Ces athlètes qui se magasinent une nationalité

2026/02/17 Leave a comment

Always struck me as distasteful:

…Comment les athlètes se magasinent-ils des nationalités ?


Sauf approbation exceptionnelle du CIO, un athlète ne peut concourir sous la bannière d’un pays s’il en a représenté un autre dans les trois années précédentes. Il doit aussi être « libéré » par sa fédération d’origine, sans quoi un recours aux instances d’arbitrage est nécessaire.

Le cas du patinage artistique en duo est particulier, explique Me Patrice Brunet, spécialiste en droit de l’immigration et en droit du sport, et avocat de Stellato-Dudek.

Il est très difficile de trouver un partenaire avec qui travailler, et très souvent, ce sont des partenaires de deux pays.

 Me Patrice Brunet, spécialiste en droit de l’immigration et en droit du sport

Stellato-Dudek a contacté Me Brunet en 2021. Elle venait de se séparer de son ancien partenaire américain. Or, des patineurs artistiques de haut niveau, il n’en traîne pas beaucoup dans les arénas. Elle a entendu parler de Maxime Deschamps, qui venait lui aussi de mettre fin à son association. Ça a cliqué.

Les deux se sont demandé s’ils devraient être américains ou canadiens. Le chemin vers la nationalité canadienne était un peu plus simple… Ils ont choisi le Canada.

« Je lui ai dit : “Je veux gérer tes attentes. Pour les Jeux de 2022 [Pékin], ce n’est pas jouable” », dit l’avocat, qui est à Milan pour voir performer sa cliente.

Il faut d’abord un certificat de sélection du Québec. Pour ça, il faut démontrer qu’on peut occuper un emploi recherché par les employeurs québécois.

Or, le patinage artistique, c’est beaucoup d’ouvrage, mais ce n’est pas un travail. Impossible de passer par le chemin habituel. Il fallait passer par la discrétion ministérielle.

« Elle avait l’appui des fédérations sportives. On a demandé un traitement accéléré au bureau de Christine Fréchette. On l’a obtenu en six mois. »

Le plus compliqué était à venir : pour devenir citoyen canadien, il faut avoir été présent au moins trois années dans les cinq dernières.

« Ça nous mettait hors délai pour les Jeux de Milan-Cortina. Mais encore là, la discrétion ministérielle permet des exceptions. »

Le ministre était Marc Miller. Le dossier était en attente… puis en janvier, ils sont devenus champions du monde pour le Canada. Justin Trudeau les a félicités sur les réseaux sociaux.

Comment peut-on concourir pour le Canada sans être citoyen ? C’est permis par la fédération internationale, vu les nombreux couples binationaux. Mais pas aux Jeux olympiques.

L’avocat a donc fait une capture d’écran du tweet du premier ministre.

« Disons que ça bonifiait le dossier… Ma peur, c’était qu’ils l’accordent juste avant les Jeux. Il y a tout le volet psychologique à gérer. On a même envoyé une lettre de psychologue au ministre. »

La citoyenneté a été accordée en novembre 2024. Le couple a continué de s’entraîner à Boucherville. Et elle a appris le français depuis.

Les cas de figure de changement de drapeau sont innombrables. C’est souvent parce qu’un athlète n’a pas pu se qualifier dans son pays qu’il se tourne vers une autre fédération nationale. C’est le cas du patineur courte piste Félix Pigeon, devenu polonais avec l’accord de la fédération canadienne.

En entrevue au Journal de Québec, il disait n’avoir rien compris quand le président Karol Nawrocki est venu souhaiter bonne chance aux athlètes avant les Jeux.

Pour la même raison, de nombreux athlètes africains ont intégré les fédérations sportives de Bahreïn et du Qatar. Vu la profondeur de talent en athlétisme au Kenya et en Éthiopie, le 6e, voire le 12e au pays dans une discipline donnée fait néanmoins partie de l’élite mondiale et peut gagner une médaille.

Ajoutons à cela que ces riches pays du Golfe allongent un financement conséquent pour attirer ces athlètes.

À Paris, 11 des 14 athlètes de Bahreïn venaient de l’Éthiopie, du Kenya et du Nigeria. Au 3000 m steeple, Winfred Yavi, née au Kenya, a remporté l’or pour Bahreïn. Elle avait terminé 10e à Tokyo. Autrement dit, quand elle a changé de pays, c’était une athlète de haut niveau, prometteuse, mais pas une championne.

