Cologne assaults revealed hazards of closed borders and vague policy: Saunders

2016/01/18 Leave a comment

Doug Saunders on the Cologne attacks and European policies that contributed:

There are two key lessons here, ones that European leaders need to learn fast.

The first is that even a large-scale, liberal-minded immigration and refugee system needs to be accompanied by a quick and decisive deportation system. This is both for the sake of the non-accepted migrants themselves, who do not deserve to linger in ambiguity, for the peace of mind of the general population, and, especially, for the genuine refugees and immigrants, who are horrified to find their families subjected to mass demonization and bigotry because a similar-looking group has become a menace.

Deportation is neither cheap nor easy, which is why so many of these guys have stuck around. The European Union’s 28 countries have repeatedly failed to develop a co-ordinated international system of registration and deportation, and existing efforts are hampered by “non-refoulement” laws that prevent many from being returned to their country of origin. But since mass immigration will be part of the continent’s future, a faster, better system is urgently needed.

The second lesson is that this is a result not of Europe’s open internal borders, but of Europe’s closed external borders. Before the late 1990s, such men entered Europe for a few months at a time, on legal short-term visas and with airplane tickets, to do casual labour such as fruit picking, and then returned home, benefiting their communities. After the EU’s Maastricht Treaty led to a closed and policed external border, suddenly these temporary, legal figures became permanent, illegal figures who paid thousands to cross the Mediterranean and did not dare move back home seasonally.

Blocking quick movement – either into the continent or out of it – has created a situation that is bad for these men and their families, bad for legitimate refugees and immigrants, and bad for the safety of European streets.

Source: Cologne assaults revealed hazards of closed borders and vague policy – The Globe and Mail

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Express entry, foreign worker reforms attract ‘fewer’ skilled workers: chamber report

2016/01/16 Leave a comment

Express Entry Draws 2015.001Another item on Minister McCallum’s to do (or at least consider) list, passage below on Express Entry (the above chart shows the 23 rounds in 2015, and how the program has settled at around 1,500 invitations per draw, with a minimum score of about 40 percent of the total possible 1,200 points):

“The concept of attracting ‘the best and the brightest’ is missing in action,” says the new report, “as the competitive model of Express Entry is currently undermined by the protectionist policy embodied in the labour market impact assessment tool.”

As CBC reported in September, businesses say the labour market impact assessment (LMIA) — a new requirement borrowed from the newly reformed Temporary Foreign Worker Program — is the biggest flaw with Express Entry.

Under Canada’s new immigration system, highly-skilled foreign workers not only have to line up a job before applying to come to Canada but their job offer has to be backed by what the government calls a positive LMIA. That assessment is a document all employers now need to hire a foreign worker over a Canadian one.

The chamber calls the introduction of this new requirement a “misstep” that has made it “extremely challenging” for businesses to attract highly-skilled workers such as video game developers, top-flight researchers and workers in the trades.

Chamber calls for ‘sober, thoughtful review’

The 32-page report titled “Immigration for a Competitive Canada: Why Highly Skilled International Talent Is at Risk” lays out what Canadian businesses see as “missteps” with the immigration changes and offers 20 recommendations.

The recommendations include:

  • Removing the new requirement of a labour market impact assessment from the Express Entry system.

  • Tweak the points system under Express Entry to benefit high skilled workers applying under the International Mobility Program.

  • Reduce processing times for study permits and visas.

Source: Express entry, foreign worker reforms attract ‘fewer’ skilled workers: chamber report – Politics – CBC News

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Immigrants need a home, Atlantic Canada needs people: McKenna

2016/01/12 Leave a comment

Atlantic Canada unemployment ratesFormer New Brunswick Premier McKenna advocates for an Atlantic specific immigration program. Not sure that immigration is a panacea for Atlantic Canada’s demographic problem, and retention may also be an issue as immigrants will follow opportunities.

