, making ceremonial declarations, a few formal apologies for Ottawa's past misdeeds and also wooing Conservative votes among groups that traditionally favored the Liberals.

Boosting ethnic-outreach specialist Jason Kenney to Immigration is a huge step up. He has been promoted as immigration minister at a time when new legislation gives his job unprecedented powers to decide what kind of worker gets into Canada first. Now the government is hoping that, as the new immigration minister, the young MP for Calgary Southeast will be able to use his strong ethnic ties to roll out the controversial immigration reforms rammed through by his predecessor, Diane Finley. Those reforms were contained in a budget bill passed during the final days of the last Parliament to further restrict immigrant selections.

Mr. Kenney, however, is pledging to align immigration policy to the economy's labor needs, rather than for political gain.

Mr. Kenney's appointment to the cabinet post also came with hopes by advocacy groups and the ethnic communities. They hope he will address their concerns over what they see as a dramatic shift in immigration policies that increasingly view newcomers as an economic unit, wanted for nothing more than their job skills.

Jason Kenney was first elected to the House of Commons in 1997 and re-elected in 2000, 2004, 2006, and most recently in 2008 with 76 per cent of the vote. In January 2007, Mr. Kenney was appointed Secretary of State (Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity). He previously served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister.

Mr. Kenney was Chair of the Subcommittee on International Human Rights and the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development, and a member of the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics.

Prior to seeking election, Mr. Kenney served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

Mr. Kenney was born in Ontario and raised in Saskatchewan, where he graduated from Notre Dame College. He did undergraduate studies in philosophy at the St. Ignatius Institute of the University of San Francisco.

Former Secretary of State for Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity Jason Kenney would retain his duties in Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity but bring these under the umbrella of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC).

Although, the broad cabinet overhaul enlarged Prime Minister’s second-term cabinet by ten per cent but it is expected that it will give the Conservatives' hard-edge image a younger feel with dramatically improved gender balance and decent ministers from almost every region of the country. The cabinet is now super-sized at 38 members, up four from its last version.

New study suggests at least 40 per cent increase in annual immigration intake by 2025

A new independent study urged Canadian government to boost its immigration levels at least forty per cent, or by 110,000 spots, annually over the next seventeen years to help Canadian economy grow at a steady rate.

The study "Renewing Immigration: Towards a Convergence and Consolidation of Canada's Immigration Policies and Systems" by Conference Board of Canada (CBC) says that Ottawa will have to increase its number of immigrants from the existing 250,000 to 360,000 annually by 2025 to meet long-term domestic labor market needs and to remain competitive in the global search for talent.

The study basically examines the convergence of Canada's "temporary" and "permanent" systems and outlines a number of measures that should be taken to ensure a healthy long-term domestic labor market.

Although, the study recognizes the convergence of Canada’s permanent and temporary immigration systems as positive steps but points out that rapid expansion in temporary foreign worker stream in recent years does not meet long-term objectives of Canadian economy. The study seems the growing shortage in the labor market will grow even more if dependent on foreign workers.

In 2006, for the first time, Canada's temporary foreign workers outnumbered the permanent residents admitted through the "skilled immigrant" and "economic" classifications. Last year, Canada admitted 475,965 migrants, but more than half of them were temporary workers and international students.

But CBC’s study found that the convergence of Canada’s permanent and temporary immigration systems is providing a more flexible and adaptive approach to immigration, which would better address the needs of business, provinces and migrants themselves. Major improvements to Canada's Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program, as well as the increasing use of mechanisms driven by employer-and regional-demand for skilled workers, particularly the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP); the newly created Canadian Experience Class; and improvements to the International Student Program, the Off-Campus Work Permit Program, and the Post-Graduation Work Permit Program demonstrate the convergence between the temporary and permanent systems.

The study also provides a number of recommendations that should be done to meet the country’s economic needs through immigration, including more options for temporary foreign workers to become permanent residents. It also suggests addressing the growing importance of skills-based migration to meet labor market needs and increasing refugee intakes to maintain a well-balanced immigration system. The study further emphasizes an increase in settlement and integration services, especially in urban areas, and linking immigration programs and practices to other major government policies and strategies.

In addition, the study says that Canada needs to address the issue of transparency in its immigration system in terms of selection criteria, wages, and the availability of social benefits and healthcare to immigrants.

Manitoba sees a 2.3 per cent strong increase in real wage rates in 2007

An annual economic analysis of 2007 by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Manitoba (ICAM) has ranked the province the runaway leader in real wage growth, which was more than twice the growth seen nationally.