L’autre catégorie, plus controversée, est justement celle de l’importation de champions existants.

Le cas le plus spectaculaire est celui du patineur de vitesse Ahn Hyun-soo, immense vedette en Corée du Sud, qui avait remporté quatre médailles, dont trois d’or, aux Jeux de Turin. Blessé avant les qualifications de son pays pour les Jeux de Vancouver, on ne l’a pas laissé y participer. Il est devenu russe juste avant Sotchi et se fait appeler maintenant Viktor Ahn. Il a remporté trois médailles d’or pour la Russie. De retour en Corée du Sud, les choses apparemment ne se passent pas à merveille, d’autant qu’il a été entraîneur d’un grand rival, la Chine…

Le planchiste américain Vic Wild, lui, est tombé amoureux d’une Russe et a adopté la nationalité en 2011, à temps pour les Jeux de Sotchi. On lui avait trouvé un emploi bien rémunéré pour faciliter son intégration. L’investissement a payé : il a remporté deux médailles d’or et reçu l’accolade de son nouveau président, Vladimir Poutine.

À l’inverse, depuis l’invasion russe de l’Ukraine et la poursuite du bannissement du pays, on estime que 350 athlètes russes ont quitté le pays. Aux Jeux de Paris, 77 d’entre eux ont participé en tant qu’athlètes d’autres pays. Ils sont une trentaine à Milan-Cortina.

On peut ajouter à cela ceux qui n’ont aucun drapeau. Ils font partie de l’équipe des réfugiés. Elle n’est pas représentée à Milan-Cortina, mais ils étaient 36 à Paris, dont deux ont remporté une médaille de bronze.

Parfois, c’est aussi parce qu’un athlète n’a pas le choix qu’il change de drapeau.

Source: Ces athlètes qui se magasinent une nationalité

Unless exceptionally approved by the IOC, an athlete cannot compete under the banner of one country if he has represented another in the previous three years. He must also be “released” by his federation of origin, otherwise recourse to arbitration bodies is necessary.

The case of duo figure skating is special, explains Patrice Brunet, a specialist in immigration law and sports law, and lawyer for Stellato-Dudek.

It is very difficult to find a partner to work with, and very often, they are partners from two countries.

Me Patrice Brunet, specialist in immigration law and sports law

Stellato-Dudek contacted Me Brunet in 2021. She had just separated from her former American partner. However, high-level figure skaters, he doesn’t drag many in the arenas. She heard about Maxime Deschamps, who had also just ended his association. It clicked.

Both wondered if they should be American or Canadian. The path to Canadian citizenship was a little easier… They chose Canada.

“I told him, “I want to manage your expectations. For the 2022 Games [Beijing], it is not playable,” says the lawyer, who is in Milan to see his client perform.

You first need a Quebec selection certificate. For this, it is necessary to demonstrate that we can occupy a job sought after by Quebec employers.

However, figure skating is a lot of work, but it is not a job. Impossible to go through the usual path. It was necessary to go through ministerial discretion.

“She had the support of sports federations. An expedited treatment was requested at Christine Fréchette’s office. We got it in six months. ”

The most complicated thing was to come: to become a Canadian citizen, you must have been present for at least three years in the last five.

“It put us out of time for the Milan-Cortina Games. But again, ministerial discretion allows exceptions. ”

The minister was Marc Miller. The file was pending… then in January, they became world champions for Canada. Justin Trudeau congratulated them on social media.

How can you compete for Canada without being a citizen? This is allowed by the international federation, given the many binational couples. But not at the Olympic Games.

The lawyer therefore took a screenshot of the Prime Minister’s tweet.

“Let’s say it made the file a better… My fear was that they would grant it just before the Games. There is the whole psychological component to manage. We even sent a letter from a psychologist to the minister. ”

Citizenship was granted in November 2024. The couple continued to train in Boucherville. And she has learned French since then.

The scenarios of changing the flag are countless. It is often because an athlete has not been able to qualify in his country that he turns to another national federation. This is the case of short-track skater Félix Pigeon, who became Polish with the agreement of the Canadian federation.

In an interview with the Journal de Québec, he said he didn’t understand anything when President Karol Nawrocki came to wish the athletes good luck before the Games.

