Federal report warns ‘marriages of convenience’ a threat to immigration system

2015/04/09 Leave a comment

More anecdotal than hard evidence, but anecdotes generally signal issues:

More than a third of the applications to bring new spouses to Canada from India may involve bogus marriages, according to internal government documents made public on Tuesday.

“Marriages of convenience” in India “have become a threat to the integrity of Canada’s immigration program,” states the 2013 report from the Canada Border Services Agency’s enforcement and intelligence operations directorate.

Applications involving Indian nationals engaged in phoney marriages “are constantly evolving and creatively testing the bounds of the Canadian immigration system.”

The report, which cited statistics up to 2012, said it is “presumed” that there is a link between organized crime and the arrangement of phoney marriages.

The broader problem of marriage fraud primarily involves applicants from 10 to 15 countries. The report identifies China, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Cambodia, Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia, Guyana and Haiti as the “high risk” countries involving Canadian permanent residents sponsoring bogus spouses under the immigration system’s family-class section, according to Border Services.

But the report said the problem appears to be “most prevalent” in India and it makes an unsubstantiated assertion that “it has been estimated that as much as 36 per cent of the spousal caseload” involving that country “may be fraudulent.”

The report offers suggestions to Border Services and Citizenship and Immigration Canada officials to detect fraud, but that advice was not released under provisions of the Access to Information Act protecting sensitive information.

Nationally, the document shows that the refusal rate on spousal applications from all countries had been around 14 per cent from 2008 to 2011, but jumped to 17 per cent in 2012 when there were a little over 4,500 applications.

…The report, obtained by Vancouver-based immigration lawyer Richard Kurland, properly points out a legitimate concern about marriage fraud, according to Manpreet Grewal, director of multicultural and immigrant integration services at Abbotsford Community Services.

But she said that trend is likely to drop over the long-term due to growing government vigilance, combined with the government’s increased preference for economic immigrants rather than the family-class applicants who can sponsor relatives.

There is also less interest among second-generation Indo-Canadians to be involved in arranged marriages involving Indian nationals, she said.

Border Services, she said, is making a “far-fetched” link between marriage fraud trends and the decline in the relative number of marriage-age Indian women due to sex-selection abortion practices.

“I have never seen the two things connected. It seems to be a bit of a stretch,” she said.

Federal report warns ‘marriages of convenience’ a threat to immigration system.

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Conference Board Summit Encourages National Dialogue on Immigration

2015/04/09 Leave a comment

CBoC Immigration SummitWill be interesting what new approaches this summit comes up with, as well as next year’s on the more social focus of next year’s summit:

NCM: The summit is heavily focused on business and economic growth. What about the more social aspects of immigration integration?

Bloom: In total, a set of events will cover the whole range of issues in immigration. As an organization we have a lot of experience in working on economic issues in particular. But I expect to see more on social issues at the second summit next year. This year, we want to flesh out our understanding of such issues and bring that to the next event. The action plan will definitely be covering social issues as we do more research.

We recognize that security is important for Canada and Canadians, but we need to do more research on how to frame this in the context of immigration.

NCM: How do you see current events like the Syrian refugee crisis and emerging security concerns as shaping Canada’s immigration policy?

Bloom: We still have some work to do on this. We have substantial experience on working on security issues at the Conference Board. We recognize that security is important for Canada and Canadians, but we need to do more research on how to frame this in the context of immigration. We have not yet done enough work at the intersection point of these issues.

We know the security issue is not going away, but we need to understand this more clearly and do more research before we can address it. Once we have done our due diligence on this, we can expect to address this next year as well with all the right questions. The multi-year approach of the action plan will help us with this as we develop our research plan further over the coming years.

NCM: What will be your next steps after this summit?

Bloom: We hope to take what we learn from the summit and use it to enrich our research plan. We will be starting a major project to update a study we did in 2001 on brain gain. We will do a big piece on the credential issue starting June 1. This summit is also bringing together over 100 people and we hope that we can engage them in our actual centre.

We hope to be doing more regional meetings; in the year ahead we will convene out East, in Toronto, Quebec and out West. We will also be starting to plan for next year’s summit and ramp up our communication efforts. Speaking to the media is an important part of getting the message out for us and we will be doing more webinars and online outreach to try and engage and inform a broader audience.

