USCIS Resumes Neighborhood Checks for Citizenship Applicants

2025/08/29 Leave a comment

Further erosion and reversals. Likely those targeted will reflect minorities also targeted by ICE:

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will once again conduct in-person “neighborhood checks” as part of the citizenship process, ending a decades-old waiver of the practice.

In a policy memo dated August 22 and released publicly on Tuesday, the agency said officers may now interview neighbors, coworkers, or employers of naturalization applicants to confirm eligibility for U.S. citizenship. The move restores a practice last used under the George H.W. Bush administration, more than 30 years ago.

What Naturalization Applicants Need to Know

Under the updated policy, USCIS officers will decide on a case-by-case basis whether to conduct a neighborhood investigation. These investigations could include reviewing testimonial letters or, in some cases, speaking directly with people who know the applicant.

This change ends the 34-year blanket waiver that applied to all cases. Instead, officers will now make decisions on a case-by-case basis. If an applicant provides strong supporting evidence up front, officers may still choose to waive the neighborhood investigation.

“The challenge is that officers now have wide discretion but little guidance,” said Erik Finch, a former USCIS officer and Boundless director of global operations. “Without clear standards, two applicants with nearly identical cases could face very different levels of scrutiny.”

In the memo, USCIS encourages applicants to submit testimonial letters from neighbors, employers, or community members. If the agency requests additional evidence and the applicant doesn’t provide it, officers may move forward with a neighborhood check, which could cause delays.

Historical Context

Neighborhood investigations aren’t new. For much of U.S. history, applicants had to bring witnesses who could testify about their character. Later, officers sometimes carried out neighborhood checks themselves. The practice was discontinued entirely in 1991, when the agency’s predecessor, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), stopped using them.

USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said in a statement the move protects the integrity of the naturalization process.

“Americans should be comforted knowing that USCIS is taking seriously its responsibility to ensure aliens are being properly vetted and are of good moral character, attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States, and well-disposed to the good order and happiness of the United States,” Edlow said.

Neighborhood Checks: What to Expect Now

  • When USCIS May Apply It: Officers will make decisions individually. If your application clearly shows continuous residence and good moral character, USCIS may waive the check. If questions arise, a neighborhood investigation is more likely.
  • How to Prepare: Submitting testimonial letters with your application may help USCIS determine an investigation isn’t needed. Preparing this evidence early can reduce delays.
  • Possible Delays:USCIS staff reductions and new vetting requirements may slow down the naturalization process.

What Employers Should Know

USCIS has said neighborhood investigations may include contacting an applicant’s workplace. That could mean interviewing employers, managers, or coworkers to confirm details about the applicant’s character and eligibility.

Employers don’t need to prepare special documents in advance, but it’s helpful to be aware of this possibility. If contacted by USCIS, you should be ready to confirm basic information such as dates of employment and the applicant’s role.

Bottom Line

For most applicants, the naturalization process will look the same, but USCIS now has the option to conduct neighborhood investigations. Preparing strong evidence up front may help avoid extra steps and delays.

Source: USCIS Resumes Neighborhood Checks for Citizenship Applicants

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StatsCan: Temporary foreign workers in health care: Characteristics, transition to permanent residency and industry retention

2025/08/28 Leave a comment

Points of interest:

  • Numbers of healthcare workers increased dramatically during COVID
  • Similar numbers under the TFWP and IMP but IMP growth greater than TFWP
  • Provincial average of 2.7 percent of temporary workers in healthcare sector
  • Country shift from Philippines to India
  • Almost 60 percent have transitioned to permanent residency
  • Women form about three quarters of TFWs in healthcare that transitioned to permanent residency

…Using an integrated administrative database, this study examines the number of TFWs who worked in Canada’s health care sector from 2000 to 2022, their distribution by permit type, their transition to PR and their retention in the sector.

The number of TFWs working in the health care sector has increased considerably since the new millennium, from 3,200 in 2000 to 57,500 in 2022. The composition of program types among TFWs in the health care sector has also changed over time. In the early 2000s, most TFWs held health-occupation-specific work permits, but other IMP work permit holders have become more prominent over time. In addition, TFWs’ distribution across health care subsectors also shifted over time. In the 2000s, nearly 40% of TFWs in the health care sector were in hospitals, but since 2019, more than 40% of TFWshave been employed in nursing and residential care facilities.

It is important to note that some TFWs without a health-occupation-specific work permit may work in health occupations. Furthermore, not all TFWs in the health care sector worked in health occupations. Therefore, restricting the analysis to work permit holders with specified health occupations would underestimate the overall impact of TFWs on the health care sector. 

