Twelve RBC Royal Bank scholarships for new Canadian won by students of different nationalities

The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has recently awarded its second annual RBC Royal Bank Scholarship for New Canadians to twelve students from across Canada during a special dinner at the Ontario Heritage Centre in downtown Toronto.

RBC launched this scholarship program last year to recognize the important role immigration plays in Canada's cultural, social and economic development. This program is aimed at individuals who have been through the immigration experience, graduated high school or CEGEP, and are planning to pursue full-time studies at an accredited Canadian college or university this fall.

The winners of the award were selected from over one thousand applicants based on academic achievement (at least a 70 per cent average in their previous year of study), and their responses to three, 250-word essay questions about how immigration has shaped Canada, along with their personal experiences and advice to others going through similar experiences. Applicants for this scholarship program must also have been born outside of Canada, and be either permanent residents or citizens of Canada.

The recipients of the RBC Royal Bank Scholarship for New Canadians for 2008 represent a cross-section of nationalities from all over the world. Here is the list of program winners:

Ms. Brahamjot Moondi, age 18
Country of Origin: Newport, United Kingdom
Hometown: Brampton, Ontario
Program: Business Management and Organizational Studies, University of Western Ontario
Ambition: Chartered Accounting, followed by a career in business leadership

Ms. Chibeze Ojukwu, age 18
Country of Origin: Sydney, Australia
Hometown: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Program: Political Studies with a minor in Anthropology, University of Saskatchewan
Ambition: Work with Doctors without Borders, followed by a career in medicine

Ms. Janet Xu, age 18
Country of Origin: Shanghai, China
Hometown: Surrey, British Columbia
Program: Science, University of British Columbia
Ambition: A career in medicine

Ms. Jenny Duong, age 17
Country of Origin: Hong Kong, China
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario
Program: Humanities with double minor in English Literature and French, University of Toronto
Ambition: Graduate studies, followed by a career in teaching or journalism

Mr. Karanbir Gill, age 18
Country of Origin: Chandigarh, India
Hometown: Surrey, British Columbia
Program: Bachelor of Applied Sciences (Engineering), University of British Columbia
Ambition: An MBA followed by a career at a technology company

Mr. Kevin Zhou, age 18
Country of Origin: Beijing, China
Hometown: Calgary, Alberta
Program: Engineering, University of Western Ontario
Ambition: An MBA followed by a career in finance or engineering

Mr. Paul Mou, age 18
Country of Origin: Taiwan
Hometown: Stouffville, Ontario
Program: System Design, University of Waterloo
Ambition: A doctorate in computer science followed by a career in robotics

Ms. Serena Chin, age 18
Country of Origin: Dagenham, United Kingdom
Hometown: Markham, Ontario
Program: International Bachelor of Business Administration, Schulich School of Business, York University
Ambition: An MBA followed by a business leadership role

Mr. Toby Woerthle, age 18
Country of Origin: Heilbronn, Germany
Hometown: Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
Program: Computer Science, University of Waterloo
Ambition: Owning a software business

Ms. Yelin Yang, age 18
Country of Origin: Shanghai, China
Hometown: Mississauga, Ontario
Program: Health Sciences, McMaster University
Ambition: A career in pediatrics

Ms. Yili Wang, age 18
Country of Origin: Panjin, China
Hometown: Brampton, Ontario
Program: Life Sciences, University of Toronto
Ambition: A career in medicine

Mr. Ashkan Pishvaei, age 18
Country of Origin: Tehran, Iran
Hometown: Vancouver, British Columbia
Program: Bachelor of Arts, followed by Commerce in Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia
Ambition: Owning an accounting firm

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.

Canadian immigration boosting up the proportion of university-educated people in the country

An analysis of 2006 census figures carried out by the Association for Canadian Studies proves that Canadian immigration policies are one of the key reasons that boosting the number of people in the country having a university degree.

According to the study, visible minorities such as Chinese, South Asians, Blacks, Arabs, Filipinos, Southeast Asians, Latin Americans, Japanese, Koreans etc. are far more likely to have a university education than white Canadians. At present, there is 20-point gap between visible minorities and white Canadians aged 35-44 years old when it comes to university education.

The group with the highest proportion of university-educated people was Korean Canadians, where 74.7 per cent of respondents in the age group analyzed had a university degree. Filipino and Chinese Canadians were in second and third place with about 58.6 and 58.4 per cent of their community holding university degrees. Arab Canadians weren't far behind with university graduates making up 51.6 per cent of the population. The study found 48.5 per cent of Japanese Canadians had graduated university followed by 47.8 per cent of West Asians and 47.4 per cent of South Asians.

