While I was away: Immigration articles of interest

2026/10/13 Leave a comment

NYT: Our Interview With Mark Carney [Immigration]

Commentary by the Conservatives and right leaning media has overdramatized the possible shift. Proof will of course be in the forthcoming levels plan:

…What we’ve basically been doing is first getting the system under control. So if we want to let in 500,000 people through formal immigration and some temporary workers and students, we cap things and we let in 500,000 people. There were years where the expectation would have been for example, 700,000 and it ended up 2 million. The overshoots were, and you know it’s a country of 40 million people.

These are big, big overshoots, and it’s not that easy to get to Canada, right? It is from the U.S. but otherwise you’re flying in or taking boats. So we’ve taken measures to get that under control and we have it under control. So students down by 60 percent, temporary foreign workers down by 50 percent. It happens to be the case. Part of this is tightening, but asylum seekers are down by one-third on a flow basis, and now the question starts to become: When do we resume some controlled increase in the population, which is the nature of Canada. So that will happen, and we just want to make sure that we’ve got it under control….

Rob Breakenridge: The Carney honeymoon would end if he opens up immigration again

Depends on what the forthcoming levels plan contains for both permanent and particularly temporary resident numbers:

…Carney’s musings on immigration have also been noticed on the campaign trail in Quebec, where the Parti Québécois (PQ) pushed for limits on immigration in what became a successful campaign.

And even though the PQ has promised to shelve an independence referendum until after Donald Trump leaves office, new premier Paul St-Pierre Plamondon has threatened to hold a referendum on immigration, not dissimilar to what’s on the ballot in Alberta.

It’s hard to imagine that voters in either province won’t or wouldn’t side heavily with their respective premiers on this issue. As such, it’s easy to envision a backlash against Carney’s planned increases.

It may well be that the government is tempted by the GDP boost that high immigration helps to generate, even if it papers over other weaknesses in the economy. Again, Carney himself has noted this phenomenon, calling it a “basic fact,” and that “you can do the math” in terms of how declining population can affect economic growth.

Carney’s political honeymoon is not a political blank cheque and nor should he be so overconfident as to feel as though he’s immune from a similar backlash to his predecessor. This issue has become divisive enough already and it’s playing with fire to thrust this issue back on a fatigued and frustrated Canadian public.

We’ll eventually need a return to responsible immigration growth, but the government has more work to do before that’s feasible and saleable.

Keller: The Canadian population decline that never happened, and what it means for immigration policy

Keller’s latest two part series on immigration following the Carney NYT intv:

… On the same day as Statscan dropped that news, Prime Minister Mark Carney was in New York, sitting for an interview with The New York Times. Among other things, he was asked about Canada’s “population decline,” and when he would begin “reversing” it through higher immigration.

The PM didn’t challenge the mistaken premise that Canada’s population is declining; he was presumably unaware of the new figures. But he gave a long and detailed answer about the immigration system’s recent history, which shows that he has a grasp on how things went off the rails under his predecessor.

I wrote a book last year on what Canada used to get right about immigration, and how after 2015 it got things so badly wrong. Most of what Mr. Carney had to say was on point.

He concluded with this: “Now the question starts to become: When do we resume some controlled increase in the population?”…

Keller: Mark Carney has started fixing immigration. He needs to keep at it 

His concrete recommendations:

…Continue reducing temporary immigration: The temporary-immigration streams used to be small, but they exploded under the Trudeau government. They came to be seen as backdoors to permanent immigration, for those who would not otherwise have scored high enough to secure permission to permanently immigrate.

These pathways need to be wound back, and some need to be wound down. The Carney government has promised to bring temporary-resident numbers down to 5 per cent of the national population by next year, but it’s well behind schedule. In any case, the target is too high.

The C.D. Howe Institute’s expert group on immigration suggests aiming for 3 per cent. I agree. What’s more, the vast majority of future temporary residents should be high-quality visa students or former students on postgraduate work permits.

End the low-wage temporary foreign worker program: It makes sense to give Canadian businesses the flexibility to temporarily hire an aeronautical engineer from overseas. It makes no sense to hand out temporary visas for low-wage work. Canada has a shortage of educated and skilled people in some high-paying fields, but there is no generalized shortage of workers, nor is there a lack of unskilled workers.

Temporary work visas should no longer be available for jobs paying less than $100,000 a year, with the singular exception of the long-standing seasonal agricultural worker program. A reduction in the pool of people available for entry-level jobs should cause wages at the bottom of the income scale to feel some upward pressure. That would be a good thing.

Focus student visas on the best: The limited number of student visas should go to the highest-quality institutions and programs, admitting the most-qualified students, and charging the highest international tuition.