TFWs from India have gradually replaced Filipino workers as the largest foreign workforce in Canada’s health care sector, and the role of some traditional source countries has diminished. Meanwhile, the geographic concentration of TFWs in health care became more pronounced over time, with the majority located in the largest provinces: Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec.

The long-term viability of TFWs as a stable labour source depends on two factors: the number of workers who transition to PR and the percentage of those who continue to work in the sector after obtaining PR. This study found that recent TFW cohorts had higher rates of transition to PR compared with earlier cohorts, whereas recent PR policy changes may have had a positive impact on the transition rate. After transitioning to PR, TFWs holding health-occupation-specific work permits had higher industry retention rates in the sector than those who did not have health-occupation-specific work permits.

Source: Temporary foreign workers in health care: Characteristics, transition to permanent residency and industry retention

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Here are the top reasons why Canada rejects study permit applications

2025/08/28 Leave a comment

Useful information:

Almost five per cent of study permit applications were rejected last year because applicants allegedly misrepresented or withheld information, according to a new study that tracks international student refusal trends.

It was a small but noteworthy increase, according to the analysis released Monday by ApplyBoard, one of the largest online platforms for foreign student recruitment. The report looked at study permit applications for 2024 and found that 4.6 per cent of refusal reasons were linked to “authenticity and applicant honesty.”

In all, some 13,000 applicants were rejected based on misrepresenting or withholding facts in their applications.

Under the Canadian law, an immigration applicant can be found inadmissible “for directly or indirectly misrepresenting or withholding material facts.” Last year’s increase was up from 1.8 per cent in 2021, 2.3 per cent in 2022 and 3.5 per cent in 2023. 

In 2024, the Immigration Department rejected about 290,000 study permit applications, bringing the overall refusal rate to 52 per cent from 40 per cent the year before. The data covered applicants for all levels of studies; an application can be refused on multiple grounds.

Of the 81 different reasons given for refusals, 76 per cent were rejected because the officer was not satisfied the applicant would leave Canada — based on the person’s previous travel history. In comparison, this reason accounted for 7.6 per cent of all refusals in 2021.

The second-most common reason for refusal had to do with officers not believing an applicant would leave Canada, based on their financial assets. These rejected applications accounted for 53 per cent last year, up from 25 per cent in 2021.

Rounding the top five reasons for study permit refusals in 2024 were: an officer’s doubt over the purpose of the visit (47 per cent), applicants not having enough financial resources for tuition (19 per cent) and for living expenses (18 per cent).

While officials recognize some future students may want to stay and gain work experience in Canada after graduation, the predominant use of lack of travel history as a refusal ground, said the ApplyBoard study, “suggests that many applicants are perceived as having permanent residency as their primary purpose, instead of study.”

The report made no mention or speculation on the rise of this particular refusal reason, and it’s not known if immigration officials have heightened scrutiny of study permit applications amid integrity concerns raised about the international education program in the last couple years. 

Those alleged of submitting inauthentic documents and those who “didn’t truthfully answer all questions” were cited in 1.7 per cent and one per cent of all refusals in 2024, respectively — up from the correspondingly 0.3 per cent and 0.4 per cent since 2021, the report found.

In 2024, missing documents were also involved in thousands of refusals, with the proofs of financial assets being cited as the most commonly missing papers, followed by biometrics (photo and fingerprints), letters of acceptance by an institution, Quebec acceptance certificate and medical exam results.

“Every refusal reason above is entirely preventable, given enough time to review the application for completeness,” said ApplyBoard. “Having others review study permit applications can also prevent regrettable permit refusals.”

Source: Here are the top reasons why Canada rejects study permit applications

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Ottawa’s strong borders bill could infringe on Charter and privacy rights, parliamentary study warns

2025/08/28 Leave a comment

Reinforces court challenges:

….The library received requests from MPs for an analysis of Bill C-2 and has made available a preliminary version of its research to help them and others understand the bill. 

Its findings follow similar warnings from lawyers and civil-liberties experts. They have predicted that, if passed, the bill could face legal challenges. Refugee advocates and migrant groups have criticized Bill C-2’s proposed changes to immigration and asylum law. 

The Library of Parliament’s in-depth look at the bill raises particular concerns about so-called lawful access provisions to give police, Canada’s spy agency and other public officers warrantless powers to demand information.

The bill would allow law-enforcement officers without warrants to demand information on whether people have used various services, such as internet providers, medical services, hotels, mailboxes or banks….

An assessment earlier this year by the federal Justice Department found that various provisions in Bill C-2 clash with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, including clauses protecting Canadians against unreasonable searches and seizures. 