According to ICAM, a 2.3 per cent increase in Manitoba’s real wage growth in 2007 came from a combination of solid pay increases, which averaged 4.4 per cent, and low provincial inflation.

Manitoba has historically had low real wages compared to the rest of Canada and still has the lowest real average hourly wages among the provinces, which were $20.67 in 2007. However, the trend over the past five years is narrowing the wage-gap between Manitoba and the national average.

The national average was 10.5 per cent higher than Manitoba’s real average hourly wage in 2002 and 7.8 per cent higher in 2007.

In 2007, industries such as mining, agriculture, and professional, scientific and technical services industries witnessed wage increases ranging from 10 per cent to 16 per cent while many sectors with large numbers of workers such as healthcare, education, retail/wholesale trade and construction saw more modest increases ranging from 3.1 per cent to 4.0 per cent. At the construction sector, Manitoba is paying significantly less and wage increases are lagging far behind the western provinces.

The Work section of ICAM’s annual economic analysis for 2007 also shows that Manitoba continued to lead the pack in pay equality (0.881) and the unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.4 per cent last year but remains well below the national average of 6.0 per cent. The province added 9,500 jobs to its economy but this was not enough growth to deal with the shortage of skilled labor.

In its recent economic outlook for 2008, the Conference Board of Canada has also expected a positive growth in Manitoba’s economy in 2008 at a steady rate of 3.6 per cent. This growth is explained by diversified manufacturing sector, large multi-year capital investment projects, an effervescent housing market, and strong commodity prices.

The growing economy of Manitoba has increased the demand for skilled workers. In recent years, the province has seen significant increase in its international in-migration numbers while the population loss due to inter-provincial migration is improving.

Manitoba's inter-provincial population loss last year (1,390 persons) set a ten year low. However, the decline was due to workers with post-secondary diplomas and certificates (the educational group that includes trades workers) leaving the province in 2007 as well as the entry of 3,800 workers into the labor force with no post-secondary certifications at all. Despite the loss of 1,390 people to other provinces, international in-migration to Manitoba hit a 10 year high and net migration to the province was just over 9,000 new residents last year.

Canadians celebrate 61st anniversary of Canadian citizenship from October 13 to 19, 2008

Dozens of special citizenship ceremonies held in communities across Canada from October 13 to 19 as part of the country's Citizenship Week festivities. Hundreds of newcomers from all over the world took the citizenship oath during these ceremonies, and thousands reaffirmed their pride in being Canadian citizens.

Canada’s Citizenship Week is an annual event celebrating the value of citizenship, particularly with respect to the privileges and responsibilities of being a Canadian citizen. It also means the principles of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms are part of common Canadians’ day-to-day interaction with each other; it involves adhering to citizenship values, such as equality, respect for cultural differences, freedom, peace, law and order. This week is celebrated each year during the third week of October.

Throughout 2008, Canadians have been celebrating the 61st anniversary of Canadian citizenship. The theme for this year is My Citizenship.

Each year approximately 250,000 people become Canadian citizens. In 2006, 259,267 people took the oath of Canadian citizenship during 3,926 citizenship ceremonies across the Canada. Since the first citizenship act was enacted, almost 6 million people have been granted Canadian citizenship.

According to the 2001 census, about 84 per cent of eligible immigrants are Canadian citizens.

In 1947, Canada became the first Commonwealth country to gain its own citizenship act when the Canadian Citizenship Act took effect on January 1. Prior to that, Canadians were considered British subjects residing in Canada, not Canadian citizens. Prime Minister Mackenzie King had the honor of receiving the first Canadian citizenship certificate.

Community groups across Canada, working with Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), have hosted citizenship ceremonies for more than 50 years.

United States increases period of stay for TN professional workers from Canada

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced to increase the maximum period of time a Trade-NAFTA (TN) professional worker from Canada may remain in the United States before seeking readmission or obtaining an extension of stay.

This final rule changes the initial period of admission for TN workers from one to three years, making it equal to the initial period of admission given to H-1B professional workers. Eligible TN non-immigrants may now be allowed to receive extensions of stay in increments of up to three years instead of the prior maximum period of stay of one year.

The TN non-immigrant classification is visa category available to eligible Canadians with at least a bachelor’s degree or appropriate professional credentials who work in certain qualified fields pursuant to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Qualified professions identified within NAFTA include, but are not limited to, accountants, architects, systems analysts, engineers, attorneys, scientists, teachers, and many medical/allied professions such as dentists, dietitians, nutritionists, pharmacists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, medical lab technologists and others.