For the same reason, many African athletes have joined the sports federations of Bahrain and Qatar. Given the depth of athletics talent in Kenya and Ethiopia, the 6th or even the 12th in the country in a given discipline is nevertheless part of the world elite and can win a medal.

Let’s add to this that these rich Gulf countries are extending substantial funding to attract these athletes.

In Paris, 11 of Bahrain’s 14 athletes came from Ethiopia, Kenya and Nigeria. In the 3000 m steeple, Winfred Yavi, born in Kenya, won gold for Bahrain. She finished 10th in Tokyo. In other words, when she changed country, she was a high-level athlete, promising, but not a champion.

The other, more controversial category is precisely that of the import of existing champions.

The most spectacular case is that of speed skater Ahn Hyun-soo, a huge star in South Korea, who had won four medals, including three gold, at the Turin Games. Injured before his country’s qualifying for the Vancouver Games, he was not allowed to participate. He became Russian just before Sochi and is now called Viktor Ahn. He won three gold medals for Russia. Back in South Korea, things are apparently not going wonderfully, especially since he was the coach of a great rival, China…

American planker Vic Wild fell in love with a Russian and adopted the nationality in 2011, in time for the Sochi Games. He had been found a well-paid job to facilitate his integration. The investment paid off: he won two gold medals and received the hug of his new president, Vladimir Putin.

Conversely, since the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the continuation of the banishment from the country, it is estimated that 350 Russian athletes have left the country. At the Paris Games, 77 of them participated as athletes from other countries. There are about thirty of them in Milan-Cortina.

We can add to this those who have no flags. They are part of the refugee team. She is not represented in Milan-Cortina, but there were 36 in Paris, two of whom won a bronze medal.

Sometimes, it is also because an athlete has no choice that he changes his flag.

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Liberals quiet on whether government will support Senate changes to First Nations bill that would end second-generation cut-off

2026/02/17 Leave a comment

Interesting parallel with C-3 and citizenship by descent. But Indian status is more material in terms of benefits and Canadian citizenship. Hard to see what would be a meaningful connection test if no parent or grandparent indigenous:

The House of Commons has started its study of government legislation aimed at ending gender inequities in the Indian Act but it’s unclear if the Liberals will support Senate amendments eliminating the so-called second-generation cut-off.

The rule denies Indian status to people who had a non-First Nation parent and grandparent, and has been criticized as a colonial policy that allows Ottawa to determine who qualifies as Indigenous and designed to limit the government’s obligations to status peoples.

Bill S-2 was introduced in the House in December after passing in the Senate with amendments that would end the cut-off policy.

The amendments passed over objections from senators representing the government, who called for more consultations with rights-holders.

But critics accused the government of using the consultations as a delay tactic, with other changes in S-2 facing a court-imposed deadline of this spring.

During third reading debate in the Upper Chamber, Sen. PJ Prosper said waiting for separate legislation was risky in a minority Parliament, with the threat of an unexpected election call always looming.

“What happens to the children affected by the cut-off if the government fails before consultations are concluded? What happens to the children if the government cannot pass stand-alone legislation in time?” he asked.

“In that way, these amendments, with the one-year coming-into-force delay, act as a fail-safe in these uncertain and unpredictable times.”

S-2 bill is still awaiting second reading in the House, but the chamber’s Indigenous and northern affairs committee began their study this week on issues related to the Indian Act registration.

Lori Doran, director general of individual affairs at Indigenous Services, told the committee on Tuesday the government is currently collecting submissions on the second-generation cut-off, which will then be reviewed by a panel of First Nations experts to assess their “legal viability and other impacts.”

That would then be packaged into a guide for consultations at a series of First Nations-led events that would start in the spring, she said.

Doran said some of the options floated to replace the second-generation cut-off include a one-parent rule, First Nations jurisdiction to decide on status or the use of DNA testing.

Several First Nations groups have publicly called on the government to support the Senate changes, including the Assembly of First Nations, which advocates on behalf of over 630 communities.

At a special assembly in Ottawa in December, AFN chiefs voted to support Senate changes to Bill S-2 to end the cut-off policy, with some chiefs warning that many First Nations would lose all status members in coming decades without changes to registration requirements. If a First Nation loses all its status members, their reserve territory would become Crown land.

Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty responded that she needed more time to consult before making a decision.

Gull-Masty’s office said the minister was unavailable on Friday.