Summit Encourages National Dialogue on Immigration – New Canadian Media – NCM.

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Three ways Liberals and NDP can win over conservative voters: Michael Adams on citizenship

2015/04/08 Leave a comment

Michael Adams on citizenship, immigration and multiculturalism in the context of the coming election:

Civic education and pride in citizenship were once rather conservative ideals. They were connected to the patriotism and loyalty to country that right-leaning people have often claimed as special virtues. Recently, however, Canada’s immigration program has taken on a more transactional character. It has become more strongly associated with short-term labour trends than with long-term nation-building. And indeed, a recent analysis has indicated that the rate at which immigrants become citizens has declined.

Despite some concerns about cultural integration (a process that citizenship and belonging only help), Canadians remain positive about immigration and take pride in multiculturalism. Shifting the immigration frame away from this quarter’s want ads and toward meaningful citizenship, civic participation, and inclusive nation-building might just appeal to some Canadian patriots who believe countries and their citizens do best when their responsibilities toward each other are durable and deeply felt.

Three ways Liberals and NDP can win over conservative voters – The Globe and Mail.

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Ottawa’s new Express Entry immigration system slow off the mark

2015/04/07 Leave a comment

Seems like normal process of introducing a new approach. We need to see full-year and likely two-year data to judge operational success (economic and social outcomes will take longer):

So far, slightly more than 6,850 prospective immigrants have been invited to apply for permanent residency under Express Entry. It will not be until 2017, two years after its launch, that a majority of immigrants are processed through the new system, Citizenship and Immigration Canada said. The shift to the new economic immigration system was announced in 2012 and has been in place since Jan. 1.

In its 2015 immigration levels plan, the Citizenship and Immigration ministry pledged to accept 260,000 to 285,000 new permanent residents, about two-thirds of them economic migrants. To meet that target, the government needs to admit about 22,500 immigrants a month, about 10 times the number that are admitted through Express Entry at present. Most new immigrants this year will have to be selected through the old system, which was criticized because it was slow and operated on first-come, first-served basis.

“CIC is in a period of transition with recent implementation of Express Entry that will span approximately two years,” said Johanne Nadeau, a Citizenship and Immigration Canada spokeswoman.

A majority of economic immigrants arriving in 2015 will be drawn from the pool of people who applied to enter Canada in the years before Express Entry was introduced, Ms. Nadeau said. It is not clear exactly how large a portion of overall immigration will come from Express Entry candidates, or whether the pace at which invitations are issued will increase.

CIC would not say whether it has annual targets or expectations for Express Entry admissions at this point. The number of new permanent residents coming through the program is expected to grow in 2016 to about half of all admissions. By 2017, most, if not all economic admissions should be through Express Entry, Ms. Nadeau said.

Ottawa’s new Express Entry immigration system slow off the mark – The Globe and Mail.

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More people died in these three provinces than were born last year

2015/03/31 Leave a comment

Good article on the demographic challenges in the Maritimes:

… Statistics Canada reported this month that more people died than were born in New Brunswick last year for the first time since it began tracking such figures in 1972.

Two other provinces — Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador being the others — have also recorded more deaths than births in recent years.

For years, academics and politicians have warned about Canada’s aging population and what it will mean for the country’s social services and its rural communities. Nowhere is that impact more acutely felt than in Atlantic Canada.

“The overall trend is grim,” said Fazley Siddiq, dean of business at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John.

Siddiq said governments at all levels need to make bold moves to address the region’s declining population. …

He also suggests the introduction of a baby bonus, a measure that Newfoundland and Labrador implemented in 2008. Parents in that province are offered $1,000 for each child born or adopted and $100 per month for the first year of the child’s life.

The number of births in the province rose slightly after the baby bonus was brought in, but they have since fallen back below 2008 levels, according to Statistics Canada.

Other incentives that should be considered are tax breaks and improved services for immigrants, Siddiq said.

Andre Lebel, a demographer at Statistics Canada, said across North America only Florida has an older population than Atlantic Canada.

Part of what’s driving that is the number of young couples who continue to move westward for work and their families often grow once they do, Lebel said.

