Immigration – Veronika Barbakadze and Associates

Canada needs a northern immigration strategy

admin — Sun, 26 Aug 2018 15:08:20 +0000

By IRVIN STUDIN Opinion published in The Star

Sun., Aug. 26, 2018

Canada’s modern approach to immigration makes two capital mistakes. First, it presumes that immigration this century remains primarily a “southern” Canadian phenomenon — that is, that most people will invariably move to southern cities such as Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver.

Second, it presumes that Canadian immigration should turn almost exclusively on economic demand.

In fact, reports of continuous, aggressive ice-melting in the Arctic this summer — part of a long-term, accelerating trend — only serve to confirm that Canada will need many more people in the North in the coming decades.

In other words, Canadian immigration and migration this century will be increasingly “northern” in character, and will be driven more by national strategy and geopolitics than by traditional economic considerations.

The settlement of our southern border in the late 19th and early 20th centuries presages what’s to come. Contrary to present-day mythology about us having populated the 49th parallel because it is comparatively “warm” (has anyone been too Ottawa in wintertime?) or because most of our trade runs with our American neighbours, the original logic of Canada’s southern settlement was primarily military in nature.

The United States was the natural enemy of Canada, and Canada’s population followed the line of fortifications along the Canada-U. S. border, supported by rail lines eventually spanning the entire expanse of our huge country, along an east-west axis.

Economics followed the strategic logic; not the reverse. And if we are to survive as a country for the balance of this century and have any hope of managing the enormous northern and Arctic real estate that will be exposed and, to be sure, contested by virtue of the accelerating Arctic ice-melt, then economics will again have to follow a strategic logic.

But do we Canadians even remember how to do strategy? I have my doubts.

There are two Arctic giants this century, living, whether we like it or not, in increasingly tight strategic juxtaposition: Canada and Russia.

On the Russian side of the Arctic ledger, there are some two million people residing in the Russian Far North, with all of the supporting (albeit aging) infrastructure and expertise commended by such demographic mass. Between 200,000 and 300,000 people live in each of leading northern cities like Murmansk, Norilsk and Yakutsk. The vast Siberian belt underlying the Russian Arctic has a population just shy of 40 million people.

On the Canadian side of the ledger, across all three of our Northern territories, we have a total population of about 115,000. Below the territories, across all 10 provinces, I calculate the supporting “quasi-northern” population of the country, from Fort Nelson to Churchill and Kapuskasing, to be less than two million.

Moreover, of the people in the northern territories and our quasi-north, I calculate that less than 1 per cent are actively thinking about or working on our northern border and its management; the rest are, for reasons understandable, southward-oriented.

To be blunt, we will not be able to protect, control and manage the north, including in environmental terms, with such paltry demographic resources. Even if we do not see Russia or other Arctic countries as necessarily a future threat, we do not have anywhere close to enough people in — and thinking professionally about — the north to sustain serious bilateral or multilateral processes about how to manage the north in our interests and on our terms.

Fortunately, the Fathers of Confederation pointed the way forward. If they succeeded in populating our continent-sized country from east to west to manage the southern border, then our leaders today and tomorrow must move with urgency to deliberately expand our demographic imagination and footprint well beyond the major urban centres of today — along a northward vector.

Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver may well be big or even huge cities later this century, but national survival and success, in strategic and economic terms alike, will soon require that there be big cities and lots of people in Canada’s Far North, supported by large urban centres in the northern halves of most of our provinces. The names of some of these 21st century northern Canadian cities have, in many cases, yet to be invented.

Irvin Studin is president of the Institute for 21st Century Questions, and editor-in-chief and publisher of Global Brief Magazine.

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Liberals loosen rules that exclude immigrants on medical grounds

admin — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 16:08:11 +0000

Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen said policy is out of line with Canadian values

Kathleen Harris · CBC News · Posted: Apr 16, 2018 10:56 AM ET

The Liberal government is loosening the medical inadmissibility rules for immigrants, but is not yet eliminating the policy that many have called discriminatory.

Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen said the policy, which has been in place for more than 40 years, is “way out of date” and not in line with Canadian values or government policies of inclusion.

Under the revised policy, newcomers won’t be denied permanent residency if they or any of their children have developmental delays, special education requirements, or a hearing or visual impairment. The anticipated health-care cost threshold will also be increased to about $20,000 a year — about three times the previous threshold.

Determinations are currently based on whether anticipated costs are expected to exceed the average Canadian per-capita health or social services costs over a five-year period, or if they could add to an existing wait list that might delay care for Canadian citizens or permanent residents.