What happened during the Trudeau era was the opposite, as provinces – led by Ontario – took advantage of the unlimited number of student visas to encourage the weakest and lowest-tuition institutions, mostly public and private colleges, to go on a cash grab. What was being sold was entry into Canada, not education.

Our leading public universities, which charge international undergraduate tuition of $50,000 and up, and even more for some master’s programs, should get nearly all of the visas. Private colleges should get none. Public colleges should get few.

Stable permanent immigration: From the early 1990s until the Trudeau government, Canada’s immigration rate was relatively stable, through Liberal and Conservative administrations. It helped to make immigration as boring and unnoticed as functioning plumbing.

Let’s set our immigration rate at 0.7 per cent of the population – that’s about 300,000 new immigrants. Keep the rate there year after year, indefinitely.

An immigration rate of 0.7 per cent would be on par with where things were for the quarter century before the Trudeau government. It would be well below the level Canada hit from 2022 to 2024, and somewhat lower than the figure the Carney government has targeted. But by international standards, it would still be above average.

As I detail in my book on immigration, the U.S. legal-immigration level in the decades before the first election of President Donald Trump was around 0.3 per cent.

As on other key files, the Carney government has started to turn the ship on immigration. As with those other issues, more turning is still needed.

Olive: How Justin Trudeau’s immigration ambitions unravelled

Meanwhile in the Star, Olive seems oblivious to the failings of the philosophy and approach, not just miscalculation:

…Trudeau brought a record number of newcomers to Canada, and that proved to be a test of his governing philosophy. The labour shortages of the post-pandemic gave him the chance to better align economic need with more newcomers. It was a test he failed through miscalculation, but the philosophy was sound.

The weakest links in Carney’s cabinet are still there

The latest in the case for a change in immigration minister with speculation why still in place:

Most Canadians don’t know much about the Singh decision. But if you’re the country’s Immigration Minister, you must.

So it was alarming that Lena Metlege Diab seemed confused when she was asked about the seminal 1985 Supreme Court decision in an interview for a Radio-Canada podcast.

It was the ruling that set the foundations of Canada’s asylum system, and is central to immigration policy. It established that asylum-seekers have Charter rights and a right to an oral hearing, led to the creation of the Immigration and Refugee Board, and is still an issue in reform efforts today.

But it didn’t ring bells for the minister.

Kevin Paquette: The Parti Québécois forced a necessary immigration debate

The more positive approach to integration. Will see what the incoming government changes its electoral approach to a more inclusive governing approach: 

But integration is a concept that goes beyond language. It is also about sharing some basic values, understanding the institutions of the society you are joining and, over time, developing a sense that you belong to something larger than yourself. A society needs that sense of common civic and civilizational belonging if it is to remain cohesive over time.

All of these elements show why the debate over integration capacity deserves better than the familiar accusations and assumptions we have now become accustomed.

Raising questions about our capacity to welcome newcomers does not mean shifting the burden of our collective choices onto immigrants who choose Quebec. On the contrary, it means taking seriously the responsibility we have toward them.

When someone chooses Quebec, we should want them to be able to find their place here, learn French, build a life, and develop a genuine sense of belonging. When our capacity to integrate newcomers is overwhelmed, they pay a price as well.

That is ultimately what the immigration debate should be about: not searching for someone to blame, but making sure that those who choose Quebec have a real chance to succeed here and, over time, to feel fully at home.

Kevin Paquette is a consultant at Crestview Strategy. He was a political advisor to Quebec’s Minister of Public Security and president of the Coalition Avenir Québec’s youth wing. 

Express Entry and Labour Market Outcomes of Economic Immigrants

Unclear whether this will still apply and the CRS gets undermined by increased specialty streams as preliminary evidence suggests it is not:

Four recent studies examine the labour market outcomes of immigrants selected through Express Entry (EE) and assess how well the system’s Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) identifies applicants with strong economic potential. Using data from the Longitudinal Immigration Database and the linked IMDB–2021 Census, the research examines employment, earnings, wages and occupational mobility among EE immigrants, comparing their outcomes with those of other economic immigrants.

Overall, EE immigrants demonstrate stronger labour market outcomes than non-EE economic immigrants. They are more likely to be employed, earn higher employment income and weekly wages, and remain in their intended occupations. These differences are observed across a range of admission cohorts and demographic and labour market characteristics.

The research also finds that several core CRS selection factors are consistently associated with stronger outcomes. In particular, higher official language proficiency, educational attainment, Canadian work experience and higher pre-admission employment earnings are associated with better post-admission employment and earnings outcomes. Pre-admission employment earnings are among the strongest predictors, suggesting that the quality of applicants’ previous labour market experience may be more informative than simply having Canadian work experience.