Appearing on Thursday before the House Indigenous committee, AFN National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak called the second-generation cut-off a “blood-quantum rule rooted in colonial thinking” that was designed to “reduce Canada’s obligations by steadily decreasing the number of people entitled to Indian status.”

“The rule treats First Nations identity as something that can be diluted and eventually erased. It does not reflect First Nations understandings of belongings and places the power to decide who is Indian enough with the federal government.”…

Source: Liberals quiet on whether government will support Senate changes to First Nations bill that would end second-generation cut-off

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Opinion | Canada’s working-age population is shrinking. Should we keep immigration near zero or rethink the plan?

2026/02/16 2 Comments

Good discussion (I lean towards the BMO assessment):

In this Bridging the Divide conversation, Robert Kavcic, senior economist and director of economics at BMO Capital Markets, argues the slowdown is a responsible course correction. Lisa Lalande, CEO of the Century Initiative, warns that pulling back from population growth without a strategy risks weakening Canada’s long-term prosperity and global standing.

Robert Kavcic: We are in a period of adjustment. Population growth accelerated to three per cent in 2022 and 2023, placing a strain on housing, rental affordability, health care, public services and youth employment. I believe the government’s short-term immigration targets, which will keep population growth just above zero through 2028, are a reasonable and necessary correction.

Lisa Lalande: Population growth itself isn’t the problem. Growth without a plan is. Canada’s working-age population is shrinking, a shift that poses long-term risks to economic growth and public services. The pullback in immigration is too severe and has not been replaced with a national plan.

Kavcic: Immigration levels need to align with Canada’s capacity to provide housing, health care and essential services. If there is one thing that the last couple of years have taught us, it’s that population can grow very quickly. Every person who comes to Canada needs a place to live immediately. They need a doctor. They need services.

But it takes years to build adequate housing and services. So, maintaining a steady and predictable pace of immigration is very important.

Lalande: I don’t disagree, but zero population growth is bad for the economy. While urban centres such as Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary continue to attract newcomers, many small towns and rural areas are experiencing sustained population decline. Provinces such as Newfoundland and Labrador are projected to lose up to 10 per cent of their population by 2043. 

Municipalities have fixed costs, such as water treatment plants, but those costs are spread among fewer people as residents retire or pass away. Affordability will worsen without a national population plan that considers aging and health care.

Kavcic: Another concern is the quality of immigration. We cannot bring in people simply to meet numerical targets if they are not improving per capita economic growth. We need to recruit workers in industries where shortages exist.

But even when we recruit needed workers, such as plumbers, electricians and carpenters for residential construction, they still need a place to live. In that sense, adding workers to build homes can increase pressure on the housing market in the short term because they need housing before they can add to overall output.

Lalande: I agree that we need to have more housing. But the debate of the past two years oversimplified the issue by blaming immigration for the housing crisis. We know from Statistics Canada research that immigration accounted for only about 11 per cent of the rise in median house values and rents across municipalities.

We need to recognize that we need population growth. We have shortages in many areas. In health care, we need to double the number of personal support workers by 2032 to accommodate our aging population. Without population growth, ER wait times will grow and smaller communities will lose access to care.

Kavcic: I don’t think we’re far apart on this. The market speaks pretty clearly about where the balance is. For most of the period after the 2008 financial crisis through the pandemic, housing affordability was not a major issue in Canada. Prices were rising, incomes were rising and interest rates were falling. The market was mostly balanced. The rental market was relatively stable, and population growth averaged about one per cent.

What changed between 2021 and 2023 when population growth tripled was extreme stress in the rental market. Once population caps were introduced in 2024, the rental market peaked and began to cool. As population growth slowed, rents started falling in most major Canadian cities and vacancy rates rose.

This is a strong indication that Canada cannot sustain three per cent population growth. A rate closer to one per cent appears to be what the country can manage — and likely what it needs.

Lalande: I agree there was pressure on the rental market. But we need to address the housing crisis with greater urgency. Housing should not prevent us from bringing a doctor or nurse into a community that needs one.

Population growth also needs to be part of our national security conversation. For the country to remain strong, independent and sovereign, we need a growth-oriented mindset, with smart policy choices, innovation and responsible population planning. If Canada wants to rebuild its defence capacity, secure the Arctic, strengthen domestic supply chains and reduce reliance on allies, that will require people, talent and a healthy tax base to fund major investments.

