Articles of interest over the holidays – Immigration
2020/01/06 Leave a comment
2020 Developments
Millions of new Canadians will arrive through Canada’s various immigration programs during the new decade and several expected policy updates will help to pave the way in 2020.
Here’s a look at some of the notable developments that we can expect over the next 12 months both in Canada and beyond that could help shape the future of Canadian immigration policy.
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Early 2020: Parents and Grandparents Program changes expected
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2020-2022 Immigration Levels Plan Announcement by March
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Ottawa’s commitment to regionalization is undeniable
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Will citizenship fees be waived in 2020?
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Watch out for Great Britain and the United States
Family Reunification
The Liberal government is postponing the next round of its widely criticized family reunification program while it looks into developing a new intake process, according to a statement from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
The program allows Canadian citizens and permanent residents to apply to bring grandparents and parents to Canada. Critics have called the selection process unfair since all of the online application spots were snapped up in just minutes earlier this year.
In its Monday statement, Immigration Canada said it’s delaying the 2020 round as it works on a new intake system.
“This means that the opportunity to express interest in sponsoring a parent or grandparent will not take place on Jan. 1, 2020,” reads the statement.”Further information about the expected launch date and 2020 intake process will be available in the new year. This will give all interested sponsors the same opportunity to submit an interest-to-sponsor form and a fair chance to be invited to apply.”
Source: Parent and grandparent reunification program reopening postponed as Liberals look at new system, Federal government suspends popular immigration sponsorship program
Rural and Northern Immigration
“Justin Trudeau has decided to destroy eleven Canadian communities with extreme immigration — tripling their size in a decade. They are all Conservative voting communities. And none are in Quebec (of course).”
— Rebel Media personality Ezra Levant
Feigning any semblance of respect for Rebel Media personality Ezra Levant is disingenuous, so we’re not going to bother. In fact, we’re not going to use his name any further. From this point forward, he will be referred to as The Regressive.
Perhaps best known as a far-right fear monger and libel plaintiff, The Regressive tweeted the above factually dubious quote in response to the federal government’s Rural and Northern Immigration Program, which Brandon is one of 11 communities selected to participate in.
It will surprise no on who knows of The Regressive’s work that his numbers are a bit off. It’s a three-year pilot program (not 10), with up to 2,750 immigrants total being accepted annually among its 11 participating communities, which falls very short of tripling any community’s size.
As previously reported in The Brandon Sun, The Wheat City was one of only two Manitoba communities selected for the program, the other being the Gretna-Rhineland-Altona-Plum Coulee region.
Migration continues to shape the political futures of Britain, the U.S., parts of Europe and beyond.
But in English-speaking Canada, except for concern about irregular migrants from the U.S. crossing the border, discussion of the complex issues surrounding migration remains muted.
Regardless, migration continues to shape the country — especially in light of Justin Trudeau raising migration levels to among the highest per capita in the world. In 2019 Canada brought in a record 350,000 immigrants, plus a larger-than-ever number of international students and guest workers.
Here are five things we learned about migration this year in Canada:
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Foreign capital impacted housing
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International-student exploitation occurred
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Quebec put migration at the top of its agenda
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China loomed larger
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Labour force had winners and losers
Source: Douglas Todd: 5 things we learned about migration in 2019
Asylum Seekers
A new refugee law heralded as a way to reduce the number of irregular migrants arriving in Canada from the U.S. has had little impact, according to Canadian government data obtained by the Star.
Immigration statistics show some 400 asylum claims have been deemed ineligible since June 21, 2019, when the rule was introduced to prevent refugees from seeking protection in Canada if they have made similar claims in other countries.
Ottawa had hoped the strategy would deter would-be refugee claimants from crossing into Canada from the U.S.
The number of ineligible cases is a drop in the bucket of the 12,000 claims made by irregular border-crossers from January to September 2019. Ottawa previously did not track asylum seekers who had made claims in other countries and so the new policy did not set a target. However, 400 is much lower than what was anticipated by even migrant rights groups who were critical of the policy change.
“We were surprised to see the low number. It is not clear how the (policy) helps by denying refugees access to the Immigration and Refugee Board,” said Janet Dench of the Canadian Council for Refugees. “From our perspective, this is for the government to send the message that you are not welcomed here and we don’t want you here.”
Source: New asylum laws to restrict flow of migrants from U.S. yield few results
Iranian Asylum Seekers
The number of Iranians seeking asylum in Canada has almost tripled in recent years, even before open military conflict exploded this week between the U.S. and the increasingly damaged Middle Eastern country.