Ottawa to present plan to amend policy that rejects immigrants on medical grounds by April, Hussen says

Liberals to scrap policy that rejects sick, disabled immigrants

MPs review rules that reject immigrants on medical grounds

Hussen estimates the new rules will allow entry to about 75 per cent of the approximately 1,000 people who were previously rejected on medical grounds for “excessive demand.” More consultation and study will be undertaken with the goal of eventually eliminating the medical inadmissibility policy entirely, he said.

The immigration minister could not say if the provinces and territories would be compensated for potential extra costs, but said the impact will be studied.

“We’re not going for full repeal, precisely because we want to continue the consultations. We heard it very loud and clear from the citizenship and immigration committee that this policy is ripe for change,” he said.

When the committee studied the issue last fall, Hussen said the government was committed to ditching the policy, but that the government must proceed with caution, because any change could affect provincial health-care and social service budgets. The Liberal-dominated committee recommended ending the policy.

Asked if the government is perpetuating a discriminatory policy, Hussen said the changes will bring it “closer in line” to Canadian values, while bringing the provinces and territories, which pay for publicly-funded health and social services, on board.

There have been many high-profile cases reported in the media, including a professor at Toronto’s York University whose application for permanent residency was turned down because his son has Down syndrome.

According to the rules around medical inadmissibility, a willingness or ability to pay is not a factor for publicly funded services like physician or hospital care since there is no cost-recovery regime in place.

However, it is a consideration in assessing an applicant who has financial means to defray costs of medication or services that are not publicly funded, such as HIV antiretroviral therapy.

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Canadian border officials prepare for another spike in illegal border crossings

admin — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 21:02:29 +0000

Teresa Wright

OTTAWA

The Canadian Press

Published April 6, 2018

Border officials are preparing for another spike in asylum seekers coming illegally into Canada from the U.S. as the weather gets warmer.

The RCMP intercepted more than 3,000 irregular border-crossers in January and February, part of a total number of 7,800 asylum seekers processed by the federal immigration department and the Canada Border Services Agency during the same time period.

Those figures don’t include more than 600 additional arrivals who entered the country illegally through Quebec over the Easter weekend.

Officials are expecting those numbers to continue to grow as temperatures rise. Immigration and CBSA officials have been preparing for the influx after getting caught flat-footed last summer dealing with an unexpected surge in mainly Haitian migrants entering Canada through Ontario and Quebec.

“Canada is an open and welcoming country to those in need of protection, but our government is committed to orderly migration to protect Canadians and our immigration system. Our government is prepared for any future fluctuations,” said Mathieu Genest, press secretary for Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen.

Many of the most recent migrants crossing illegally into Canada are Nigerian, which suggests word-of-mouth about Canada as a safe haven for asylum seekers has continued to spread despite Canadian efforts to counter it. A number of Liberal MPs headed south last year in an effort to warn would-be travellers against making the trip.

In any event, if more migrants continue to arrive, border officials will be ready, Genest said Friday. “We have worked with various departments, provinces and settlement organizations to develop a national operations plan to manage possible scenarios at the border.”

The Liberal government has also committed $74-million to help address lengthy backlogs in processing refugee claims at the Immigration and Refugee Board. The department has also cut work-permit wait times for asylum seekers from three months to three weeks and issued more than 12,000 work permits to asylum seekers in Quebec.

But the Canadian Council for Refugees says it is concerned about vulnerable migrants being exploited by scammers who offer to help them cross the border for a hefty fee.

“People pay up large amounts of money, get to Canada, find out that they’re making a refugee claim … and find out they’ve been lied to by the scammers,” said executive director Janet Dench. “That sort of thing happens quite regularly.”

The council has been calling for the government to suspend the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement, which has been cited as a major factor in the spike of irregular border crossings.

The agreement makes it impossible for would-be refugees arriving from the U.S. to claim asylum at an official port of entry to Canada. They can only make such a claim from inside the country, prompting thousands to make the crossing on foot through unofficial entry points.

Suspending the agreement would all but eliminate irregular crossings and make migrant refugees less vulnerable to scammers, Dench said.

“There’s this whole charade that people have to go through in order to make a claim in Canada, which would be completely unnecessary if Canada would simply say, ‘We will suspend the safe third country agreement,’ and then people could apply in a regular way.”

But the government has made it clear no such changes will be forthcoming.

“The safe third country agreement is an important tool used by Canada and the U.S. to co-operate on the orderly handling of refugee claims. It is a vital component of our well-managed immigration system,” Genest said.

Last year, more than 50,000 asylum claims were processed by immigration and CBSA, more than twice the number processed every year prior since 2011.