“These people are having babies outside of the Atlantic provinces, so it’s increasing the rapidness of aging,” he said.

More people died in these three provinces than were born last year | Toronto Star.

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Foreign students left behind in new Express Entry immigration program | Toronto Star

2015/03/27 2 Comments

Oversight or by design? Metropolis Panel on Temporary Foreign Workers March 27 will have opportunity to discuss:

International graduates from Canadian universities and colleges say Ottawa’s new skilled immigration system actually hinders their access to permanent residency instead of promoting it.

The scholars say their once-prized assets — Canadian education credentials and post-graduate work experience — have little to no value under the new Express Entry program, which came into effect Jan. 1.

The problem, which the federal government denies, lies in the significance given to a certificate called the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA). It is issued by Ottawa to ensure a candidate’s skills are sufficiently in demand to warrant hiring an immigrant.

Ottawa says applicants for Express Entry, such as international graduates, do not need an LMIA to qualify. But Express Entry acceptance is based on a point system and it’s not possible to earn enough points without an LMIA, immigration experts say.

“The new system is flawed,” said Toronto immigration lawyer Shoshana Green. “We want people who went to school and have work experience in Canada. These people are already fully integrated. And now we are ignoring them. It is just bizarre.”

Under the Express Entry system, an applicant may earn a maximum of 1,200 points. An LMIA automatically earns applicants 600 points. The other 600 possible points are awarded for personal attributes such as education, language skills and work experience.

How many points does it take to qualify for Express Entry? It changes. So far it has been as high as 886, and has dropped to 735 points. Regardless, the qualifying level is more than 600, so an LMIA is necessary.

Foreign students left behind in new Express Entry immigration program | Toronto Star.

Also covered in the Globe:

International students in limbo under immigration system changes – The Globe and Mail

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Pierre Karl Péladeau says immigration hurts Quebec sovereignty

2015/03/20 Leave a comment

Just after he backed off a more comprehensive Quebec Values Charter in favour of the Bouchard Taylor approach, he does a Parizeau in his remarks on immigration and the ethnic vote:

Parti Québécois leadership candidate Pierre Karl Péladeau says he believes immigration is seriously compromising the province’s ability to achieve sovereignty.

The perceived front-runner in the contest to lead the separatist provincial party took that position Wednesday evening in a PQ leadership debate at Laval University in Quebec City.

“We don’t have 25 years ahead of us to achieve it. With demographics, with immigration, we’re definitely losing one riding each year,” Péladeau told a room of 350 people.

He said the PQ could be in danger of disappearing if immigrants continue to come to the province in great numbers.

Quebec would love to control immigration, he said; however, the PQ should not have any illusions about who really controls the number of newcomers to the province.

“Who’s responsible for the immigrants who come and settle in Quebec? It’s the federal government,” Péladeau said.

All the other leadership candidates took issue with his remarks.

Bernard Drainville, Alexandre Cloutier, Pierre Céré and Martine Ouellet all spoke about the PQ’s need to welcome immigrants and incorporate them into their sovereignty solution by showing them how great Quebec as a country could be.

Ironic that he was attacked by Drainville, the main advocate of the Quebec Values Charter.

Pierre Karl Péladeau says immigration hurts Quebec sovereignty – Montreal – CBC News.

French version here, with the comments of the other PQ leadership candidates:

Son rival Alexandre Cloutier, son interlocuteur lors de ce face à face, a promptement exprimé son désaccord.

«Pour moi, l’immigration n’a rien à voir là-dedans, a-t-il affirmé. Moi, je rêve de rallier tous les Québécois sans exception et je rêve que le PQ soit représentatif de l’ensemble de la population telle qu’elle existe.»

Au terme des échanges, le jeune candidat s’est dit «surpris» par les propos de M. Péladeau. Il a précisé qu’à ses yeux, les néo-Québécois «ne sont pas des adversaires».

Les autres adversaires du député de Saint-Jérôme ont également dénoncé ses commentaires.

«Notre responsabilité comme hommes et femmes politiques, c’est de convaincre nos concitoyens, a dit Bernard Drainville. Et moi, je ne fais aucune distinction entre un concitoyen dont les ancêtres sont arrivés ici en 1650 et un autre concitoyen dont la famille est arrivée à Dorval la semaine passée.»