Kavcic: I agree there is an important role for a well-managed and robust immigration program in Canada. I worry public sentiment is turning against immigration, even though the country will need strong immigration over the long term. That concern may be one reason policymakers moved quickly to reduce immigration levels, to prevent opposition from becoming entrenched.

Lalande: It was a drastic pullback, a political decision rather than a smart policy one, and the consequences are now being felt. Consider the revenue impact on our post-secondary education system, which has fewer foreign students. We are also losing our competitiveness against other countries for the world’s best and brightest.

When you dig into national polling, most Canadians still see the value of immigration. Environics Institute research shows three-quarters say immigrants make their communities better or have no net effect, while only 15 per cent believe newcomers make them worse.

We are facing a looming population cliff. Canada’s demographic outlook is shaped by three forces: an aging population; declining fertility rate; and immigration. Research shows there is only one way to meaningfully influence this trajectory: immigration. Policy should focus on whether immigration serves Canada’s interests within a coherent national strategy.

Kavcic: I think the population targets the federal government is using now are about right. Imposing temporary limits on growth for two or three years is reasonable, given how much population growth was compressed into a short period.

It will likely take two or three years of near-zero growth to bring the long-term trend back to the pace seen before inflows of non-permanent residents such as temporary foreign workers and international students surged. The projected changes from 2026 to 2028 are driven by scaling back flows of these non-permanent-residents to previous. The targets for permanent residents (people granted the right to live, work and study in Canada indefinitely) remain about 380,000 annually

 Lalande: We need to look beyond the next year or two and assess the impact over four, 10, even 30 years. Countries with long-term plans are more likely to succeed and safeguard their independence.

Kavcic: I agree that, over the long term, Canada faces a serious demographic challenge. The baby boom generation is aging into retirement, and the country is nearing a period of negative natural population growth. By 2028, for the first time, more people are expected to die than be born in Canada.

I do not dispute that we need a strong immigration program. We do. The issue is the numbers and the quality of immigration.

Lalande: I see more urgency around the need to plan with a long-term perspective, not anchor the conversation only in numbers and quality.

The focus should be on understanding what communities need. It should be on responding to those needs and supporting people once they are here. Only then can the country grow in a sustainable way into the future.

Source: Opinion | Canada’s working-age population is shrinking. Should we keep immigration near zero or rethink the plan?

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Rempel Garner: Immigration intakes don’t account for the impact of AI. They should.

2026/02/16 Leave a comment

Agree that there needs to be greater consideration of immigration levels and skills in the context of AI and automation in general. Arguably, the current approach, even with recent reductions, understates the potential impact and the associated issue that current policies provide disincentives for companies to invest in AI and automation.

While I still write my posts, and do my number crunching myself, am increasingly using AI for proofreading, excel/numbers formulas and basic research for references. I am also currently exploring AI to generate my personal newsfeed rather than combing individual websites:

…But there’s something else that should be driving the Liberal government to pump the brakes on high levels of new temporary foreign labour and get a handle on expired-visa removals: the potential impact of artificial intelligence on Canada’s jobs market.

If you spent any time on X this week, you would have encountered AI entrepreneur Matt Schumer’s extra-mega viral article entitled “Something Big Is Happening”. Hype or not, Schumer’s article, which warned that many entry level white collar jobs are about to be replaced by AI, struck a chord. That’s probably because most people now have lived experience with AI changing or replacing major parts of their work.

There’s empirical proof of this trend now, too. Stories of law firms choosing to hire fewer new associates in favour of leaning on AI are starting to pop up. Accountancy giant PwC plans to hire a third fewer new grads by 2028. Entry-level hiring at the 15 biggest tech firms dropped 25% from 2023-2024. In Canada, this AI work disruption is coming at a time when the country’s economy is already brittle. Over the past decade, Canada’s per capita GDP has been on a rather steep decline, and the youth unemployment rate is double the national average.

Said differently, there are less jobs for Canadian workers due to an already-weak economy, an overabundance of low-skilled foreign labour, and AI is now disrupting the jobs market even further.

Capturing the spirit of this concern was known-to-senior-Canadian-Liberals Ian Bremmer, President of the global consultancy Eurasia Group, who tweeted: “The fact that this [the replacement of white-collar jobs with AI] is even remotely plausible should be the top issue on most everyone’s agenda.” I’ve shared the same view since the moment I first used ChatGPT in late 2022. My immediate thought was, “My God, they’re going to automate human thought, just as they automated human labour.” A few days later, I became the first legislator in Canada to raise the issue in the House of Commons. And Tiff Macklem, Governor of the Bank of Canada stated in a recent speech that, “Not surprisingly, we are seeing increased demand for workers with AI skills. The flip side is we may be seeing some early evidence that AI is reducing the number of entry-level jobs in some occupations.”

