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.

NDP also vows to reverse Conservative immigration changes, pledges to develop a credible and accountable immigration system

Running up their bill of election promises, New Democrats (NDP) have also vowed to completely repeal the controversial immigration amendments implemented by Conservative government this year, while pledged to develop a credible and accountable immigration system.

The Conservative-legislation, New Democrats are promising to reverse, was written into the 2008 budget bill C-50 in an attempt to tackle a backlog of nearly one million applications and, consequently, excessively long processing times. Critics have taken aim at the law for the authority it assigns to Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to hand-pick immigrants.

New Democrats called these ministerial powers "arbitrary, secretive and restrictive". From the viewpoint of New Democrats, these immigration reforms mean increased exploitation of "guest workers", more delays and restrictions for family reunification, less effective strategic planning for labor market needs, and more secretive and arbitrary decisions by cabinet ministers.

Although defeated but NDP was the only party which not only brought motion in the Parliament to block budget bill to proceed for second reading but also suggested Finance Committee to split the budget bill into two bills by separating the budget reforms and proposed immigration reforms. NDP voted against the immigration reforms and wanted to force an election on this issue.

New Democrats also have a plan for an improved immigration system that will ensure fairness, boost Canada’s productivity and ease family reunification. They have pledged to significantly increase resources and support to deal with immigration backlog, reform visa program, create a more compassionate system for refugees, raise immigration quotas "significantly" and introduce a series of programs to help new Canadians learn one of the country’s official languages and have their professional credentials recognized.

The specific measures of New Democrats’ immigration plan will include:

• Implement "Creating Fair Opportunities" plan to accelerate and streamline the recognition of foreign credentials, overseas degrees and previous employment experience of newcomers with national standards, permanent training, bridging programs and international reciprocity agreements.


• Review current point system to match the labor market needs, including specific provisions for blue-collar workers and tradespeople.


• Increase funding to settlement support services for new Canadians to assist with literacy, community integration and orientation, including bridging, mentorship, English and French as a second language (ESL and FSL) programs and resource centers.


• Increase annual immigration level up to 1 per cent of total population.


• Establish firm targets for on-time completion of family class and spousal sponsorships.


• Implement "Once in a Lifetime" bill that will permit any citizen or landed immigrant to sponsor at least one family member from outside the "family" classification.


• Eliminate landing fees for new immigrants, as well as processing fees for refugees and people fleeing torture or domestic violence.


• Reform the visa program, so overseas family members of Canadian citizens or landed immigrants have proper visitation rights for important family events such as weddings, births and illness, and for the reunification of married couples.


• Abrogate the "Safe Third Country Agreement" with the United States so all refugees claimants are granted a hearing outside of Canada.


• Establish a special program to allow "Iraq War resisters" from the US to remain in Canada.


• Continue to ensure that all new Canadians have access to the "core" immigration system, rather than expand the Liberal-Conservative temporary "guest worker" and "live-in caregiver" programs. These programs deny basic employee rights, do not allow application for immigration, and result in longer delays in the entire system.


• Allow people without status who are living in Canada the opportunity to apply for legal status.


• Eliminate discrimination against people with disabilities in admission processes.


• Immediately implement the provision in the Immigration Act for a refugee appeal division to help facilitate a fair refugee hearing and determination process, and ensure that all vacancies on the Immigration and Refugee Board are filled in a fair and transparent manner.


• Properly regulate immigration consultants to stop abuse of immigrants and potential immigrants, and crack down on unscrupulous and illegal activities.

New Democrats believe that a successful immigration plan could be built by increasing Canada’s productivity, improving family reunification, establishing fairness and offering new hope to people fleeing persecution, violence and repression.

Industry coalition wants party leaders to debate acute skilled labor shortage in federal election

A coalition of business groups, unions and colleges has called on federal election candidates to debate solutions for the acute shortage of skilled labor in Canada, which is not only crippling the domestic economy but also reaching the point of a "national crisis" if not dealt with by the political parties aiming to form the next government.

The Investing in Skills coalition was officially launched few days earlier to bring the growing skills deficit to the attention of mainstream political parties’ leadership and demanded to get this issue on their agenda for the election.

The coalition, at a news conference and in a letter to all party leaders, urged them to respond to the issue that it said will need changes to policies governing immigration and the employment insurance system, and require increased spending on apprenticeship training and post-secondary education.