The Library of Parliament found that, as well as potentially clashing with the Charter, the bill may be framed to “circumvent” decisions by the Supreme Court of Canada that confirm the right to privacy online. 

It warns that the bill’s “expanded surveillance and data-sharing powers from law enforcement and other government agencies could potentially lead to discriminatory profiling or targeting, particularly in the context of immigration enforcement.” 

“Enhanced authority for law enforcement to access internet subscriber data without a warrant, as well as data-sharing between Canadian and foreign authorities allowed under Bill C-2, could disproportionately affect racialized and immigrant communities,” it says. 

It also raises concerns about measures to help the police and intelligence services get access to data. The CCLA warns the measures could force online services to redesign how they operate. …

Source: Ottawa’s strong borders bill could infringe on Charter and privacy rights, parliamentary study warns

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Laïcité: Un comité recommande d’interdire les signes religieux aux garderies

2025/08/27 Leave a comment

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court challenge on Bill 21 continues:

Ce comité d’étude sur le respect des principes de la Loi sur la laïcité de l’État et sur les influences religieuses a dévoilé mardi à Québec son rapport d’enquête visant à repérer les traces d’infiltration de la religion dans les institutions publiques québécoises en vue de renforcer l’application des lois en matière de laïcité.

Le comité, présidé par l’ex-présidente du Conseil du statut de la femme Christiane Pelchat et le professeur à la faculté de droit de l’Université de Sherbrooke Guillaume Rousseau, a été mandaté en mars par le gouvernement Legault dans la foulée des enquêtes tenues dans 17 écoles au Québec où des manquements à la Loi sur la laïcité de l’État ont été démontrés.

Dans un rapport volumineux de quelque 290 pages, le comité formule 50 recommandations au gouvernement Legault qui a ramené la question identitaire au centre de son action gouvernementale au cours des derniers mois, après la révélation de dérives religieuses à l’école Bedford.

Au centre des recommandations, le comité Pelchat-Rousseau demande au gouvernement d’étendre l’interdiction du port de signes religieux aux centres de la petite enfance (CPE) et aux garderies subventionnées en accordant une clause de droit acquis (clause grand-père) pour les éducatrices déjà à l’emploi.

« Cette mesure répond à de nombreuses préoccupations qui ont été soulevées. Elle est nécessaire afin de favoriser l’apprentissage, les interactions et la cohésion sociale », écrivent les experts.

Le ministre de l’Éducation Bernard Drainville a déjà donné un tour de vis en mars dernier, en élargissant l’interdiction à tout le personnel scolaire en contact avec des élèves, comme au service de garde.

Écoles privées religieuses

Par ailleurs, le comité Pelchat-Rousseau recommande au gouvernement de mettre fin « progressivement au financement étatique des écoles privées religieuses » et demande de prévoir un « mécanisme d’admissibilité pour celles qui souhaitent conserver ce financement sous réserve qu’elles entament des changements institutionnels visant le respect des quatre principes qui sous-tendent la laïcité de l’État ».

Dans la foulée de la crise de l’école Bedford, à l’automne dernier, l’opposition a talonné le gouvernement Legault sur la question du financement public des écoles religieuses.

François Legault avait alors dû justifier son appui au maintien du financement aux écoles religieuses, alors que tous ses députés s’étaient opposés à une motion du Parti québécois visant à y mettre fin, en cohérence avec les principes de la laïcité.

Il faudra voir si le gouvernement donnera suite à cette recommandation du comité, qui lui a remis son rapport la semaine dernière. Il n’est pas prévu que le ministre Jean-François Roberge réagisse au contenu mardi. Le gouvernement veut plutôt se donner quelques semaines pour présenter son plan de match de l’automne.

« Nous l’avons toujours dit : nous voulons renforcer la laïcité de l’État au Québec. Les points soulevés par le comité nous donnent d’excellentes pistes pour moderniser la loi. Nous continuons d’analyser le rapport et nous vous reviendrons bientôt avec les prochaines étapes », a indiqué le ministre dans une déclaration.

Prières en public

François Legault avait jeté un pavé dans la mare en décembre dernier en affirmant qu’il serait prêt à avoir recours à la disposition de dérogation pour interdire la prière en public. Or, les travaux du comité Pelchat-Rousseau ne lui recommandent pas d’aller aussi loin et renvoient aux municipalités l’obligation de mieux encadrer les manifestations religieuses dans l’espace public.