Occupation characteristics also matter. Applicants in higher-skilled occupations generally have stronger employment, earnings and occupational retention outcomes, while remaining in an intended occupation is associated with substantially higher earnings. Job offers are associated with somewhat higher post-admission earnings, although their predictive value varies across outcomes and occupational categories.

By contrast, several CRS bonus factors – including Canadian education, French-language bonuses, siblings in Canada and spouse-related characteristics – show limited associations with short- and medium-term labour market outcomes after accounting for other applicant characteristics.

Together, the findings provide evidence on the factors associated with labour market success among EE immigrants and can inform ongoing consideration of the design and selection criteria of economic immigration programs. Because Express Entry was introduced in 2015, additional follow-up will be needed to assess whether these relationships persist over time.

Read the research: Express Entry and Labour Market Outcomes of Economic Immigrants

Canada’s refugee shelters are getting ready for the next surge. Here’s how cities are building a system that works

The key factor is, of course, the reduced number of refugees…:

… The tide, however, has begun to turn. Federal policy shifts aimed at curbing irregular migrants and restricting access to asylum have led to a significant decline in new asylum claimants in the past year — and governments have used the opportunity to build a more sustainable refugee shelter system that would be ready for the next surge. 

Municipalities reporting fewer refugees in shelters 

New refugee claimants dropped from 105,940 in the first seven months of 2024 to 69,410 in the same period in 2025 — and to just 33,415 this year.

Officials attributed the decline to the new visa requirement for Mexican travellers, tightened border enforcement and heightened scrutiny of visa applications. Ontario currently receives about 45 per cent of all claims, followed by Quebec at 38 per cent.

The federal Immigration Department said it closed all the refugee hotels that it directly funded and ran as of October 2025.

In Toronto, the number of claimants in regular shelters fell from 6,490 people in August 2024 to 1,691 this September. As demand declines, the city is closing two of its refugee shelter hotels this fall and the remaining one in 2027.

Calls specific to refugee claimants have dropped from more than 100 a day at times in 2023 to 10 to 20 a week now. During the first six months of 2026, fewer than 500 claimants were admitted into Toronto’s shelter system, while on average 165 have left each month since January. 

“We are generally able to meet demand from refugee claimants,” said Vera Dodic, the city’s director of refugee response. “We are no longer regularly seeing refugee claimants call Central Intake to report no available space.”…

Immigration Department looking into termination of refugee sponsor policy: Diab

Hopefully, with public reporting:

The Immigration Department will monitor for any negative effects from a recent decision not to extend a policy that gave permanent residency sponsorship exemptions to some refugees, Immigration Minister Lena Diab said Wednesday.

The policy was introduced in 2019 to allow some refugees to sponsor some undeclared family members for permanent residency but it expired earlier this month and was not renewed.

Kazemzadeh: Canada’s settlement services are going digital. AI should support workers, not replace them

Overall, balanced but one should expect some staff efficiencies and reductions but hopefully with better outcome reporting (even outputs are updated on opendata and have to be requested):

… Canada should not reject AI in settlement services. The technology has real potential. But governments and settlement agencies should avoid building a digital-only system.

The better model is hybrid: AI for routine information, translation support, navigation and basic triage; humans for complex cases, legal referrals, trauma-informed care, accessibility needs and emotional support.

The future of settlement services will likely be more digital. But success should not be measured by how many workers are replaced. It should be measured by whether newcomers receive faster, safer and more inclusive support.

AI can open the door. Human expertise must remain inside.

Filed under Immigration, Integration, Refugees Tagged with , , , , , , ,

StatsCan – Economic well-being among immigrant and Canadian-born families: The joint distribution of income and wealth

2026/09/08 2 Comments

Encouraging that established immigrant families matched or exceeded the wealth of Canadian-born families, although it would be useful if this data was disaggregated by ethnic group or visible minority:

This study examines disparities in economic well-being among recent immigrant, established immigrant and Canadian-born families. Using pooled data from the Survey of Financial Security (2016, 2019 and 2023), families are classified across income and wealth quartiles to assess economic well-being. Across all income quartiles, recent immigrant families possessed less wealth than Canadian‑born families, with the wealth gap widening toward the top of the income distribution. While socioeconomic factors such as homeownership, having a private pension plan, inheritance and life-cycle stage explained wealth differences among families at the bottom of the income distribution, substantial gaps persisted at higher levels of income even after accounting for these factors. By contrast, established immigrant families matched or exceeded the wealth of Canadian‑born families across the income distribution, underscoring the importance of time in Canada and life‑cycle processes in wealth accumulation….

