Tungohan, Cleto and de Leon: Leave the nannies alone

2014/08/23 Leave a comment

More commentary on live-in caregivers and the Government’s signalling intent to change the program given concerns that it is being used as a backdoor for family reunification (see Live-in caregivers may be next target of immigration reform, Don’t throw the nanny out with the bathwater – Omidvar, Filipino Canadians fear end of immigrant dreams for nannies):

That Minister Alexander is considering revoking their automatic right to permanent residency is very troubling. It would be unethical not only because of the contributions these caregivers have already made to Canadian society, but also because he is going against decades of expressed wishes from the Canadian public.

We should not forget that in the late 1970s, Canadian families fought alongside live-in caregivers for the right to permanent residency. Canadian families recognized that migrant domestic workers provide care work that they sorely need. And if migrant domestic workers are good enough to work, they felt, they are good enough to stay.

This is still true today. The absence of a national childcare and eldercare policy means Canadian families have little recourse but to use the live-in caregiver program to meet their needs. Middle-class families are placed in a crippling financial situation and are increasingly turning to the LCP for help. And our study shows that 68% of live-in caregivers continue to do care work three to five years after exiting the program. This figure drops to 45% after five to 10 years.

These numbers may show that some of our respondents are unable to get jobs outside of care work despite having education, training and work experience in other fields. This presents an opportunity for the Canadian government to think more critically about how to maximize the diverse, valuable skills that live-in caregivers have.Live-in caregivers are currently prohibited from taking educational upgrading and training courses while under the LCP.

To maximize their skills and expertise, they should immediately be granted affordable access to accredited programs such as early childhood education, personal support work and health-care aide training. This way, caregivers would have improved job security and would give Canadian families access to a bigger pool of trained health-care professionals.

Tungohan, Cleto and de Leon: Leave the nannies alone

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Immigration to Ontario has declined 33% due to Federal government rule changes | The Mowat Centre

2014/08/20 Leave a comment

ON immigration and PNPMowat Institute on impact of federal Immigration policy changes in Ontario:

In particular, these policies have reduced the number of people that come to Ontario through economic immigration programs. There are three main categories of immigrants to Canada: economic immigrants who are selected on the basis of their ability to succeed in our economy, family class immigrants sponsored by relatives to join them here and humanitarian/refugee immigrants.

The national target set by federal and provincial immigration ministers aims to have about 70 per cent of immigrants to each province come through economic programs and the remaining 30 per cent through the other streams. But as a result of federal changes to immigration policy, the balance in Ontario has tipped further and further away from economic immigrants, leaving the province with a share of economic immigrants well below the Canadian average. [50 percent compared to 62 percent]

Immigration to Ontario has declined 33% due to Federal government rule changes | The Mowat Centre.

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Don’t throw the nanny out with the bathwater – Omidvar

2014/08/15 1 Comment

Ratna Omidvar of Maytree on the live-in caregiver program, and the need for more regulation and regularization of status to address the Government’s confer over abuse:

But she (the caregiver) bears costs in the interim. She must live in someone else’s home, loving and caring for another family while missing her own. The hours of work are long and isolating. We acknowledge these costs by offering permanent residency.

There are other costs we don’t acknowledge: Exploitation, in the form of unpaid overtime, psychological or physical abuse. In theory, she can report it, but won’t because it could jeopardize her becoming a Canadian as fast as she can.

This abuse is the cost of temporary status. If a conditional form of permanent resident status was offered on arrival, it would serve the needs of both employers and caregivers. The current system basically sanctions conditions of potential abuse against a reward of permanence.

Don’t throw the nanny out with the bathwater – The Globe and Mail.

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Ont. minister denounces ‘hateful’ anti-immigrant flyers; police investigating

2014/08/13 2 Comments

More on the flyer by Immigration Watch (Anti-immigration flyers single out Sikh community in Brampton):

Michael Chan says in a statement that he is “disgusted” by the flyers in the city northwest of Toronto and that “there is no room in our province for intolerance, hatred or division on cultural or racial lines.