Canadian citizens are not required to apply for a visa with a U.S. consulate or file a petition with USCIS. When requesting admission as TN workers at a U.S. port of entry, however, they must provide proof of citizenship, a letter from their prospective employer detailing items such as professional capacity, purpose, length of stay, and educational qualifications. They may also need to provide credential evaluations. Following inspection by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officer, an eligible Canadian citizen will be admitted as a TN non-immigrant with a Form I-94 as evidence of such admission.

This final rule will not only ease administrative burdens and costs on Canadian TN workers but also expected to add extra practical flexibility for those Canadian nationals who are seeking US permanent residency (green cards). It will also benefit U.S. employers by increasing the amount of time TN non-immigrants will be able to work for them before having to seek an extension of status. Spouses and unmarried minor children of TN non-immigrants in their corresponding non-immigrant classifications (TD) will also benefit from the new regulation. This proposed rule would also increase such dependents’ maximum period of stay from one year to three years but they may not work.

This improvement to the TN non-immigrant category was initially announced by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Department of Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez on Aug. 10, 2007. The effort is one of the 26 initiatives identified by President Bush’s Administration to address current immigration challenges using the tools and authorities available under existing law.

Stephen Harper’s Conservatives returned to power with a stronger, broadly-based minority and ready to implement immigration changes

The incumbent Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative Party has returned to power in Canada’s elections but will face another minority parliament after being denied a majority by Quebec separatists.

The results of country's 40th general election showed that the Conservative Party has strengthened lead everywhere except Quebec. The Conservatives won 143 seats in the House of Commons, up from 127 in 2006, while the Liberals won 76, a drop of 19 seats from the party's standing at dissolution. Bloc Québécois candidates were elected in 50 ridings, while NDP candidates were holding 37 seats, a gain of seven seats over the last election. Two Independents also held on to their seats.

The Conservative Party was in need of 155 seats in the 308-seat House of Commons to wield majority rule.

Before dissolution, Stephen Harper’s Conservatives were also in minority so faced a lot of resistance to their amendments to the Immigration Act this spring. However, this time Conservatives have returned to power with a stronger, broadly based minority, facing a weakened opposition leader and ready to address issues more easily and more quickly.

In the aftermath of his second-straight minority government, Prime Minister Stephen Harper will now finally put their party’s sponsored immigration priorities into practice (which are, as yet unknown to the public), and all those Federal Skilled Workers whose applications have been accepted provisionally by the department of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) since February 27th, will finally know their fate.

According to the Conservative’s immigration plans, Federal Skilled Worker applicants will now be selected based on whether their occupations are on CIC’s recently established list of qualifying occupations. Applicants whose occupations will be on this list and who will be securing minimum required points (under the Federal Skilled Worker category) will be qualified for permanent resident visa. Those, whose occupations will not be on the list, will either put into waiting list or receive their applications back with full refund, however, they will not be considered refused. These applicants, therefore, could re-apply or apply for a provincial nomination, if they can qualify.

According to Canada’s immigration agency, this list of qualifying occupations will not be made pubic until November this year.

The Conservatives have also pledged to work with provinces and territories to ensure greater standardization of workplace and professional credentials across the country and standards for assessment of foreign credentials, to place foreign credential on agenda of next meeting of First Ministers, and to make immigration consulting a regulated activity.

More from the results of Tuesday’s election shows that eight candidates from South Asian origin, including seven sitting MPs have been elected. Deepak Obhrai, Ruby Dhalla and Gurbax Singh Malhi, besides Navdeep Bains, Ujjal Dosanjh, Nina Grewal and Ratan Singh are the members who have been re-elected. Tim Uppal, won from Alberta, will join for the first time the other MPs from South Asian origin. Two sitting candidates from South Asian origin, Wajid Khan and Rahim Jaffer, lost their seats. In 2006, ten MPs were elected to the Parliament from South Asian origin compared with three Arabs and five Chinese.

Canadians have also elected a record number of women that is 68, up from 66 in 2006. All the party leaders, Stephen Harper, Stephane Dion, Jack Layton and Gilles Duceppe, won their seats except Elizabeth May of Green Party who lost her seat. Voter turnout hovered around 59 per cent, appearing to be the lowest in the history of Confederation.