Unfortunately, in spite of these warning signs, there is no evidence that the federal Liberals have factored in the possibility of artificial intelligence disrupting entry-level jobs into their immigration levels plan during the middle of an existing economic downturn. If they had, they probably wouldn’t have quietly lifted a freeze on the permitting process to bring new low-skilled temporary foreign workers to several major cities across Canada last month….

Source: Immigration intakes don’t account for the impact of AI. They should.

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Douglas Todd: Taiwanese-Canadians navigate ‘tricky’ relations with people from China

2026/02/16 Leave a comment

Interesting snippet:

…“At a domestic level in Canada, Liu said people from Taiwan and China rarely interact.

Many Taiwanese people attend giant Ling Yen Mountain Temple in Richmond, visible from Highway 99. The Canadian census says about 18 per cent of Taiwanese Canadians are Buddhist, 22 per cent are Christian, and 64 per cent are non-religious.

Even though there is next to no mingling at social, cultural or religious events in Canada, said Liu, people from China and Taiwan often engage through business.

For instance, Liu said the founder of the largest Asian grocery store chain in Canada, T&T Supermarket, is Cindy Lee, a Canadian resident born in Taiwan. Liu said many people from China shop at T&T Supermarket’s more than 38 stores. …

Source: “Douglas Todd: Taiwanese-Canadians navigate ‘tricky’ relations with people from China”

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Lisée | L’absurde guerre contre le télétravail

2026/02/16 Leave a comment

While I can understand the political impulse in these return to office protocols, mirroring the private sector, the “rough justice” of universal application without considering job specific requirements reflects general policy and management weaknesses.

As an executive, I tried to reserve one day every two weeks to work from home. Allowed me the time and space for deeper thinking than the transactional:

….Pour environ la moitié de la population, le télétravail est maintenant possible. C’est une révolution. Au pire, neutre pour la productivité, mais certainement bonne pour la famille, les enfants, le sommeil, la santé, la réduction de la congestion. Les syndicats se battent pour inscrire le droit au télétravail (partiel) dans les conventions collectives. Ils ont raison. J’affirme que dans un avenir pas très lointain, on inscrira ce droit dans les normes minimales du travail. Honte au gouvernement Carney, à Amazon et aux autres qui freinent ce mouvement. Ils retardent le groupe.

Source: “Chronique | L’absurde guerre contre le télétravail”

…. For about half of the population, teleworking is now possible. It’s a revolution. At worst, neutral for productivity, but certainly good for family, children, sleep, health, reduction of congestion. The unions are fighting to include the right to (partial) teleworking in collective agreements. They are right. I affirm that in the not too distant future, this right will be included in the minimum labour standards. Shame on the Carney government, Amazon and the others who are slowing down this movement. They delay the group.

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Ontario lifts tuition freeze, unveils OSAP reforms as it boosts university and college funding. Here’s what it will mean for schools and students

2026/02/14 Leave a comment

Partially correcting a problem that they created and was forced by federal government correctly cutting back on the excessive growth in international students, particularly in colleges:

Colleges and universities are getting more funding — an additional $6.4 billion over the next four years — and will be able to charge students slightly higher tuition rates, as the province’s longstanding fee freeze comes to an end. 

The government’s Thursday announcement was based on months of consultations and warnings from the post-secondary sector that stagnant funding from the province — combined with the seven-year ban on tuition hikes and massive cuts to international students imposed by Ottawa — left them on the financial brink.

Schools will now be able to raise fees by two per cent each year for the next three years, with future increases tied to inflation or two per cent, whichever is less. That means university students will pay roughly $170 more a year and college students $66 — which, combined with a move away from non-repayable student aid grants, has critics raising concerns about affordability. …

Source: Ontario lifts tuition freeze, unveils OSAP reforms as it boosts university and college funding. Here’s what it will mean for schools and students

Good commentary by Regg Cohn:

…Belatedly — better late than never — Ford’s Progressive Conservative government is stepping up to shore up postsecondary education. On Thursday it announced a $6.4-billion cash infusion over the next four years to make up for the last seven years of cuts, freezes and shortfalls since Ford took power.