Source: Economic well-being among immigrant and Canadian-born families: The joint distribution of income and wealth

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Charette | L’avenir des enfants au cœur des projets d’immigration en famille

2026/08/14 Leave a comment

Agree on importance of schools:

…D’autre part, jusqu’à tout récemment, des mesures gouvernementales finançaient des initiatives favorisant la mise en œuvre d’une éducation interculturelle et inclusive dans les écoles. Par exemple, des activités de sensibilisation pouvaient être mises en place avec la contribution de partenaires de la communauté et de parents pour sensibiliser tous les élèves et les membres du personnel à la diversité ethnoculturelle, linguistique et religieuse qui caractérise nos sociétés. N’ayant pas échappé aux efforts budgétaires exigés par le gouvernement, ces allocations ont été supprimées.

Ces choix gouvernementaux ont nécessairement des conséquences sur les conditions offertes aux parents afin qu’ils puissent collaborer avec l’école. De plus, ils mettent en lumière des lacunes relatives à l’accueil offert aux familles immigrantes à l’école et dans la société.

Je répète donc la question de départ de cet article : est-ce que la société offre à tous les parents des possibilités égales de s’impliquer et de collaborer avec l’école ?

La réponse est non.

Si l’avenir des enfants et leur réussite à l’école sont au cœur des projets de l’immigration en famille, ils devraient aussi être au cœur des choix que nous faisons comme société. Cela suppose non seulement de reconnaître l’importance de l’implication parentale, mais aussi de créer les conditions qui permettent réellement à tous les parents de collaborer avec l’école. Le contexte actuel compromet la participation des parents immigrants à l’école et, par conséquent, à la société plus largement. Ces constats imposent des réflexions dans une société qui, jusqu’à aujourd’hui, était reconnue à l’international pour son accueil des familles immigrantes.

Josée Charette Professeure à la Faculté des sciences de l’éducation et titulaire de la Chaire UQAM Bienvenue aux familles immigrantes.

Source: Idées | L’avenir des enfants au cœur des projets d’immigration en famille

… On the other hand, until recently, government measures funded initiatives to promote the implementation of intercultural and inclusive education in schools. For example, awareness-raising activities could be put in place with the contribution of community partners and parents to make all students and staff aware of the ethnocultural, linguistic and religious diversity that characterizes our societies. Having not escaped the budgetary efforts demanded by the government, these allowances were abolished.

These government choices necessarily have consequences on the conditions offered to parents so that they can collaborate with the school. In addition, they highlight gaps in the reception offered to immigrant families at school and in society.

So I repeat the starting question of this article: does society offer all parents equal opportunities to get involved and collaborate with the school?

The answer is no.

If the future of children and their success in school are at the heart of family immigration projects, they should also be at the heart of the choices we make as a society. This means not only recognizing the importance of parental involvement, but also creating the conditions that really allow all parents to collaborate with the school. The current context compromises the participation of immigrant parents in school and, consequently, in society more broadly. These observations require reflections in a society that, until today, was internationally recognized for its reception of immigrant families.

Josée Charette Professor at the Faculty of Educational Sciences and holder of the UQAM Chair Welcome to immigrant families.

Filed under Immigration, Integration Tagged with , ,

Canadian Perspectives on Multiculturalism and Diversity

2026/07/13 1 Comment

Encouraging large scale public opinion research highlighting that concern over immigration levels has largely not affected overall support for diversity and multiculturalism. But support for multiculturalism is less for “deeper” multiculturalism when it involves separate group institutions:

Summary recommendations: When asked what multiculturalism means to them, 64 percent of Canadians provide a response that describes multiculturalism positively, saying, for instance, that it means having an accepting society that welcomes people from different cultures. Only six percent describe multiculturalism negatively. However, 30 percent opt not to provide a response.

  • A majority of Canadians (66%) agree that “multiculturalism has contributed positively to the Canadian identity.” One in four (25%) disagree.
  • Even among white or non-immigrant Canadians, the proportions agreeing that multiculturalism has contributed positively to the Canadian identity outweigh those disagreeing by a margin of roughly two to one.
  • Even among Canadians who currently hold more negative opinions about immigration, a majority (about 3 in 5) has a positive opinion about the impact of multiculturalism.
  • There is widespread agreement among Canadians that people should not be discriminated against based on their race, ethnicity or culture. There is also agreement among a majority of Canadians that there are benefits to living in a diverse society. But disagreement outweighs agreement when it comes to setting up separate institutions in areas such as education to accommodate ethnic or religious minorities. While there are differences in the extent of agreement with each of several statements about diversity among Canadians of different backgrounds, what is notable is that the gradient in opinions just described applies for all groups.
  • One in five Canadians express wholly positive opinions about immigration: they are not concerned about the current number of immigrants coming to Canada, and they see welcoming immigrants as part of their vision of the type of country that Canada should be. A larger group (36%) has mixed views, expressing concern about the number of immigrants currently arriving, but nonetheless agreeing that Canada should be a country that fully welcomes immigrants from around the world. A similarly-sized group – about one in three – expresses wholly negative opinions: they believe immigration levels are too high and do not want Canada to be fully welcoming to immigrants from all over the world. Among non-immigrants, the proportion with wholly negative opinions reaches 41 percent….