An online poll finds first-time foreign-born electors feel uninformed about the process and their voting rights

A majority of Canadian immigrants, who are either first-time voters or have not voted in the past, feel they don't have enough information to vote with confidence in the upcoming federal election, a new unofficial online poll concludes.

The poll, conducted by Canadian Immigrant Magazine, found that 70 per cent of newcomers who are ready to vote for the first time feel like they don't know enough about the electoral process. Almost half of all respondents — which include first-time and repeat immigrant voters combined — also felt that they are not given enough information about the voting process in Canada.

Though the Canadian government has issued election information material in nearly 30 languages, the results of the poll suggest that candidates should reach out to newcomers more effectively to explain the election process and encourage them to participate. This approach could help improve the voter turnout in Canada which has, according to Elections Canada statistics, been decreasing steadily since 1988, especially amongst immigrant communities. Based on the results of survey, conducted by Decima Research in April 2002, a report by Elections Canada noted that electors’ lack of knowledge and information is one of the reasons for this decline in turnout.

As for how parties rank with the participants, according to poll results, the Liberal Party and Conservative Party both had 25 per cent of participants choosing them. The New Democratic Party (NDP) followed in third place with a 23 per cent backing from participants. The Green Party came in last with four per cent. Interestingly, 22 per cent of participants choose none of the above parties.

In the poll, participants were also asked to rank the following issues in order of importance: law and order, childcare, family reunification, healthcare, jobs, economy and environment.

Considering the current financial climate in North America and across Europe, 106 mentions ranked the economy as their first selection the most. Healthcare came in second (105 mentions), job skills and recognition came in third (85 mentions), law and order came in fourth (49 mentions) and family reunification came in fifth (42 mentions) place.

Of the top five mentions, two are key issues for immigrants —job and skill recognition and family reunification.

In its recent release, the Statistics Canada has reported that immigration accounted for a spike in the Canadian population during the second quarter of 2008 — the largest increase in 17 years — with new second-quarter records being set in Prince Edward Island, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Considering the growing immigrant population, perhaps it is time for political parties and their leadership to address newcomers’ social and economic needs, and take the topic of immigration to its rightful place among Canada’s primary political issues.

Given its political and economic impact, the vote of a new immigrant would play a vital role in this election. A 2004 government-sponsored study entitled "Counting and Courting the Immigrant Vote" states that, given the concentration of regional votes, "at no other time in our country's history has the foreign-born elector been so fundamental to whether there will be a majority or minority government in Canada."

Over thirty South Asian candidates contesting in upcoming federal election across the Canada

The South Asian community seems quite active in the upcoming federal election, perhaps more than any other visible minority in Canada.

Both major parties, the Conservatives and the Liberals, have nominated about two dozen candidates from the South Asian community. Third biggest party, the NDP, has alone nominated almost two dozen South Asian candidates. Green Party has also nominated two South Asian candidates.

Nearly two dozen South Asian candidates, from the three main contesting parties, are Sikh-Canadians. The Liberals were the first to recognize the poll potential of the Sikhs, while NDP have fielded the maximum number of Sikh candidates in the upcoming federal election. NDP members have nominated candidates for Brampton ridings who are all from the Punjabi Sikh community.

Three among the five constituencies in Mississauga are being contested by South Asians. A Pakistani descendant and a Bengali descendant are running for two Scarborough ridings. NDP candidates for Toronto Centre, St. Paul's and Etobicoke North are of South Asian background.

In demographic terms, the NDP has nominated more than half its candidates in the GTA who are from South Asian communities.

In 2006, there were ten Members of Parliament of South Asian origin. Three incumbent Liberal members of Parliament from Brampton, one from Toronto and two from British Columbia are also back in the race. Two incumbent Conservative MPs from Alberta and a sitting MP from Mississauga belong to the South Asian community as well.

In a broader perspective, South Asians are candidates for all political parties. Some local campaigners are worried that South Asian candidates could sway these snap elections and have derided all the parties for ‘ethnic pandering.’

South Asians are the largest visible minority and immigrant group in Canada. Nearly 1.3 million people — a 38 per cent increase over 2001 — identified themselves in 2006 census as South Asian, which includes Canadians who came from countries like India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal. They accounted for 24.9 per cent of the visible minority population and 4 per cent of the total population.

Management Accountants of Alberta and British Columbia agree to labor mobility for their members

The Society of Management Accountants of British Columbia (CMABC) and the Society of Management Accountants of Alberta (CMA-Alberta) have agreed to labor mobility for their members in compliance with the Trade, Investment and Labor Mobility Agreement (TILMA) between British Columbia and Alberta.