« Le Comité se soucie de ces enjeux, comme il se soucie du respect des libertés individuelles. Notre position est celle du juste milieu, d’un équilibre entre les risques de dérives contraires aux valeurs collectives québécoises et la préservation de pratiques religieuses ne nuisant pas indûment à l’ordre public et respectant la finalité des espaces publics, qui doivent pouvoir être accessibles à l’ensemble de la population », écrit-on.

Le comité recommande aux villes de se doter de politiques en matière de laïcité qui seraient ensuite approuvées par le gouvernement.

Salles de prière

Le comité se penche également sur l’aménagement controversé de salles ou lieux de prière dans les cégeps et les universités. Les experts recommandent de permettre aux collèges d’aménager des locaux de détente et de recueillement, à condition que ces endroits soient accessibles à une ou deux personnes à la fois.

Le rapport propose cependant d’interdire les salles « consacrées exclusivement aux prières ou toute autre forme d’appropriation d’espaces communs, telles les salles de toilettes et les cages d’escaliers, à des fins religieuses ». Les espaces offerts doivent aussi respecter l’égalité entre les sexes.

Pour les universités, le comité recommande de leur « donner explicitement le pouvoir de ne pas fournir de salles de prière ou de recueillement » pour qu’elles « ne se voient pas imposer par la commission des droits [de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse (CDPDJ)] ou des tribunaux cette obligation » d’aménager une salle de prière. Le rapport fait ici allusion à la décision de la CDPDJ qui avait conclu en 2006 que l’École de technologie supérieure (ETS) n’avait pas rempli son devoir d’accommodement raisonnable en n’offrant pas un lieu de prière aux étudiants musulmans.

Autres recommandations

  • Créer la Journée nationale de la laïcité ; 
  • Mettre fin de manière progressive aux avantages fiscaux et aux subventions accordés aux organismes religieux ; 
  • Interdire la représentation et le port de signes religieux sur les affiches et dans les publicités du gouvernement et des institutions publiques, sauf exception ; 
  • Documenter les enjeux liés aux influences religieuses favorisant le jeûne chez les enfants d’âge scolaire ainsi que les effets de ce type de jeûne sur ces enfants en vue d’améliorer les méthodes de sensibilisation à ces enjeux ; 
  • Mettre fin à la pratique consistant à écrire aux parents d’élèves pour les informer à l’avance qu’un contenu lié à la sexualité sera enseigné à leurs enfants ; 
  • Créer un organisme indépendant, dont la présidence serait nommée par les deux tiers de l’Assemblée nationale, ayant notamment pour mission de veiller au respect des lois sur la laïcité ; 
  • Modifier la Loi sur la laïcité de l’État de manière à rendre obligatoire la réception à visage découvert de tout service (pas seulement lors de l’identification). 

Source: Laïcité Un comité recommande d’interdire les signes religieux aux garderies

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Ottawa Pride parade dissolves after Palestinian demonstration blocks route

2025/08/26 2 Comments

Apart from the somewhat oxymoronic name Queers for Palestine, given the lack of LGBTQ rights in Palestine and elsewhere Arab and Muslim countries, stil hard to understand how blocking route increases public support for their position.

They could have, after all, simply marched along with the others, with some signs identifying themselves their Palestinian identity:

Hundreds of Palestinian supporters blocked the Capital Pride Parade shortly after it began Sunday afternoon, demanding parade officials come down and meet their “demands.”

Protesters gathered on Wellington Street near O’Connor, dancing to music while holding up signs and Palestinian flags. Many signs said “no pride in genocide.”

A giant pink-and-black banner read “all of us or none of us” and “stone wall was an intifada.” They also chanted slogans like “free, free Palestine,” “long live the intifada” and “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”

“We will not leave until our elected officials and Capital Pride come down and meet our demands,” said Masha Davidovic, a member of Queers for Palestine-Ottawa group.

At about 2:30 p.m., the decision was made to cancel the remainder of the parade.

The confrontation comes after Capital Pride quietly took down its statement of solidarity with Palestinians this year, sparking criticism among some members of the community.

According to a pamphlet handed out at the protest Sunday, pro-Palestinian groups want Capital Pride to host a BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions) townhall and support PACBI, or the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel. The BDS movement is a Palestinian-led movement that uses economic pressures to force corporations, banks and other entities to withdraw support from Israel.

Protesters also called on Mayor Mark Sutcliffe to “apologize for last year’s boycott (of the parade) and the call to defund Pride” and “commit to stand with (protesters) and all oppressed peoples, including Palestinians.”

Stefania Wheelhouse of TotoToo Theatre was marching in the parade with 30 other people before the event was cancelled.

She told the Ottawa Citizen that they walked for about a block and half before they were stopped.