Source: Canadian Perspectives on Multiculturalism and Diversity

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Al-A’sar: Finding connection as an immigrant in the lonely city

2026/07/06 Leave a comment

Interesting account, a likely common experience for many communities:

..In that part of the world, cities often have many physical social hubs where people with shared interests tend to gather, and where encounters happen repeatedly and spontaneously, so that relationships can develop naturally. In Beirut, for instance, the coffee shops and bars along Hamra Street have a cultural and social function, too. The same used to be true of downtown Cairo, though things have changed over time because the regime fears any form of social gathering in civic spaces. Back then, if ever I felt bored, I would just head downtown without any plans and wander through city streets, confident that I would run into someone, perhaps at a coffee shop along the way – no itinerary, no prior arrangement, no online-calendar invite needed.

Here in Canada, I find myself needing to schedule a meeting with new friends a week or two in advance just to spend an hour together. I don’t blame them; this is what big cities often do to human relationships. Under the weight of necessity and social pressure, people can turn into rigorously scheduled machines. After all, everyone has daily obligations to fulfill, including work commitments to cover the growing cost of living and household responsibilities – not to mention what is often significant commute times. In this context, free time feels like it’s a privilege. …

Mostafa Al-A’sar is a Toronto-based journalist, writer and human rights defender.

Source: Finding connection as an immigrant in the lonely city

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Migrant Integration Services in Canada: Adapting to the Changing Landscape

2026/05/14 Leave a comment

What is lacking is better performance reporting on outcomes along with an updated evaluation (last one dates from 2020:

…Key findings

Federal spending: The budget of the IRCC Settlement Program, which funds integration services almost exclusively for permanent residents, grew by 70 per cent between 2016-17 and 2023-24, approaching $1.2 billion in 2024-25. A government-wide expenditure review will reduce the Settlement and Resettlement Program budget to $935.7 million in 2026-27.

Admission reductions: The federal government reduced annual permanent resident targets to 395,000 for 2025, down from 500,000 in 2024. Following the introduction of Canada’s first-ever limits on temporary resident admissions, the number of temporary foreign workers fell 48 per cent, and new international students dropped 60 per cent in the first nine months of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024.

Language training cut: IRCC will discontinue funding for language instruction above Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) level 4 as of September 2026. In Ontario, one-third of language learners study at the intermediate and higher levels (CLB 5+).

Settlement sector strain: A survey of 48 service provider organizations in the Toronto region conducted before the further cuts from the expenditure review were announced found that 69 per cent anticipated laying off staff due to federal funding reductions.

Refugee claimants left out: Despite 295,819 pending refugee claims as of September 2025 and an 80 per cent acceptance rate, refugee claimants remain ineligible for IRCC Settlement Program services.

Provincial variation: Ontario and British Columbia fund integration services beyond the scope of the federal program. Ontario’s well-established programs served 185,600 clients in 2023-24. Following a significant budget increase, B.C.’s redesigned Newcomer Services Program and new Safe Haven program served over 64,000 clients in 2024-25.

Cities diverge: Toronto has a proactive newcomer strategy and kiosks providing services regardless of immigration status. Vancouver has no formal policy by design, relying instead on an equity and accessibility lens applied across city services.

Recommendations

The author presents four recommendations:

  • Engage the settlement sector: To inform the program review that is part of the expenditure review, give a mandate to one of IRCC’s sectoral committees to hold targeted consultations and propose specific changes, making fuller use of sector expertise in policy development.
  • Reverse the language training cut: IRCC should restore funding for language instruction above CLB 4 and signal that, as of April 2029, service providers will be eligible to deliver instruction up to CLB 8 under the Settlement Program.
  • Expand eligibility to refugee claimants: IRCC should allow service providers to support refugee claimants under the Settlement Program, potentially requiring organizations to co-finance part of costs from non-federal sources.
  • Hold a national forum: Convene governments, practitioners and experts to assess the effectiveness of Canada’s migrant integration model, explore improvements and raise public awareness about the need for renewal.

Source: Migrant Integration Services in Canada: Adapting to the Changing Landscape

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Canada will slash millions in spending meant to help immigrants. Here’s how hard Ontario is being hit

2026/02/25 Leave a comment

As expected given decline in overall numbers. Odd that services will be restricted to economic immigrants given that they are largely selected on the basis of higher levels of human capital and thus arguably in less need than other categories:

The federal government is going to slash its immigrant settlement funding by $98.1 million this year, including a 17.3 per cent reduction for organizations that support newcomers in Ontario, the Star has learned.