The above table compares unemployment rates between visible minorities and non-visible minorities in the Atlantic provides (2011 NHS):

We do not need more federal programs or federal money. We need people! But the status quo immigration system won’t get the job done.

Immigrants generally go where immigrants are. More than 70 per cent of new Canadians settle in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Atlantic Canada receives only about 2.5 per cent of immigrants. Without a larger base, it’s impossible to attract an immigrant population. It’s a continually reinforcing negative cycle.

The Provincial Nominee Program has had some uptake; yet, it has not moved the dial for Atlantic Canada. Again, immigrants go where immigrants are.

We need a new program dedicated to the needs of Atlantic Canada.

We do not have to reinvent the wheel. As far back as 2002, the immigration minister, Denis Coderre, floated the idea of a “social contract” whereby immigrants would be required to live in a community specified by the government for a period of at least three years, as part of the conditions for citizenship.

Allowing immigrants to convert a temporary visa into permanent status, once all conditions have been fulfilled, could pre-empt any legal arguments related to the mobility rights of individuals.

Critics will question why we should bring people to areas of high unemployment. But that is precisely where immigrants are needed. We need their entrepreneurship, their worldliness, their drive, their consumption and even their desperation. All of these attributes would be highly additive to the small communities across our region.

This model is not complicated or expensive. Ottawa could easily design a program unique for Atlantic Canada that could become a pilot for other regions depending on its success. It would be incumbent on provinces and communities to put together programs that would retain immigrants after they arrive.

Atlantic Canada is a warm and welcoming place to live. I’m confident that large numbers of immigrants would stay, refreshing our population base and providing a new energy to our economy.

My hope is the government of Canada understands it is facing a major collapse in the Atlantic region. If not this idea, what else might work? As for the Atlantic premiers, they need to make population growth their number-one priority and work together to create a new demographic destiny for Atlantic Canada.

Source: Immigrants need a home, Atlantic Canada needs people – The Globe and Mail

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Metropolis 2016 – Areas of Focus

2016/01/11 Leave a comment

Metropolis 2016.001With the draft program for Metropolis out (here), I took some time to analyze the areas of focus for the academics, settlement organizations and other NGOs, and government officials who have organized plenaries, workshops and roundtables.

The conference themes are: selection, governance, settlement and access to services, and identities and migration history.

With the exception of the plenaries – determined largely by the Association of Canadian Studies which organizes the conference – the focus reflects the response to these themes from participants, and thus gives a sense of what individuals and organizations involved in immigration-related issues are working on.

The chart above is my admittedly somewhat subjective take (not always clear, and in some cases, sessions cover more than one area).

Not surprisingly, integration and settlement are the most active areas, followed by multiculturalism, immigration and refugees.

Citizenship is largely absent (and was not mentioned specifically in the sub-theme of identities and migration history)), surprising given the magnitude of the 2014 and earlier changes to citizenship under the Conservative government, and the effect these are having on the immigrant-to-citizen model.

Federal government organized sessions involve two departments (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, StatsCan), and are largely integration, refugee and research focussed.

This is another illustration of IRC’s relative neglect of citizenship and longer-term integration issues, given that these are outside its ‘centre of gravity’ and focus.

Given the transition of multiculturalism back to Canadian Heritage, there are no government-organized sessions on multiculturalism (but academics and others are heavily engaged given the identities theme).

Only Saskatchewan, PEI and Ontario are organizers or panelists in  some sessions, although settlement organizations in most provinces are heavily involved.

I have organized two sessions: From the ‘Big Shift’ to the ‘Big Return’? Election 2015 Mainstreaming of Ethnic Votes and Citizenship: Finding the Balance to address some of the gaps.

While a ‘market-driven’ approach to conference themes responds to those active in the field, it can also result in neglecting significant policy areas, as the lack of attention to citizenship attests.

That being said, Metropolis provides one of the few opportunities for academics and practitioners to exchange findings and knowledge.