Back in 2019, the premier played Santa Claus by imposing a 10-per-cent tuition cut, but then played Scrooge by freezing those rates in place without making up for the lost cash flow. Instead, the government urged postsecondary institutions to recruit and rely on high-paying foreign students to shore up their balance sheets, which stoked immigration imbalances that ultimately forced Ottawa to scale back student visas.

Those political and fiscal miscalculations created a perfect storm in postsecondary education: Funding shortfalls; tuition cuts frozen in time despite an inflationary spiral; and the sudden loss of foreign windfalls that kept campuses afloat.

None of it added up, least of all the tuition freeze enacted by a populist premier who wouldn’t pony up his share of the funding pie.

Regg Cohn | Doug Ford has learned a hard lesson after starving Ontario’s colleges and universities


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StatsCan Study: Portrait of the Chinese populations in Canada

2026/02/14 Leave a comment

Another interesting report:

A new in-depth analytical portrait released today explores the diversity of individuals in Canada who reported being Chinese in the census, including information on where they were born and live, their age, language, immigration characteristics, religion, education, job, income and experiences of social inclusion. It breaks down many characteristics by place of birth to provide a deeper understanding of the diversity of experiences and outcomes within Chinese populations.

This is the fourth in a series of portraits on racialized groups in Canada, developed by Statistics Canada in support of Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy. The previous portraits are The Diversity of the Black Populations in Canada, 2021: A Sociodemographic Portrait, Portrait of the Arab Populations in Canada: Diversity and Socioeconomic Outcomes and Portrait of the South Asian Populations in Canada: Diversity and Socioeconomic Outcomes.

The analysis in this release is based on the 2021 Census of Population, unless otherwise specified.

Nearly 5% of the Canadian population reports being Chinese

Chinese populations in Canada numbered 1.7 million people in 2021 and made up 4.7% of the total population of Canada. They were the second-largest racialized group in Canada after the South Asian populations. The size of the Chinese populations more than doubled from 1996 to 2021.

About half of Chinese populations in Canada were born in China

In 2021, about half of Chinese populations in Canada were born in China and about half were born in other places. More than one-quarter of Chinese populations were born in Canada, while other common places of birth were Hong Kong, Southeast Asia and Taiwan. For Chinese individuals living in Canada who were born in Southeast Asia, Vietnam was the most common country of birth.

Among Chinese immigrants, places of birth differed by period of immigration. Among Chinese immigrants who immigrated to Canada during the period from 1970 to 1996, just over one-third (34.2%) were born in China, while the majority were born in Hong Kong (40.1%), Southeast Asia (13.0%) and Taiwan (7.1%). In contrast, 86.8% of Chinese immigrants who immigrated to Canada during the period from 1998 to 2021 were born in China.

Nearly two-thirds of the Chinese populations who immigrated to Canada from 1980 to 2021 are economic immigrants

Chinese immigrants who had immigrated to Canada since 1980 and were living in the country in 2021 were mainly either economic immigrants (64.9%) or sponsored by family (28.7%). However, among Chinese immigrants during this period who were born in Southeast Asia, 42.0% were economic immigrants while one-quarter (25.1%) were refugees.

More than two-thirds of individuals who report being Chinese live in Toronto and Vancouver 

Over two-thirds of the Chinese populations in Canada lived in the census metropolitan areas (CMAs) of Toronto (39.6%) and Vancouver (29.9%) in 2021. There were some variations by place of birth; for example, the majority (58.1%) of the Chinese populations in Canada who were born in Taiwan lived in Vancouver (Chart 2).

Chinese populations in Canada made up nearly one-fifth of the population of the CMA of Vancouver (19.6%) and just over one-tenth of the population of the CMA of Toronto (11.1%). Within the Vancouver CMA, the majority (54.3%) of the population in the census subdivision (CSD) (municipality) of Richmond was Chinese, as was one-third (33.3%) of the population in the CSD of Burnaby. Within the Toronto CMA, Chinese populations made up nearly half (47.9%) of the population in the CSD of Markham and just under one-third (31.9%) of the population in the CSD of Richmond Hill.

Over 70% of individuals in Canada who reported being Chinese have no religion or have secular perspectives, but this differs by place of birth

In 2021, the share of the Chinese populations who had no religion or had secular perspectives (71.7%) was more than twice as high as in the overall population of Canada (34.6%).