The across-the-board funding reductions outside Quebec are expected to affect all services, including employment counselling, information and orientation, translation help for appointments and other supports to assist newcomer integration. Newcomer women and caregivers, survivors of trauma, people with disabilities and others who are likely to delay language and other programs are feared to be disproportionately affected, though refugee services won’t be affected by the cuts.

The 9.5 per cent overall cut for the 2026-2027 fiscal year is in addition to the previously announced spending cuts to end all English classes beyond level 4 of the Canadian Language Benchmark (the government’s language assessment system with levels from 1 to 12) by September 2026. New eligibility will also take effect on April 1 to restrict access to services for economic immigrants.

Immigrant service agencies in Ontario will see funding reduced to $424.6 million from $513.6 million in 2025-2026. The hardest hit province is British Columbia, which will see a 25 per cent reduction in settlement funding, followed by Nova Scotia (23.3 per cent) and Prince Edward Island (22 per cent).

“The department recognizes the challenging impact these funding decisions will have on service provider organizations, and we will strive to provide transparent and timely information, as well as to respond to any concerns,” assistant deputy immigration minister Catherine Scott said in a Feb. 13 email to service agencies. “We can jointly ensure service continuity for clients.”

All funded agencies are expected to be contacted by the department before the end of the week on how their individual programs will be affected, as resources will also be reallocated to support organizations that serve French-speaking clients as a result of Ottawa’s priority to boost francophone immigration outside Quebec. 

The news has sent another shock wave to service providers, who had already had federal funding for the sector reduced from about $1.17B in 2024-25 to $1.12B in the current fiscal year.

“It’s a one-two punch,” said the executive director of one multiple service agency, who asked not to be identified for fear of repercussions to his organization by the department….

Source: Canada will slash millions in spending meant to help immigrants. Here’s how hard Ontario is being hit

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Volunteer program for immigrant doctors to improve medical English gets big boost

2026/01/22 Leave a comment

Good initiative. During my various cancer treatments, some, by no means all, of the doctors who helped treat me would have benefited from this training:

Romel Castillo, a family physician originally from Cuba, learned much more than words when he joined a fledgling program to brush up on his medical English. 

He learned the unspoken language of practising medicine in Canada, where concepts such as patient privacy, cultural competency and shared decision-making can be different than in an immigrant doctor’s homeland. 

“In my country, it’s like you prescribe the medication, they take it,” said Dr. Castillo, 35, who moved to Canada in 2021 and now lives in Brampton, Ont. “But here, I ask you first, ‘What are your values, your understanding of the condition?’ I share with you my knowledge, and then we make an arrangement.” 

Those subtleties, which would be hard to pick up from a Spanish-to-English medical dictionary, were the most important lessons that Dr. Castillo took away from Health English Language Pro (HELP), a program that pairs retired Canadian physicians with newcomer doctors to improve their medical English over the course of about 10 virtual conversations.

On Tuesday, HELP will get a major boost when the Canadian Medical Association Foundation announces a $645,000 grant to expand the program so that volunteer Canadian doctors can share their expertise with at least 330 more immigrants like Dr. Castillo, who is working in the health system, but not yet as a doctor….

Source: Volunteer program for immigrant doctors to improve medical English gets big boost

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Lisée: Jungle identitaire

2025/11/20 Leave a comment

Interesting commentary regarding the latest report by the commissaire à la langue française, Benoît Dubreuil, Intégration à la nation québécoise:

…En comparaison, il est beaucoup plus agréable d’être entre immigrants ou avec des anglophones, dont la composition ethnique est plus diversifiée, dont la langue est plus facile, où les accents divers sont plus acceptés, et où la pression pour s’intégrer à une culture précise n’existe tout simplement pas.

Et c’est là qu’on trouve la spécificité du cas québécois. Dans le monde entier, les ados sont rustres, et l’intégration, difficile. En Allemagne, au Chili ou au Cambodge, il n’y a pas d’autre choix que celui de l’intégration à la langue et à la culture de la société d’accueil, même lorsqu’elle accueille mal. Ici, un autre univers est à portée de main, l’anglophone.

Dubreuil nous apprend qu’une fois l’enfer du secondaire traversé, les tensions s’atténuent au cégep et à l’université. La maturité des uns et des autres y est pour quelque chose. Mais ce passage a laissé des traces. Les enfants d’immigrants connaissent le français, mais l’utilisent moins que les immigrants de première génération. On est en présence d’une acquisition, puis d’une distanciation de l’expérience québécoise, à la fois présente, mais étrangère.

Le commissaire propose, pour juguler ce phénomène, un gigantesque chantier, multiforme, d’intégration. Sa créativité force l’admiration. On voudrait partager sa détermination et son volontarisme. Peut-être y arriverons-nous, après avoir digéré la douleur générée par ses constats.