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Immigrants value education – so we should value them

2016/01/08 Leave a comment

MiC Deck - Dec 2015.030More evidence that immigrants and their children tend to be more well-educated than “old stock” Canadians. The above chart shows the same results using the 2011 NHS by visible minority group from my book:

In the past month, Canadians have witnessed the arrival of the first of 25,000 Syrian refugees expected to make a new home here by the end of February. More may be arriving after that.

The main theme in the news media so far has been the debate about the short-term costs and challenges of bringing such a substantial number of immigrants from a war-torn region, as well as longer-term concerns about the possibility of raising future generations of “home-grown” terrorists.

In our recent research on this subject, we take a different longer-term perspective in addressing how the children of immigrants perform in terms of postsecondary education (PSE) in Canada. This is important because PSE is critical, not only to an individual’s economic and social success, but also to the country’s prosperity.

Our analysis shows that first- and second-generation children of immigrants access PSE at much higher rates than non-immigrant youth. By the age of 21, 86 per cent of first-generation children of immigrants (that is, those who themselves immigrated to Canada along with their parents) obtained postsecondary education, with 84 per cent of second-generation immigrants (those born in Canada to immigrant parents) doing the same.

This record on the part of the children of immigrants compares favourably to the 72-per-cent PSE participation rate among non-immigrant youth. For those from the region that includes Syria, 93 per cent and 96 per cent of first- and second-generation children of immigrants, respectively, had moved into postsecondary education by the age of 21, with most having attended university rather than college or trade school.

Source: Immigrants value education – so we should value them – The Globe and Mail

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John McCallum says Liberals remain committed to doubling family reunification

2016/01/07 Leave a comment

The increasing family reunification commitment was targeted to visible minority and immigrant communities where this was an issue such as Sikh Canadians (the Liberals swept all ridings where Sikh Canadians were significant).

Find the phrasing of the Conservative critic’s attack odd given that they lost all of these ridings where family reunification likely played a role.

However, another example of the challenge in translating commitments into action, especially when operational and capacity issues are significant:

The Liberal government says it remains committed to doubling to 10,000 the number of applications it will process each year for family reunification of parents and grandparents.

However, the government’s Citizenship and Immigration website says applications are now being accepted for 2016 — and cautions in bold text that the number of applications is capped at 5,000.

Justin Trudeau promised during the election campaign that a Liberal government would double the cap as part of a package of immigration reforms.

The annual limit on family reunification applications for aging parents and grandparents was brought in by the former Conservative government, which called the program an abuse of generosity.

The Liberal government did not explain why the 5,000-application cap remains flagged on the website, but in an emailed statement, Immigration Minister John McCallum said he still plans to double the cap.

He said he will consult his cabinet colleagues on the change early in the new year.

“We are committed to reuniting families and we intend to meet the commitment to double the intake of PGP sponsorship applications from 5,000 to 10,000 per year,” the statement said.

The measure to double the application cap is also listed among the “key commitments for action in first 100 days” cited in the prime minister’s briefing books, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.

‘Forget #sunnyways’

Nonetheless, Conservatives jumped on Citizenship and Immigration’s web page notification Monday as evidence of “yet another unachievable Liberal campaign promise.”

Calgary MP Michelle Rempel posted on Facebook: “Keeping a realistic goal of 5,000 applications a year was part of our Conservative government’s initiative to be prudent managers of government. It was totally irresponsible of Trudeau to promise more than his government is able to deliver.”

In a subsequent post on Twitter, Rempel said “Forget #sunnyways. The new mantra is ‘over promise and under deliver.'”

Source: John McCallum says Liberals remain committed to doubling family reunification – Politics – CBC News

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Norway Offers Migrants a Lesson in How to Treat Women – The New York Times

2015/12/22 Leave a comment

Interesting approach, and a far cry from the former Conservative government’s approach of labelling bills and documents with ‘barbaric cultural practices’ rather than meaningful programming and engagement:

The program he helped design focuses on getting newly arrived refugees to open up about their attitudes toward sex, through discussions in small groups supervised by a monitor, usually a native Norwegian. A manual prepared for the course includes sections on “Norwegian laws and values,” as well as violence against children and women.