The document shows a crossed-out picture of a man wearing a turban alongside text asking readers to “Say ‘No’ to the massive Third World invasion of Canada.”

Ont. minister denounces ‘hateful’ anti-immigrant flyers; police investigating – The Globe and Mail.

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‘Home Children:’ Don Cherry had personal connection to honoured children’s group

2014/08/02 2 Comments

One of the relatively less known stories in Canadian history (the Government did do a relatively minor commemoration when I was at CIC and the speech by Senator Gerry St. Germain, a former home child, was particularly moving):

About 118,000 British children — one was Cherry’s maternal grandfather and war vet, Richard Palamountain — were shipped to Canada between 1869 and 1948 to work as indentured farm hands and domestic servants.

The abuses many suffered in Canada were horrific. One of them, Arthur Clarkson, who arrived as a nine year old, was horsewhipped and made to live in an unheated barn, almost costing him his frostbitten lower limbs.

“It’s really heartbreaking to hear some of the stories. These kids were actually slaves,” Cherry told The Canadian Press.

“They had to sign something for so many years and most of them didn’t know what they were signing.”

Almost every one of the home children in Canada at the time — about 10,000 — signed up to serve during the Great War that began 100 years ago, including Cherry’s grandpa. More than one-thousand died in action, most at the bloody battle at Vimy Ridge. Many had no one to mourn them. Others died without notification to their relatives.

Don Cherry had personal connection to honoured children’s group.

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No English? In the kitchen, it’s no problem

2014/08/01 Leave a comment

Great reminder that language is not necessarily everything to success by Meeru Dhalwala of Vij’s (great Vancouver Indian restaurant):

The way it works at Vij’s, Oguz and Vikram approve any changes in overall labour costs and can forbid raises if the costs are not in line with what they should be. We have had hours-long discussions and negotiations. One of my favourite meetings was years ago when a group of my kitchen staff met with Oguz and Vikram about raises and vacation allowances. Oguz went on about the financial logic as it pertains to the overall success of the company, and Vikram eventually lost his temper when my staff kept on persisting on the benefit. Amarjeet, my manager, turned to Oguz calmly and said, “Oguz, sorry but you will have to.” And then she turned to Vikram, “There is no reason to yell. We are all in this together.”

The confidence of my kitchen staff is also rooted in a shared responsibility for the long-term. When I first opened our Seattle restaurant, I was training an Ethiopian woman on the grill. This was her first job in the United States. Her English was not strong, but she asked me questions. “How much restaurant cost to build?” “Where you get money from?” “How long lease is?”

She did not like grilling, but I bribed her, suggesting that once she got the hang of it, I would give her a raise. A few weeks later, I offered her the raise. She took my hand, “No, Meeru. First you pay bills. I need job for long time and don’t want you close restaurant. Once you can pay bills, then you give me raise. “ She is now one of my managers in Seattle.

No English? In the kitchen, it’s no problem – The Globe and Mail.

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Filipino Canadians fear end of immigrant dreams for nannies

2014/07/23 1 Comment

Nicholas Keung’s article on the future of the Live-in Caregivers program:

Critics of the government’s approach, including some Conservative loyalists, warn that the growing Filipino Canadian vote could also be at stake in next year’s federal election if the government removes access to immigration from the live-in caregiver program LCP — 90 per cent of those participating are from the Philippines.

Family separation, lost skills the biggest challenges for immigrant nannies“This is a defining issue for the Filipino Canadian community,” said Chris Sorio of Migrante Canada, an international advocacy group for Filipino migrants.

“This is something very close to our hearts. It is worrying us because we feel this could be a smoke-screen for changes that are coming to the LCP program. Our concern is they are going to further restrict family reunification under the program.”