Source: Jungle identitaire

….In comparison, it is much more pleasant to be among immigrants or with Anglophones, whose ethnic composition is more diverse, whose language is easier, where diverse accents are more accepted, and where the pressure to integrate into a specific culture simply does not exist.


And this is where we find the specificity of the Quebec case. All over the world, teenagers are rude, and integration is difficult. In Germany, Chile or Cambodia, there is no choice but to integrate into the language and culture of the host society, even when it is poorly welcomed. Here, another universe is at hand, the English-speaking.


Dubreuil tells us that once the high school hell is crossed, tensions ease at CEGEP and university. The maturity of each other has something to do with it. But this passage left traces. Immigrant children know French, but use it less than first-generation immigrants. We are in the presence of an acquisition, then a distancing from the Quebec experience, both present but foreign.


The commissioner proposes, to curb this phenomenon, a gigantic, multifaceted integration project. His creativity forces admiration. We would like to share his determination and voluntarism. Maybe we will get there, after digesting the pain generated by his observations.

Filed under Integration, Interculturalisme, Multiculturalism Tagged with ,

Entre réussite et intégration, un Québec fou de tous ses enfants

2025/06/23 Leave a comment

Interesting read by a former teacher:

…Mon premier contrat dans mon champ — l’histoire et la géographie — était dans une grande école secondaire du quartier défavorisé Côte-des-Neiges. J’ai partagé certaines appréhensions concernant le secteur avec des collègues, et ils m’ont tous répondu une variation de la formule suivante : Côte-des-Neiges, c’est un secret bien gardé.

Les défis linguistiques y sont importants, mais la population scolaire y est réceptive, les jeunes souvent polis et travaillants. C’était il y a dix ans. J’avais plus de deux cents élèves et une seule qui n’était pas issue de l’immigration.

Cette école n’avait rien d’un « ghetto » : on y retrouvait plus de soixante nationalités représentées. Dans les corridors, on entendait l’anglais, l’espagnol, l’arabe ou le tagalog. La valorisation du français était au cœur du projet éducatif.

Les élèves s’exprimaient aussi entre eux dans la langue de Molière, la seule qu’ils avaient tous en commun. Un français certes teinté d’accents de banlieues françaises ou de franglais. Une langue qui ne les avait pas préparés à comprendre L’erreur boréale, que j’ai dû traduire, mimer et rembobiner lors du chapitre sur le territoire forestier.

L’équipe d’accueil et de francisation comptait sur des enseignants intimement qualifiés : pour plusieurs, le français avait aussi été une langue étrangère. Grâce à leur formation et leur expérience, ces enseignants savaient que l’apprentissage d’une langue s’effectue en complémentarité et non en concurrence avec les autres langues connues.

Plusieurs recherches montrent que des pédagogies plurilingues, mobilisant les autres langues des élèves, soutiennent efficacement l’apprentissage du français. En plus de leurs effets positifs sur le plan cognitif, ces pratiques renforcent le lien maître-élève.

Or, comme l’ont souligné plusieurs chercheuses en commission parlementaire, certains articles du projet de loi 94 visant notamment à renforcer la laïcité risquent de compromettre ces interactions dans la langue maternelle de l’élève.

Les pratiques d’accueil

La francisation des élèves ne se limite pas aux classes d’accueil. Il existe les services intensifs d’accueil et de soutien à l’apprentissage du français (SASAF), qui incluent un soutien quotidien en classe ordinaire et les classes d’accueil.

Les services de soutien linguistique d’appoint en francisation (SLAF) s’adressent quant à eux aux élèves intégrés en classe ordinaire dont l’acquisition du français est bien amorcée.

Les critères de classement et les choix de services varient d’un centre de services scolaire à l’autre. Notons que le MEQ n’a fixé aucun nombre minimal d’heures hebdomadaires de SLAF à offrir. L’accès aux services professionnels, comme l’orthopédagogie ou la psychoéducation, peut aussi être limité lorsqu’une direction considère que la classe d’accueil constitue le service de soutien.

Certaines directions imposent aux enseignants d’attendre que l’élève soit francisé avant de soumettre une demande de services complémentaires. Certaines disent vouloir éviter la suridentification. N’en demeure qu’avec la hausse du nombre d’élèves ayant un parcours scolaire interrompu, des retards importants ou des parcours migratoires difficiles, ce retard d’accès pèse lourd à la fois sur les élèves et sur le personnel.

Selon le MEQ, alors qu’il y a deux fois plus d’élèves en classe d’accueil qu’il y a dix ans, on en compte trois fois plus en classe ordinaire bénéficiant d’un soutien d’appoint sans qu’aucune norme minimale ne soit établie à cet effet. Les critères de classement demeurent souvent opaques ; le service d’appoint est-il réellement suffisant pour ces élèves ? Plus d’uniformité et de transparence sont nécessaires.