The share of the Chinese populations who had no religion or had secular perspectives was highest among those born in China (80.2%) or Canada (72.9%) and lowest among those born in Southeast Asia (44.9%) (Chart 3).

The most common religions among Chinese populations were Christianity (20.2%) and Buddhism (7.2%)….

Source: Study: Portrait of the Chinese populations in Canada

Filed under Multiculturalism Tagged with ,

Thousands Of Americans Warned Of Passport Cancellations As State Department Reinforces 30-Year-Old Law

2026/02/14 2 Comments

Interesting use of citizenship to address “deadbeat” dads and moms:

U.S. officials have confirmed that the Department of State is starting active revocations of passports for parents who owe more than $2,500 in child support. Before this, the department was only able to deny or cancel the passports of these individuals when they initiated contact, such as for a renewal or other consular services.

In a statement released on Monday (Feb. 10), the State Department issued a strongly worded warning for “deadbeat parents,” as it begins proactive blocking of passports based on data shared by the Health and Human Services Department (HHS). This shift follows recent reports of U.S. travelers having their passports canceled without their knowledge, leading to detention and deportation abroad.

Established 30 years ago, the Passport Denial Program allows the federal government to freeze the travel rights of parents in arrears. Here’s a closer look at the changes to its enforcement, which are estimated to affect thousands of Americans.

U.S. State Department Begins Passport Cancellation For Parents With Unpaid Child Support

Three U.S. officials confirmed to the Associated Press that the State Department will soon revoke currently valid passports of parents who owe over $2500 in child support back payments, based on its “own initiative” and with the help of HHS data. While the changes have not yet been publicly announced, the source said that the changes to the Passport Denial Program will come in tiers, starting with passport holders with more than $100,000 in child support debt.

Less than 500 people are included in this group, but once the threshold is lowered, changes could affect thousands of U.S. citizens overall. In a statement sent via email, the State Department said it “is reviewing options” to enforce the 30-year-old Passport Denial Program, which was established under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996.

Source: Thousands Of Americans Warned Of Passport Cancellations As State Department Reinforces 30-Year-Old Law

Filed under Citizenship, Trump administration Tagged with ,

PBO: Projecting the Cost of the Interim Federal Health Program 

2026/02/14 2 Comments

Informative PBO Report:

Highlights

  • The Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP) provides limited and temporary healthcare coverage to some groups of foreign nationals who are not eligible for health insurance from provinces or territories.
  • PBO estimates that total IFHP costs will reach almost $1.0 billion in 2025‑26 and rise to over $1.5 billion by 2029‑30. PBO projects that annual growth in IFHP costs will average well below the average growth observed over the past five years, reflecting both a moderated increase in the number of beneficiaries and a more gradual rise in average annual costs.
  • Budget 2025 indicated that a “modest co-payment model” will be introduced to the Interim Federal Health Program for supplemental health products or services. This change to the program is not reflected in our projection. Including this new measure would reduce our estimate of the total cost for the IFHP program.

Summary

The Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP) provides “limited and temporary healthcare coverage to some groups of foreign nationals who are vulnerable and disadvantaged, and who are not eligible for health insurance from provinces or territories.”

Between 2020-21 and 2024-25, the cost of the program grew from $211 million to $896 million as both the number of beneficiaries and the cost per beneficiary increased significantly. PBO estimates that total IFHP costs will reach almost $1.0 billion in 2025‑26 and rise to over $1.5 billion by 2029‑30 (Table S-1).Table S-1Projected IFHP cost, millions of dollars

2025­-262026­-272027­-282028­-292029­-30
Total cost9891,1041,2321,3761,522

We project that average annual growth for IFHP costs will be 11.2 per cent between 2025‑26 and 2029‑30, well below the 33.7 per cent average growth observed over the past five years. This slower growth reflects both a moderated increase in the number of beneficiaries and a more gradual rise in average annual costs.

Budget 2025 indicated that a “modest co-payment model” will be introduced to the Interim Federal Health Program for supplemental health products or services. This change to the program is not reflected in our projection. Including this new measure would reduce our estimate of the total cost for the IFHP program.

Source: Projecting the Cost of the Interim Federal Health Program

Toronto Sun commentary: LILLEY: False asylum claims drive refugee health-care program toward $1B price tag

Filed under Immigration, Refugees Tagged with ,

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