According to the coalition, the skills crisis affects all sectors of the
Canadian economy and is becoming an accepted part of life for many small and medium-size businesses, leading to companies choosing to operate with fewer employees and ignore growth opportunities.

To support its claim that crisis exists, the coalition cited, among other things:

• In a 2008 survey, the Bank of Canada found that over 40 per cent of firms surveyed were reporting that labor shortages were restricting their ability to meet demands.


• In a recent 2008 survey of 640 CEOs by Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters, 41 per cent said shortages of skilled workers are an important challenge for their business, while an additional 30 per cent said this issue has become critical and is a constraint on growth.


• The construction sector will need approximately 260,000 new workers over the next eight years.


• The Railway Association of Canada predicts the railway sector will need to hire 11,000 workers in the next four years (33 per cent of its total current workforce) to fill technical positions.
  
• A 2007 Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) survey of its members found that over 300,000 jobs were unfilled for at least four months in 2007.


• A 2006 Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) survey found that because hiring skilled workers was so difficult, 38 per cent of its members had chosen to function with fewer employees and ignore new business opportunities.


• The Canadian Tourism Human Resource Council (CTHRC) predicts unprecedented labor shortages in the tourism sector with a forecast of 348,000 unfilled jobs by 2025.


• The Canadian Automotive Repair and Service (CARS) Council predicts it will face annual shortages of between 4,290 and 7,380 skilled workers from 2005 to 2009 and between 4,450 and 8,050 skilled workers between 2010 and 2014.


• The Mining Industry Human Resources (MIHR) Council predicts a need for 10,000 people per year or 100,000 people over the next 10 years.


• Growth in manufacturing will require up to 62,000 skilled workers in aircraft maintenance alone by 2016.

The coalition says that while erasing the skills deficit will not happen overnight and will require a number of specific policy responses ranging from immigration to employment insurance to added investments in apprenticeship and post-secondary education, the scope, complexity and urgency of the issue require political will on a national scale.

Policy initiatives that Ottawa needs to address include a complete revamp of the immigration system, which has a backlog of nearly a million people and can take five years (or more) to process an individual's application; and additional investment in skills training and post-secondary education, especially at the community college level that focuses on trades where lengthy waiting lists of 2-4 years are common.

The Investing in Skills coalition includes 17 national organizations: Association of Canadian Community Colleges (ACCC), Association of Canadian Engineering Companies (ACEC), Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM), Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATAAlliance), Canadian Construction Association (CCA), Canadian GeoExchange Coalition, Canadian Healthcare Association (CHA), Canadian Labor Congress (CLC), Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME), Canadian Solar Industries Association (CSIA), Cement Association of Canada (CAC), Certified General Accountants Association of Canada (CGAAC), Certified Management Accountants (CMA), Hotel Association of Canada (HAC), Railway Association of Canada (RAC), Retail Council of Canada (RCC) and Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC).

Study finds 2nd-generation of Asian immigrants most likely to get university degrees

A recent study by Statistics Canada shows that the children of Asian immigrant parents have the highest rate of university completion in Canada, more than double the rate of other ethnicities, Canadian-born or otherwise.

The study, "Group differences in educational attainment among the children of immigrants", found that university completion rates ranged from over 65 per cent for youth of immigrant parents from China and India to 24 per cent among second-generation German and Central and South American youth. As a benchmark, about 28 per cent of the children of Canadian-born parents had completed university by the time they were aged 25 to 34 in 2002. Nearly one-third of youth whose parents were from the Caribbean, Portugal and the Netherlands completed university education.

The higher university completion rates among children of Chinese and Indian immigrants remained when differences among the youth in abilities in the two official languages and parental educational levels were taken into account. These are important factors that influence the likelihood of youth completing university. Living in the cities, where most new immigrants settle, also influences how much importance is placed upon the need for a university education.

Data for this study came from the 2002 Statistics Canada’s Ethnic Diversity Survey (EDS). This study focuses on a sub-sample of about 3,300 young adults aged from 25 to 34 who are either Canadian-born children of at least one immigrant parent or who immigrated to Canada at age 12 or younger. This study includes 2,689 children of Canadian-born parents as the comparison group.

This study includes eight non-Western countries/regions and ten Western countries for a comprehensive analysis of group differences in university completion rates across a large range of immigrant source groups. The non-Western countries/regions include Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, China, the Philippines, India, West Asia/Middle East, and other Asia. The Western countries include the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Portugal, the Netherlands, other Northern/Western Europe, Eastern Europe, other Europe, and other countries (mostly Oceania).