Qui sont les élèves issus de l’immigration ?

À la parution, en 2015, de l’ouvrage de Marie Mc Andrew et du groupe de recherche Immigration, équité et scolarisation (GRIES), La réussite éducative des élèves issus de l’immigration, ceux-ci représentaient 26 % de la population scolaire. Dix ans plus tard, ce chiffre est passé à 36 %.

Tous n’ont pas besoin de services de francisation. C’est notamment le cas de plusieurs élèves dits de deuxième génération, les plus nombreux (22 % de ces 36 %), dont le recours aux SASAF est resté stable depuis dix ans, voire a légèrement diminué. Un élève de deuxième génération est un élève né ici dont au moins un parent est né à l’extérieur du Québec. Fait marquant, le nombre d’élèves immigrants dont la langue maternelle est le français est en hausse — ils composent près de la moitié du groupe en 2025 (43 % contre 37 % en 2015). Les groupes de langue arabe, anglaise ou espagnole sont, eux, restés stables.

Les élèves issus de l’immigration fréquentent davantage l’école privée au secondaire que les non-immigrants (24,5 % contre 20,5 %), une donnée influencée par la forte présence des élèves de deuxième génération dans le réseau privé. Toutefois, le rôle du privé dans l’accueil et la francisation des élèves de première génération tend à diminuer.

Citoyenneté québécoise

Comment évalue-t-on l’intégration d’une personne à sa société d’accueil ? Lorsque cette question est soulevée, les critères objectifs sont parfois maigres. Pour les élèves québécois, deux indicateurs pourraient toutefois nous servir de repères : la réussite scolaire et le choix de la langue d’enseignement au postsecondaire.

Selon l’Observatoire des inégalités, en 2016, le taux de diplomation des élèves de deuxième génération était de 88 %, alors qu’il était de 83 % pour les élèves non issus de l’immigration. Quant aux élèves de première génération ayant immigré dès le primaire, leur taux de réussite est passé de 75 % à 84 % entre 2008 et 2016.

Bien que les défis soient nombreux, plusieurs facteurs propres à la population immigrante expliqueraient cette réussite, dont l’approche scolaire parentale. En 2015, le GRIES notait que le caractère sélectif des politiques d’immigration québécoises, visant un objectif d’établissement permanent, contribuait à la stabilité des familles, à la légitimité de la présence des immigrants, ce qui favorisait la réussite.

Après leur passage en système scolaire francophone, comme le veut la loi 101, 50 % des inscrits allophones au collégial choisissaient les études en français en 2007. Cela passait à 66 % en 2021, selon l’OQLF. Sur cette même période, le choix des jeunes francophones pour le collégial en français est lui passé de 95 % à 93 %. Considérant ce facteur, l’intégration des jeunes allophones à la société québécoise tend à s’améliorer.

Afin d’accentuer l’adhésion à la culture francophone, dans un rapport bien documenté sur les dynamiques linguistiques du monde scolaire, le commissaire à la langue française, Benoît Dubreuil, proposait notamment des mesures comme le développement de programmes de jumelages entre écoles de différentes régions du Québec, approche souvent mise de côté au profit d’expériences internationales.

Les élèves issus de l’immigration créent-ils « une pression énorme sur nos écoles » ? Les politiques d’immigration, nommément celles d’immigration temporaire, ont accentué leur nombre, surtout depuis 2022.

Reste que leur présence à la hausse s’inscrit de façon prévisible depuis plusieurs années, que ces élèves sont aussi globalement résilients, engagés dans leurs études, en preuve leur taux de réussite, qu’ils sont de plus en plus francophones et qu’ils sont aussi de plus en plus nombreux à choisir le français pour la suite de leur parcours scolaire.

Investir ambitieusement dans l’accueil et la francisation des élèves est incontournable pour la nation québécoise et ce n’est pas uniquement une question d’argent : c’est aussi reconnaître l’effet d’émulation positive qu’ont plusieurs de ses élèves sur l’ensemble du système, laisser les professionnels utiliser les meilleures pratiques, comme les références à la langue et à la culture maternelles, sans y voir de menace à la société d’accueil ou favoriser des démarches peu systématisées, comme le jumelage interrégional.

Mon passage en milieu pluriethnique m’a notamment appris que l’amour de la langue ne peut se développer qu’au travers du respect et de l’affection qu’on porte à ceux qui la parlent.

Source: Entre réussite et intégration, un Québec fou de tous ses enfants

Filed under Integration, Interculturalisme, Multiculturalism Tagged with , , , ,

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