The levels of university education were significantly lower for Latin Americans, 33 per cent of whom had a degree, and for the black community, where 30.1 per cent had completed university.

However, the groups that were the least likely to have a university degree were white Canadians – particularly white males – only 25.9 per cent of whom had graduated university, and those from Southeast Asia where only 22 per cent had a degree.

Study also found that the gap is getting larger due to a fact that existing immigration policies favor those new immigrants who have university degree. After their arrival, these people widely encourage their children to obtain a degree of university level. The result is that the overall level of university degree holders in Canada has risen.

According to Statistics Canada, 51 per cent of people who immigrated to Canada between 2001 and 2006 had university degrees - much higher than the proportion of 20 per cent of university degree holders among the Canadian-born population or the 28 per cent among immigrants who arrived prior to 2001.

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 stacks up favorably against other industrialized countries in terms of university and college education combined

In its latest report from 2006 census, Statistics Canada has revealed that country had the most degrees, diplomas and certificates, in terms of university and college education combined, among all OECD countries. Released on March 4, 2008, this report actually sixth in series and focuses on labor, occupation, workplace, mode of transportation, language of work and education.

Here in this part, few interesting figures of this report are being presented to help you know the Educational Portrait of Canada:

• The number of Canadians between the ages of 25 and 64 who chose to get a university degree has risen by 24 per cent since 2001. The biggest increase was in the number of adults who had a master’s degree.
• Among 17,382,100 Canadian in the age group of 25 to 64, some 33 per cent of women held a university degree compared to 25 per cent of men in 2006, although that number just about evens out in the 35- to 44-year old age group.
• Overall 26 per cent of Canadians aged 25 to 64 who lived in an urban setting in 2006 had a university degree, compared to 11 per cent of university graduates living in rural communities.
• Rural communities, on the other hand, had a larger proportion of their population educated in trades. About 17 per cent of rural residents had a trade certificate, compared to 11 per cent of urban Canadians.
• Majority of the university graduates are concentrated in Canada’s 16 out of 33 Census Metropolitan Area (CMAs), where this figure has surpassed the national average of 23 per cent. Ottawa-Gatineau topped the list with 35 per cent of its population are university graduates. The nation's capital region was followed closely by Toronto, where university graduates represented 34 per cent of the population and then Calgary and Vancouver, both at 31 per cent.
• The most popular field of study for male and female post-secondary students was business, management and marketing with one out of every five students choosing to study these areas. Approximately 1,357,200 women graduated in these fields compared to just over 801,600 men.
• The smallest increase was in the number of people choosing to get a degree in medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine or optometry.
• 51 per cent or 349,800 of “recent immigrants” (arrived between 2001 and 2006) to Canada hold a significantly higher number of university degrees than the Canadian-born population that is just 20 per cent in comparison. Among immigrants who settled in Canada prior to 2001, 28 per cent had a university degree.
• Of recent immigrants, 25 per cent hold a degree in engineering, 19 per cent in business, management, marketing and related support services, and 6 per cent in computer and information sciences.
• Almost 40 per cent of these recent immigrants hold a master’s degree while 49 per cent were PhDs qualified.
• 16 per cent of doctorate or master’s degree holders earned their degrees in Canada, while around 14 per cent got it in the United States. Another 14 per cent studied in India and 10 per cent earned their doctorate or master’s degree in China.
• An increasing trend of inter-provisional migration in university degree holders showed that about 33 per cent of the highly educated adults were moved to another province or territory between 2001 and 2006.
• Alberta benefited the most from this inter-provincial migration with the largest inflow, approximately 28,000, of post-secondary graduates, while Ontario suffered the biggest outflow of this educated workforce.
• In New Brunswick, just 53 per cent of the adult population aged 25 to 64 were post-secondary graduates in 2006 that is the lowest number of all the provinces.
• Newfoundland and Labrador had the lowest number of adults in that age category with a university degree and the highest proportion of adults who did not have a high school diploma.
• Nova Scotia had the highest proportion of adults, about 20 per cent, aged 25 to 64 with a university degree.
• Prince Edward Island had the most college diplomas, at 24 per cent.
• In Quebec, about 18 per cent of the adult population had a trades certificate, the largest proportion of all provinces and territories.
• Ontario had the highest proportion (26 per cent of the adult population) of university graduates among the provinces, partly because of the high number of immigrants who settle in that province.
• Of all the provinces, British Columbia had the highest proportion that studied outside of Canada.