«Les nouveaux Québécois, il faut travailler avec eux, a renchéri Martine Ouellet. Je pense que l’immigration est une force au Québec.»

Pierre Céré a dénoncé au cours du débat le «repli identitaire» opéré ces dernières années par le PQ. Au terme de la soirée, il a jugé que les commentaires du meneur de la course sont «extrêmement malheureux et extrêmement dommageables» pour le parti.

«C’est le malaise, a dit M. Céré. Non seulement ce qui a été dit l’a été de façon maladroite, je crois, mais c’est qu’une partie de la salle a applaudi. Et les propos étaient assez clairs et limpides.»

Questionné sur ses déclarations, M. Péladeau a affirmé en fin de soirée qu’il n’avait aucune intention de présenter les immigrants comme une menace pour le projet indépendantiste. Il a dit vouloir améliorer l’intégration des nouveaux arrivants.

«Le Québec s’est enrichi de la diversité des gens qui sont venus s’y installer, a-t-il dit. Et jamais, d’aucune façon, nous n’allons cesser cette richesse, cet enrichissement lié à l’augmentation de la diversité.»

La souveraineté minée par la démographie et l’immigration, dit Péladeau

 

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Immigration: la proposition caquiste est insensée, selon Couillard

2015/03/19 Leave a comment

Premier Couillard responds to the latest proposals of the CAQ (Immigration: la CAQ veut resserrer les exigences):

Le premier ministre s’est insurgé mardi contre la volonté de la CAQ de montrer la sortie aux immigrants qui n’arrivent pas, à terme, à s’intégrer à la majorité francophone, au marché de l’emploi et aux «valeurs québécoises».

À son avis, la proposition de la CAQ ne tient pas la route et ferait fuir «les travailleurs qualifiés» désireux de s’implanter au Québec si elle devait être appliquée.

En vertu de la proposition caquiste, les immigrants seraient soumis à un certificat d’accompagnement transitoire qui leur accorderait trois ans – maximum quatre – pour faire leur devoir.

À défaut de satisfaire aux trois exigences édictées – connaissance du français, emploi, adhésion aux valeurs de la charte des droits et libertés – les nouveaux venus se verraient privés du certificat de sélection du Québec, un document requis pour obtenir le statut de résident permanent et de citoyen canadien.

En Chambre, le chef caquiste François Legault a rappelé que 42 pour cent des 50 000 immigrants que reçoit le Québec chaque année ne connaissent pas le français et que 78 pour cent d’entre eux ne suivent pas les cours d’intégration aux valeurs communes. Endémique, le taux de chômage atteint 17 pour cent chez les immigrés installés au Québec depuis moins de cinq ans.

Le chef du gouvernement libéral a dit convenir que l’emploi «est la source la plus rapide d’intégration à la société» et que l’accès au marché du travail permet «de développer la connaissance pratique du français».

Mais à ses yeux, le projet caquiste se démarque par son «simplisme» et est carrément «insensé».

«Qu’est-ce que c’est que cette histoire? On va faire passer des examens à des immigrants trois ans après leur arrivée et s’ils ne passent pas, bien, ils s’en retournent chez eux. Bravo!», a ironisé le premier ministre pendant la période de questions.

Selon lui, les resserrements préconisés par la formation de François Legault auraient un effet repoussoir sur les travailleurs qualifiés dont le Québec a besoin.

Immigration: la proposition caquiste est insensée, selon Couillard | Martin Ouellet | Politique québécoise.

Globe editorial mocking the CAQ proposal:

This “new pact” with immigrants would be accompanied by a Law on Interculturalism, whatever that means. Half a dozen years ago, the philosopher Charles Taylor said that interculturalism and multiculturalism are really the same thing; the prevailing Quebec ideology, however, insists that there is some distinction.

Mr. Legault is invoking the fear of “radicalization” and “preachers who would denigrate fundamental values.” Similarly last month, while foolishly raising alarm over a project for a mosque in Shawinigan, he called for the creation of a new agency that would scrutinize proposed new religious institutions. The goal is to block any Muslim applicants who “denigrate Quebec values.”