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London police issue warning about immigration scam

admin — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 03:49:20 +0000

London police are warning the public to be vigilant against an ongoing scam in the London region and throughout southwestern Ontario.

The scam targets immigrants in the country via a telephone call where the scammer pretends to work for Immigration Canada. During the call from the fake employee, they attempt to make the recipient believe they are the subject of an immigration investigation.

The threat of arrest and/or deportation is used to persuade the person to provide personal and financial information. In some cases, the caller becomes aggressive in order to get the individual to comply with their demands.

“There are currently a number of scams and frauds being used by criminals but the end goal is to defraud you of your money,” said London police Const. Sandasha Bough. “It’s common practice for criminals to spoof real law enforcement numbers on call display using apps or other software.

Bough adds it’s the Canada Border Services Agency that’s responsible for immigration enforcement in Canada.

In the scam, people are asked to provide Bitcoin, iTunes cards, gaming cards, prepaid credit and gift cards, Western Union money transfers, money grams and e-transfer/wire transfers, things the Canada Border Services Agency would never do.

Police say Londoners should report any suspicious telephone calls, text or emails to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre or to the London Police Service Fraud Telephone Intake line (519-661-5515, extension 5257).

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Hundreds of Iranians in limbo as security screenings delay immigration applications

admin — Fri, 13 Apr 2018 05:06:37 +0000

Amir Abdi comes from Isfahan, Iran, has a doctorate in dental surgery and is completing a PhD in electrical and computer engineering at the University of British Columbia.

Abdi, 30, is also a recipient of the Vanier scholarship, among the most prestigious doctorate scholarships in Canada. In February 2017, he was awarded one of Canada’s top research awards, which was presented to him at Rideau Hall by Governor General David Johnston and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

But Abdi’s future in Canada is uncertain.

He said his application for permanent residency in Canada, which he was told would take roughly six months to process, has still not been completed a year later. Permanent residency is the step immigrants to Canada pass through before they can apply for full citizenship.

Abdi was selected as one of the top Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada researchers in Canada, and was the winner of the Gilles Brassard Award. (Amir Abdi)

If Abdi doesn’t become a permanent resident in the next three days, he won’t be able to accept a spot at one of Canada’s top research centres.

Abdi is one of more than 300 Iranian graduate and postdoctoral students who say they’ve faced unreasonable wait times as their permanent residency applications are processed.

The estimated wait time given on the government of Canada’s website is six months. But many students say they’ve waited several years, with many of them told that their applications are undergoing security screenings.

The delays with their immigration status have forced them to put their academic and professional lives on hold, they say.

Because they lack permanent resident status, students say they’ve missed attending international conferences, have had to decline job offers, and feel like they’re unable to set up their lives in Canada.

Waiting to hear about their status is a source of stress and anxiety. And they say Ottawa has not told them why the security screening process has been delayed.

“We recognize security is an essential part of the immigration process, but we just want to know why it’s taking so long,” said Abdi.

He said he doesn’t understand why security screenings should take so long for people who have already been vetted by Canada when they initially applied as students, and have lived in the country for many years.

Lawyers and members of parliament who are now working with the students say the delays make Canada look hypocritical, since the government has already invested in their academic careers.

Ali Ehsassi, Liberal MP for Willowdale, Ont., says he’s raised the issue — dubbed #DelayedIranianApplications by students on Twitter — with his colleagues on Parliament Hill.

Ehsassi said he understands that security screenings are needed, but it appears these students have been singled out.

“When you compare all the evidence, it suggests we’re talking about undue delays for many applicants that are of Iranian origin.”

Maryam Merrikhpour moved to Canada in 2010, and has a master’s degree and a PhD in Industrial Engineering from University of Toronto. She applied for permanent residency one year ago and is still is waiting for a response. (Provided)

Missed opportunities

Abdi is not alone.

Mali Meibod is a postdoctoral fellow in the department of Kinesiology at UBC.

Originally trained as a microbiologist, Meibod researches how to improve the lives of people with spinal cord injuries.

She first applied for permanent residency in February 2017, and has yet to hear back. Since then, she’s missed attending a major international conference because she could not leave Canada.

“Sometimes I feel like — aren’t I worth [having] permanency residency in Canada? I have the highest level of education possible. What else do I need?” she said.

Through her grants and scholarships, Canada has invested nearly half a million dollars in her education since she first arrived.

“I don’t know where the priorities of Canada fit but if I was a policymaker I’d think, I want to keep these skilled people that I spent so much money on.”

Dozens more, including Maryam Merrikhpour, a PhD in industrial engineering, and Pooya Mirzabeygi, who has a master’s in mechanical engineering, also wrote to CBC News with their stories. A Facebook group of Iranian students in Canada has more than 300 members.