Canadian government pledges to improve the responsiveness of immigration system

In its budget for financial year 2008-09, the Canadian government has pledged $22 million investment over two years, growing to $37 million per year, to modernize the existing immigration system.

Canada’s immigration system has been in need of repair for many years. Due to the growing backlog of 850,000 applications, the immigration wait times has been surged more than 20 per cent since 2004. It is expected that the new funding will not only improve the responsiveness of Canada’s immigration system but also better align it with the immediate and longer-term needs of labor market.

This funding will be used to support immigration initiatives such as legislation to speed up the processing of permanent resident applications, ensuring shorter wait times and making Canada’s immigration system more competitive by improving Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA).

To improve the Canada’s competitive position, as outlined in Advantage Canada, budget 2008-09 will (a) support Canadian students with a $350 million investment in 2009–10, rising to $430 million by 2012–13, in a new, consolidated Canada Student Grant Program that will reach 245,000 college and undergraduate students per year when it takes effect in the fall of 2009; (b) commit $123 million over four years starting in 2009–10 to “streamline and modernize” the Canada Student Loans Program; (c) enhance the flexibility of Registered Education Savings Plans by increasing the time they may remain open to 35 years from 25 years, and by extending the maximum contribution period by 10 years; (d) provide $25 million over two years to establish a new Canada Graduate Scholarship award for top Canadian and international doctoral students; (e) provide $3 million over two years to establish a new international study stipend for Canada Graduate Scholarship recipients who wish to study at international institutions; and (f) strengthen the ability of Canadian universities to attract and retain top science leaders with $21 million over two years to establish up to 20 Canada Global Excellence Research Chairs.

A Tax-Free Savings Account will also be introduced, that allows Canadians to contribute up to $5,000 a year to the account. Investment income and capital gains will not be taxed and withdrawals will be tax-free. Budget 2008-09 will also expand the list of eligible expenses under the Medical Expense Tax Credit.

A higher-security electronic passport by 2011 with a validity period of 10 years is also announced. Budget 2008-09 is also committing $6 million to support plans to introduce enhanced driver’s license and $26 million to introduce the use of biometric data into visas issued to foreign national entering Canada.

Record number of foreign students helps drive enrolments in Canadian universities to all-time high

Enrolment in Canadian universities again surpassed the 1-million mark for the second consecutive year during the academic year 2005-06.

A recent Statistics Canada study, based on the data obtained by Postsecondary Student Information System (PSIS), shows that an estimated 1,047,700 students were registered in classes for the academic year 2005-06 that is 3 per cent higher than 2004-05.

This upward trend in university enrolment, as examined, is primarily driven by growth in the number of foreign students and young Canadian adults following urbanization, immigration, labor market demand, demand for graduate education, financial returns, socio-economic status and parental influence.

It has been determined that a record 80,200 students from other countries (foreign or international students) enrolled in programs at Canadian universities in 2005-06, up 6.0 per cent from the previous year. These foreign students represented 7.7 per cent of the total registrations, nearly double the proportion a decade earlier. Half of them were from Asia, where only China accounted for 46 per cent of these Asian students.

A number of factors account for the continued strength of foreign registrations. These include strong economic growth in leading Asian countries, such as China; new university marketing strategies to counter competition from institutions in other countries; changes in immigration policies; and provincial agreements with other countries to attract foreign students.

Provincially, Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec attracted almost 78% of international students. Numerically, the largest increases of international students occurred at universities in Ontario, where the gain was 1,400 and those in British Columbia, where the increase was 2,500.

Asian students accounted for the majority of the total increase in foreign students. Registrants from China rose 7% to a record high 19,200; the growth in students from China accounted for 28% of the gain in enrolment among international students. Canadian universities also continued to register significant numbers of students from India, South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong, all of which increased in 2005-06.

Women have accounted for about 45% of all international students since 1999. In 1992, the proportion was about 39%.

Among foreign students, enrolments increased in all but two fields of study. The biggest decline was in the field of mathematics, computer and information sciences, where foreign enrolment fell by almost 4%. In the other fields of study, the numbers increased. The rate of growth had exceeded that of the prior year for three fields of study: education; humanities; and health, parks, recreation and fitness.

Another survey reported that just over 65 per cent of total foreign students, who are admitted to Canada annually to study, are intending to remain in Canada to embark on careers or pursue further studies.

A 2007 survey by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) showed that 69 per cent of schools offer scholarships targeted toward international undergraduate students and 62 per cent for international graduate students pursuing masters or doctoral degrees. This survey also found that 356 programs with an international focus offered at 61 niversities in 2006.