A class held on Wednesday in Lunde, a village southwest of Oslo, focused on differing perceptions of “honor” and how violence that might be seen as honorable in some cultures is shameful and also illegal in Norway.

A rival program, developed by a private company called Hero Norge, which runs asylum centers under a contract with the government, also promotes discussion as the best way to expose and break down views that can lead to trouble.

Hero Norge’s teaching material studiously avoids casting migrants in a bad light and instead presents a fictional character called Arne, a native Norwegian, as a model of predatory behavior. The main immigrant character, a 27-year-old called Hassan, is, by contrast, introduced as a “good man” who is “honest and well liked.”

In one episode, Arne, the Norwegian, tells Hassan he plans to ply a young woman with alcoholic drinks “to soften her up.” People taking the course are asked questions such as: “How should Hassan react?” “What do you think Arne means when he says he wants to ‘soften her up?’ ” “Is it O.K. to ‘soften someone up’ with alcohol?”

Berit Harr, a course monitor at a refugee center in Ha, a coastal village south of Stavanger, said it was important to avoid making migrants feel as if they were under suspicion while getting them to talk about their own views on relations between the sexes.

“It is difficult to talk about sex,” she said. But, she added, doing so can help refugees navigate potentially dangerous situations in a strange land.

“It is normal here for boys and girls to be friends,” she said. “Smiling and flirting are normal. It doesn’t mean anything. If a girl is drunk it does not mean she is willing to do anything.”

Source: Norway Offers Migrants a Lesson in How to Treat Women – The New York Times

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Bipolar man on verge of deportation to a country he left as a baby — 57 years ago

2015/12/22 Leave a comment

The ongoing reach of the previous government’s legislation and approach:

57-year-old man who immigrated to Canada as a baby is on the verge of being deported from the only country he’s known because of a string of crimes triggered by severe mental illness.

Len Van Heest — diagnosed with bipolar disorder in British Columbia at age 16 — is just the latest, dramatic example of a growing trend, say some immigration lawyers.

Increasing numbers of adult immigrants who came here as small children and developed psychiatric or neurological conditions now face removal after the previous government toughened the law on non-citizen criminals, they say.

The Canada Border Services Agency detained Len Van Heest last Wednesday and plans to send him to the Netherlands, though he doesn’t speak Dutch and has not lived there since he was in diapers.

We’re just dumping someone in another country

The Vancouver Island man neglected to become a Canadian citizen, so falls under legislation that lets the government expel immigrants who commit serious crimes.

A Federal Court judge has just upheld the denial of Van Heest’s application to remain on humanitarian and compassionate grounds — and rejected his claim that deportation to the Netherlands would be cruel and unusual punishment.

“I don’t think it’s fair at all,” said Peter Golden, his Victoria-based lawyer. “I don’t think we can treat someone who has these vulnerabilities just like we treat everybody else …We’re just dumping someone in another country.”

Golden said he is worried that his client will end up on the streets in Holland, without his required drug treatment. “In all probability, it’s a death sentence for him.”

Van Heest is now planning a last-ditch application to the new Immigration minister, John McCallum, for a permanent stay of deportation, said his lawyer.

But a spokesman for the Canada Border Services Agency said the decision to remove someone from Canada “is not taken lightly,” and that various avenues of appeal are open to those facing deportation.

Van Heest was twice given a reprieve from removal, only to relapse into criminal activity, noted another immigration lawyer.

“I think in this particular case, as the court notes, there were just too many strikes against this fellow,” said Sergio Karas, vice-chair of the Ontario Bar Association’s immigration section. What’s more, “in the Netherlands, you’re going to get perhaps even better (mental-health) support than here.”