All this, curiously, is accompanied by a worry, among Mr. Legault and others, that immigrants who settle in Quebec have a low rate of actually staying: Only three-quarters of those who came between 2003 and 2012 are still there. Why not welcome them more warmly, rather than spread panic about their religious practices?

 François Legault puts out the unwelcome mat 

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Immigration: la CAQ veut resserrer les exigences

2015/03/18 1 Comment

The CAQ continues its focus on identity politics in the current consultations on immigration, with probationary residency and a test on Quebec values:

«Il faut être prudents, c’est un sujet qui est complexe, c’est délicat, il ne faut pas faire des amalgames, il faut être respectueux, a-t-il dit. Mais il faut aussi être francs, et je pense que la société québécoise sortirait gagnante qu’on se donne des balises très claires quant à la sélection et l’intégration des immigrants.»

M. Legault a expliqué que ses propositions, dont il espère que les libéraux s’inspireront, visent notamment à répondre aux préoccupations soulevées par les attentats de djihadistes à Paris.

«Il y a actuellement une inquiétude fondée au Québec, a-t-il dit. Veut-on avoir des futurs immigrants qui pourraient devenir des prédicateurs, qui viendraient dénigrer des valeurs fondamentales comme l’égalité entre les hommes puis les femmes? Je pense que les Québécois ne souhaitent pas ça, donc je pense que c’est important.»

Cette nouvelle procédure serait disponible pour les travailleurs qualifiés, qui comptaient pour 58 pour cent des 52 000 immigrants accueillis au Québec en 2013.

M. Legault croit qu’il est souhaitable d’autoriser plus rapidement les immigrants à venir s’établir au Québec quand leurs qualifications correspondent aux besoins du marché du travail québécois.

En contrepartie, la CAQ rehausserait les exigences de connaissance du français en plus d’imposer la réussite d’un cours portant sur les valeurs québécoises véhiculées notamment par la Charte québécoise des droits et libertés.

Trois ans après leur arrivée, les travailleurs qualifiés devraient ainsi répondre à ces exigences de manière satisfaisante en plus de prouver leurs efforts d’intégration du marché du travail, a expliqué le chef caquiste en conférence de presse.

«De la même façon qu’un touriste qui vient ici, au Québec, à un moment donné, ne peut pas rester de façon permanente, de la même façon qu’une personne qui reçoit un permis de travail temporaire ne peut pas rester ici de façon permanente, effectivement, si, dans ce qui est proposé, l’immigrant ne reçoit pas son certificat permanent, bien, oui, il devra retourner, a-t-il dit lors d’une conférence de presse. Puis le gouvernement fédéral devra s’assurer que cette personne retourne chez elle.»

Immigration: la CAQ veut resserrer les exigences | Alexandre Robillard | Politique québécoise.

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Immigrants Looking Beyond Big City Living – New Canadian Media – NCM

2015/03/17 Leave a comment

Saskatchewan_ImmigrationLet’s not exaggerate: the numbers are still small, both in Saskatchewan as a whole and the communities listed, but it is part of a trend, helped by the growth of provincial nomination programs, towards more dispersion of immigration across the country:

The research, based on the 2011 National Household Survey, revealed the top five non-metropolitan towns with the highest number of immigrants as a per cent of total population were all in Saskatchewan. Although the number of immigrants moving to rural areas are smaller, the impact on the local population is significant. For example, topping the list was the town of Englefeld, Saskatchewan, with a total population of 225 people, 80 of them being immigrants – about 35.6 per cent of the population.

“Over time, the labour markets in the larger centres become particularly saturated, so immigrants will perceive more opportunities in smaller jurisdictions and that will bring them outward.” – Dr. Michael Haan

Ontario still attracts the most in sheer numbers, but the prairie provinces rank higher per capita for several reasons says Dr. Michael Haan, the Canada research chair in population and social policy at the University of New Brunswick. He describes the recent trend to rural Canada as a natural progression of a country’s immigration movement.

“When a country initially welcomes immigrants, they tend to cluster in particular regions, here the largest cities received the most,” he explains. “Over time, the labour markets in the larger centres become particularly saturated, so immigrants will perceive more opportunities in smaller jurisdictions and that will bring them outward.”

Immigrants Looking Beyond Big City Living – New Canadian Media – NCM.

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