About one in 20 Iranians who obtain visas to fly into Canada as tourists, guest workers or international students have been applying for refugee status, according to a redacted immigration department document obtained under an access-to-information request.
More than 125 Iranians applied each month for asylum in Canada in early 2019, according to the internal report. And for the past 18 months Iranians have made up by far the largest cohort wanting protection on the West Coast of Canada, reports the B.C. Refugee Hub Bulletin.
Iranian asylum seekers in B.C. far surpass the next largest source countries for would-be refugees, which are Mexico, Afghanistan, Colombia and Nigeria. An average of 65 Iranians a month last year sought political refuge while in B.C., which has a strong Iranian-Canadian population on the North Shore and in Coquitlam.
Source: Douglas Todd: More than 125 Iranians were applying each month for asylum in Canada in 2019
Immigrant women in tech (British Columbia)
Women who are new immigrants in B.C. have an especially difficult time finding jobs in the tech sector, according to a Vancouver-based diversity and inclusion expert.
Vancouver is the third-largest tech hub in Canada. But only 18 per cent of tech workers there are women, according to a report by Commercial Real Estate Services Canada.
Jobs in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) industries are predicted to grow over the next decade. But only 50 per cent of immigrants found jobs in their field of study in B.C. last year, according to a 2019 Vancity report.
The organization Immigrant and International Women in Science runs workshops to help immigrant women better integrate themselves into the Canadian tech industry.
Source: Why immigrant women are struggling to get work in Vancouver’s tech hub
Japan
Sasaki added that tightening immigration control is needed to cope with misuse of the refugee system.
Japan saw a sharp rise in asylum-seekers after a 2010 revision granted work permits to applicants who had been waiting longer than six months for screenings. But the revision caused a steep increase in applicants ineligible for work permits.
After the Justice Ministry introduced a stricter process in January 2018, the number of asylum-seekers dropped to 10,493 from 19,629 the year before. Only 42 people were granted refugee status in 2018, with another 40 granted humanitarian protection.
The ministry also took measures to speed up the screening process.
“The refugee system has been established to swiftly grant asylum to people who need protection but … in recent years, the number of people misusing the system has risen and the problem is still prevalent,” Sasaki said.
“In the screening process, officers are overloaded with applications submitted by foreigners coming with the intent to stay in Japan for financial reasons, which hinders proceedings for asylum-seekers who meet the requirements of the Refugee Convention.”
In recent years, Japan has been cracking down on illegal immigrants. Many get prolonged detention, and some have resorted to hunger strikes.
Source: Japan’s immigration chief optimistic asylum and visa woes will improve in 2020
Malaysia
A Holistic Plan on Enforcement Against Illegal Immigrants will be launched next year to combat in a comprehensive manner the influx of illegal immigrants in the country.The plan is aimed at ensuring that Malaysia achieves zero illegal immigrant in the set period through the strengthening of governance and existing enforcement work system.Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the holistic plan entailed strategic cooperation between various ministries and related agencies based on firmer law enforcement and more effective action.He said the flood of illegal immigrants should be tackled through firmer enforcement and legal action so that such a scenario would not remain a national issue which has a negative impact on the country’s social and legal aspects.
Source: Home minister: Malaysia to adopt holistic plan to stem influx of illegal immigrants | Malaysia
Korea
The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is preparing to introduce more policies to improve immigrants’ rights in the lead-up to the general election next April hoping to attract voters of multicultural backgrounds.
The DPK’s committee on multiculturalism has suggested recently the party unveil various election promises related to the rights of immigrants including the establishment of a presidential body on multiculturalism so that the body can serve as a control tower to tackle relevant social issues, according to sources. The pledges also include expanding support for undocumented immigrant children, easing the work permission system for foreigners, giving teachers and public servants mandatory education on multiculturalism, improving welfare systems for multicultural families and establishing an overall marriage policy for immigrants. Above all, the committee is planning to introduce laws to give diaspora groups living in Korea support in welfare and jobs which includes a plan to establish a help center for those people.
“As there is no control tower on multiculturalism in the government, similar policies exist between governmental organizations, meaning some taxes are being used redundantly,” said Hong Mi-young, chairwoman of the DPK’s committee on multiculturalism.
Source: DPK to create more multicultural policies for general election
About Andrew
Multicultural Meanderings 