Source: Bipolar man on verge of deportation to a country he left as a baby — 57 years ago

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Immigrant students fare best heading quickly into classroom, OECD study shows

2015/12/18 Leave a comment

No surprise. Canada has always done well, both absolutely and in relation to other OECD countries, in immigrant education outcomes:

A sweeping new study of immigrant students around the world shows they do best in countries that bring them into regular classrooms as quickly as possible, where teachers feel comfortable working with children of different backgrounds and where extra help is offered to immigrant families — all hallmarks of GTA schools.

The 124-page report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), to be released Thursday, looks at how immigrant students in some 30 countries, including Canada, performed on a standardized test in the “3 Rs” in 2012, and concludes their success depends largely on how the host country helps them integrate in school.

“Immigrant students perform better and report feeling more accepted in some countries than others, which suggests education policy has an impact on integration,” said the report, “Immigrant Students at School: Easing the Journey towards Integration.”

It suggests the countries that best help immigrant students succeed move them into regular classrooms while giving them a crash course in their new language, rather than segregate them until they have mastered the language, as happens in some countries.

In Ontario, schools must place newcomers in a regular classroom for at least part of each day, noted Paula Markus, the Toronto District School Board’s co-ordinator of English as a Second Language (ESL).

“We don’t want to segregate children, even from the first days, because while we’re giving them English language support we know it’s important for them to get to know English-speaking peers and make friends and that helps their adjustment,” she said.

Nor should teachers in the diverse GTA be intimidated by the wave of refugees Canada is expecting, she said, “because we have the most amazing, diverse classrooms in the world here. “As Justin Trudeau said, this is 2015.”

Source: Immigrant students fare best heading quickly into classroom, study shows | Toronto Star

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New rules make it ‘nearly impossible’ for employers to keep foreign graduates on staff

2015/12/15 1 Comment

The Liberal government will likely look at this issue as part of reviewing the overall Express Entry point system, along additional points for family siblings and restoration of pre-Permanent Resident time credit:

When Jorge Amigo chose to come to Canada for university, he hadn’t expected to want to spend his life here.

“My decision to come here as a student had nothing to do with immigration,” says Mr. Amigo, 33, who’s from Mexico City. “But after living here for a few months, I realized I loved this place and I wanted to stay.”

Before Ottawa’s points-based Express Entry system was introduced on Jan. 1, international students with a year of Canadian skilled work experience were almost guaranteed to stay by getting permanent residency under the Canadian Experience Class (CEC). But with the change, Mr. Amigo – who has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of British Columbia, an impressive post-graduate résumé and a job with a booming Vancouver-based tech company – fears he may have to leave when his work permit expires in June.

With the new system, it’s nearly impossible for most international student graduates such as Mr. Amigo to get permanent residency under Express Entry – unless their employers can prove that no Canadians can do the job, immigration lawyers say.

“Tens of thousands of students are now heartbroken, stressed and don’t know what to do with their lives because they were misled by the government,” says Vancouver immigration lawyer Zool Suleman. “Employers are looking to lose a group of well-educated students who would be a benefit to the labour market.”

The online system, intended to eliminate a massive backlog of immigration applications from outside of Canada, now makes students compete in a points-based system with everyone else trying to get permanent residency.

“They shouldn’t have included [the CEC] in the Express Entry system because there never was a backlog with it – they never even met their quotas,” says Matthew Jeffrey, an immigration lawyer in Toronto. “These are the ideal immigrants because they’re educated in Canada and they have skilled work experience in Canada and they usually still have that job – they hit the ground running.”

Under Express Entry, applicants get points for education, age, work experience and their skills in English and French. If an applicant’s points are over the minimum score set by the government, they’re invited in.

“The problem for people who came in as students is they can’t rank very highly in the pool,” Mr. Jeffery says, a Toronto immigration lawyer. “They’re young and they only have a year or two of work experience, so their score from the beginning is going to be low.”

Source: New rules make it ‘nearly impossible’ for employers to keep foreign graduates on staff – The Globe and Mail

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