In recent meetings with the media to discuss Ottawa’s planned reforms to the controversial temporary foreign workers program, Employment Minister Jason Kenney criticized the LCP as being “out of control” and having “mutated” into a program of family reunification.

… Findings of the nanny study [by Ethel Tungonan of U of Alberta]

Researchers surveyed 631 Filipina caregivers about their jobs, recruitment, education, use of community supports and health, in the first national study of Canada’s live-in caregivers.

It found:

  • Caregivers’ average age on arrival was 34

  • 86% had university education or above.

  • Nearly 90% arriving in the past five years were recruited by employment agencies or directly hired by unrelated employers.

  • Two-thirds had children; about half experienced continued separation because their children had grown too old to be considered dependants for immigration.

Filipino Canadians fear end of immigrant dreams for nannies | Toronto Star.

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Temporary Foreign Workers: Film, TV industry assured timely permits

2014/07/19 Leave a comment

Another sector adversely affected but whose concerns appear reasonable for the Government:

Christian Allen, the chair of the Commercial Production Association of Western Canada, has been calling on the government to give the film and TV industry the same exemption it recently gave musicians.

“The meeting was incredibly positive. The government is very aware of the issues and is responding by working with us to correct the problems as quickly as possible.”

A spokesperson for Alexander would not say what action the minister agreed to take but said he acknowledged the economic contribution the film and TV industry brings to the Canadian economy.‎

“Minister Alexander met with representatives from the television and film industry in Vancouver yesterday [Wednesday] because he understands the sector creates jobs and economic opportunity for Canadians.

It was clear that some of their concerns predate our government’s reforms to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program,” Codie Taylor told CBC News in an email Thursday.

Temporary Foreign Workers: Film, TV industry assured timely permits – Politics – CBC News.

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India: Liberal immigration norms make Canada new destination for techies

2014/07/17 Leave a comment

Nice to see positive messaging for a change:

But Alexander was clear the popular reaction is positive. “We are an immigration country. We have built our success on immigration and we have protected that legacy through the economic crisis of 2008-09. We are still a growth play, whether in the technology and resource sectors or finance.”

For many reasons – English education and skills – Indians score high in the acceptability chart. “We have three countries that are in a league of their own as sources of immigration – China, India and the Philippines.”

In 2013, over 33,000 Indian immigrants came to Canada, Alexander said. Around 60 per cent were economic migrants, rest were families.

Alexander is clear that unlike the US, Canada has had a more positive evolution of its immigration systems. “We have reformed, we have evolved.”

It is far easier to get permanent residence in Canada. Alexander said, “It only requires you to be in Canada for two years out of five. So someone who is global and wants to go back and forth can do that – be a Canadian permanent resident while doing some part of business here in India.”

Liberal immigration norms make Canada new destination for techies – The Economic Times.

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Tightening of foreign worker rules affecting supply of doctors – The Globe and Mail

2014/07/17 Leave a comment

A small part of the Temporary Foreign Workers program that most Canadians would not have problems with but nevertheless affected by the changed rules:

A tightening of the rules in the last three years – including the most recent overhaul, announced last month – has convinced some recruiters to give up on the TFW program altogether.

“Many, many, many recruiters that were doing this work back in 2011 have dropped off,” said Joan Mavrinac, head of the regional physician recruitment office for Essex County, which includes the border city of Windsor, Ont.

“Then, with the changes in 2013, we’ve become far fewer and now the changes in 2014, I think, are going to effectively kill the program [for doctors.]”The TFW program had been under fire for more than a year when Employment Minister Jason Kenney and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander announced sweeping reforms designed to prevent unscrupulous employers from importing low-wage foreign workers to displace Canadian employees.

The reforms include a 10-day turnaround time to process applications for highly skilled, high-wage workers, but they do not address any of the unique concerns of doctors, many of which stem from the fact MDs are generally self-employed.

Tightening of foreign worker rules affecting supply of doctors – The Globe and Mail.

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