This labor mobility agreement between the two organizations representing Certified Management Accountants (CMA) in Alberta and British Columbia reached on October 3, 2008. It will provide their members an opportunity to work in both provinces without having to complete additional regulatory registrations and paperwork, which will expand their members’ professional reach and open up employment opportunities.

It has been estimated that over 4,300 CMAs in B.C. alone will benefit from this pact.

This recent development is part of Canada’s approach to fully harmonize different accreditation and licensing requirements between Canadian provinces and territories, so any qualified worker in an occupation in one province or territory must be granted access to similar employment opportunities in any other Canadian jurisdiction. Because of different accreditation and licensing requirements across provinces and territories, it has been estimated an about 25 per cent of jobs (in healthcare and engineering sectors, for example) have serious mobility constraints in Canada.

This important issue is being addressed by the Government of Canada and the provincial and territorial governments through the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT), which was came into effect on July 1, 1995. However, due to the slow progress of AIT in removing barriers to labor mobility, the governments of British Columbia and Alberta signed the British Columbia – Alberta Trade, Investment, and Labor Mobility Agreement (TILMA) on April 28, 2006 that represented a fundamentally different approach that went well beyond the AIT.

TILMA has helped create the second largest economy in Canada and considered an important step for both provinces to realize improvements to labor mobility beyond what AIT has achieved. The agreement was came into force in April 2007, and will be fully implemented by April 2009, at which time individuals in all occupations will be free to move and work in their chosen field in both provinces.

A recent report by Canada's Competition Bureau has also criticized Canada's accounting profession for being over-regulated, particularly in the limits it places on who can offer certain professional services. The Competition Bureau, an independent agency whose goal is to protect and promote competitive markets, released its report in December 2007, calling on Canada's self-regulated professions such as accountants, to re-examine their rules to ensure they serve the public good and not restrict competition.

Ottawa promises eyeballing of student visa program after reports of fraud uncovered

An internal government review has revealed that Canada’s soft approach to recruit foreign students and lax monitoring of foreign students and the schools that attract them are the main cause of widespread abuse of current student-visa system.

According to the government's review, the student-visa system is plagued both by bogus students with no intention of studying and by bogus schools that operate as "sophisticated visa mills." The internal review claims that even if overseas students do not attend classes at university, their Canadian visa will not be revoked, whereas some fake schools exist only on paper, without even the pretense of educating students. The review stated both types of fraud are facilitated by shady recruiters and consultants who connect immigrants to schools and often provide forged academic documents.

The internal governmental review of Canada’s student-visa program was commenced by the Department of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) at least a year earlier based on internal documents from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) on widespread student-visa fraud in British Columbia (B.C.). As of August 2006, there was a backlog of more than 550 student fraud cases in B.C. alone. The CBSA documents also showed that some bogus students who came to B.C. became involved in Asian organized crime, drug trafficking, prostitution and human smuggling. CBSA reports also warned that 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver could lead to an increase in student-visa fraud as people in the sex trade recruit young women from overseas to work as prostitutes during the event.

The internal governmental review said that since 2002, Canada has adopted an increasingly "facilitative" approach to foreign students, which no longer requiring students to attend class, making it easier to extend the length of study permits, allowing students to work for up to two to three years after they complete their studies and applying for permanent resident status.

"While these changes have made the program more attractive to genuine students, it also has opened up the opportunity for non-genuine students to use the study permit as a means to secure work in Canada," the review found. "It has also opened up an avenue for individuals who are seeking general entry into Canada for an extended period of time to do so under the guise of being a student."

The review noted because of the problems, Canada's student-visa system "not only poses a threat to the integrity of the student program, it can affect Canada's reputation as a provider of quality education and pose risks to national safety and security."

The review was done in consultation with the provinces, which are responsible for regulating post-secondary schools, and includes several recommendations for how the student-visa system can be reformed.

The number of foreign students living in Canada has more than doubled over the past decade, from 71,000 in 1997 to 157,000 in 2006. B.C. alone had 44,799 foreign students as of 2006, second-highest after Ontario at 58,308.

Overall, 80 per cent of those who apply to Canada for a study permit get one - including 93 per cent of those from Korea and 99 per cent from Taiwan. China and India have lower acceptance rates, but Canada still accepts about three-quarters of applicants from those countries.