Personal stress

Vincent Valai, a Montreal-based attorney who represents Abdi, was also approached by a group of Iranian students in Quebec who said they’ve faced lengthy wait times.

Valai said many of the individuals represent top talent, which Canada should recruit. He said living in limbo has caused them psychological strain.

“Lots of them are suffering while waiting — some of them are experiencing depression and anxiety due to the delays,” he said.

Joyce Murray, Liberal MP for Vancouver Quadra, said she’s met with a number of Iranian students, some of them “on the edge of tears.”

“The government has identified international students as a positive and preferred set of candidates for permanent residency. We want them here, and there’s no reason why the students shouldn’t have a response in a timely way,” she said.

Murray said she’s raised the issue with Immigration Minister Ahmed Hessen and Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale.

Pooya Mirzabeygi says he’s been waiting for his permanent residency application to be processed for more 40 months now. He has a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Western Ontario, has published eight papers, and is currently working in automotive research and development. (Provided)

Hussen’s office did not respond to a CBC’s request for an interview.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said security screenings are “part of the normal procedures of processing an application for permanent residence, regardless of an applicant’s country of origin.”

It said screenings are done by outside agencies such as the RCMP, Canadian Security Intelligence Service, and the Canada Border Services Agency.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Article by:

Michelle Ghoussoub is a journalist with CBC Vancouver. She previously reported in Lebanon and Chile.

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Immigrant women earn less face greater employment barriers internal report

admin — Fri, 13 Apr 2018 04:56:57 +0000

Teresa Wright, The Canadian Press
Published Thursday, April 12, 2018 2:30PM EDT
Last Updated Thursday, April 12, 2018 4:18PM EDT

OTTAWA — Immigrant women in Canada face greater employment barriers and earn less money than both male immigrants and Canadian-born women, data compiled by the immigration department suggests.

The information, obtained by the Canadian Press through the Access to Information Act, shows a persistent gap between female immigrants, both new and established in Canada, compared with their Canadian-born counterparts.

The data also shows that more women arrive in Canada as the spouses of economic immigrants or as non-economic newcomers or refugees and have lower employment rates and earn less than the average wage.

That, the internal government report says, indicates selection policies for immigration programs are not tailored to capitalize on the economic value of female immigrants.

The report uses internal government data to provide an overview of economic and social outcomes of immigrants from all sources, including economic-class, family-class and refugee streams.

It flags labour market integration as more challenging for female newcomers.

“Unlike male immigrants, a persistent gap exists between very recent, recent and established female immigrants and their Canadian-born counterparts,” the report states.

The data shows similar employment barriers also exist for the children of immigrants, especially those whose parents are visible minorities, despite the fact they achieve higher levels of education than Canadian-born children. Children of immigrants from nearly all visible minority groups earn less than their Canadian-born peers.

Pari Karem, general manager of immigrant services at the YMCA in Kitchener, Ont., works directly with newcomer youth and women.

She says she has seen the children of immigrants attain master’s degrees and PhDs, yet still have difficulty finding good jobs. She attributes this partly to a lack of connections among their parents.

Some clients have told Karem they felt employers passed over them for jobs because of their race, she added, calling it a form of “hidden racism” among some employers.

“Just because they finished their education here does not take away some of the stereotypical factors that some employers judge these (people) by, which is their name, their visible minority and it’s unfortunate,” Karem said.

But Karem believes it’s more complicated when it comes to why women work and earn less.

Many immigrant women come from cultures where they are raised to take on a secondary or caregiver role.

“If I, as a female, think it is my role to only stay home and look after my children, no matter how many programs are out there for me, I’m not going to try them.”

She suggests immigrant women instead need better education about balancing family life with employment opportunities.

Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen acknowledges that gaps in employment and wages do exist, but says government has been working on designing settlement programs to improve opportunities for immigrant women and their children.

“Of course we want all newcomers to succeed and restart their lives in Canada as fast as possible and succeed and contribute back to Canada,” Hussen said.

He pointed to $31.8 million earmarked in this year’s federal budget for a pilot program to support newcomer women entering and staying in the workforce. Money has also been dedicated to test new ways to target groups of newcomers who are not achieving the same outcomes as others.

“There is also now money within our ministry to encourage settlement service providers to test out new ideas, to borrow good ideas from the private sector, to implement good things that are happening in one part of the country to another part of the country,” Hussen said.

Karem believes more education among Canadian-born residents should also be a key part of addressing inequalities facing newcomers.

Published by : CTV NEWS

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