Around an hour later, they received word from Capital Pride officials that the remainder of the parade was cancelled and they were told to pack up and leave.

“We are bummed, of course, but we had a blast for the block and a half that we walked, and everyone was so positive, so it was still a net win for us,” Wheelhouse said.

“We sang, we spread the word. It’s still been a bit sad to not get to finish the run, but it is what it is.”

Donna Blackburn, an Ottawa-Carleton District School Board trustee, was marching in the parade with the rest of the school board.

Blackburn was previously censured by her colleagues for disagreeing with the school board’s decision to withdraw from the parade last year after Capital Pride issued a pro-Palestinian statement. She was also told to take part in antisemitism training.

In an interview with the Ottawa Citizen on Sunday, Blackburn called the actions taken by the pro-Palestinian movement “backwards” and said protesters had “hijacked” the parade.

“I have publicly stood up for the Palestinian community in a very public way, took a lot of personal heat for doing it. I’m now a target of the Zionists. They’re coming after me. But this is not the way to get people onto your side,” she said.

“Blackmailing the mayor in the middle of the parade is completely, highly inappropriate. … There are ways to lobby. There are ways to advocate, and holding a parade like this hostage and blackmailing politicians in the middle of it is completely inappropriate.

“Hopefully the rest of the day we can just go about celebrating. The community organizations are down (on Bank Street) with their booths, and I’m sure the music will be good and all that stuff. It’s just unfortunate the parade was hijacked.”

Sutcliffe, who attended the parade along with other city councillors and city staff, said in a social media statement that he was proud to join the LGBTQ2S+ community at Pride but said it was “deeply regrettable” that protesters and activists chose to block the parade.

“My heart goes out to the many people in our city who were deprived of the opportunity to participate in this celebration of joy, resilience, and community,” the statement read.

“At a time when 2SLGBTQIA+ rights are under attack around the world, it’s critical to show our solidarity with the community and honour all those who have achieved hard-won progress on equal rights.

“Ottawa should always be a place of inclusion, where everyone feels welcome. Let’s continue to work together for a better city, for everyone.”

Source: Ottawa Pride parade dissolves after Palestinian demonstration blocks route

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Immigration applicants for this Canadian program need to wait 52 months for a decision — now they also face skyrocketing refusals

2025/08/26 Leave a comment

Of note, another illustration of the challenges with respect to business immigration. Substantively, business immigration programs generate little return, with business immigrants paying the lowest amounts of income tax:

…But according to the Immigration Department, 17,919 SUV permanent residence applications are currently in the system, with an average processing time of 52 months. (For comparison, it takes 50 months for someone who has been granted asylum to bring family to Canada.)

That’s just not fast enough, Manasvi said.

“Canada needs entrepreneurs more than entrepreneurs need Canada,” said Manasvi, who previously worked at Nvidia and saw StackRaft become a platform used by more than 100 organizations and 50,000 software engineers before her exit from the venture in 2022. 

“If it takes a few years to approve a legit start-up founder in the backlog, you’re not going to attract the next Shopify. They will go to London or Dubai.”

Last year, Ottawa tweaked the program to limit intake and prioritize applicants with investment commitments from venture capital funds, angel investor groups and business incubators belonging to Canada’s Tech Network.

The federal government has also slashed the number of annual permanent resident spots for business immigration programs from 5,000 in 2024 to 2,000 this year, and 1,000 for 2026 and 2027.

In the first quarter of 2025, immigration data showed the two main SUV streams had a surge in refusal rates for permanent residence: to 73 per cent for those in business incubators, from 10 per cent in 2023 and 18 per cent in 2024; and to 85 per cent for those in angel investor networks, from 18 per cent and nine per cent, respectively.

SUV applicants are eligible for work permits that allow them to work on their projects in Canada while they wait for permanent residence. But the number of work-permit refusals has risen to 77 per cent from 55 per cent in the last year. Of all pending SUV permanent resident applications, only 3,345 have been approved work permits. 

“The government is trying to clean house,” said Toronto immigration lawyer Elizabeth Long. “Even though the program has many integrity issues, it is the only way that an entrepreneur these days can actually apply for permanent residence … We’re closing our doors to business.” 

The Immigration Department, which is currently reviewing and exploring business immigration programs, admitted that a growing backlog and wait times for SUV applicants is a challenge, but maintained officials are not refusing applications to “reduce inventory.”

The rules have not changed and the higher refusal rates are “simply an indication that fewer applicants are being found to meet the program requirements,” it said.

Launched in 2013, the SUV program replaced the Entrepreneur Program, which offered a three-year conditional residency for people with a minimum net worth of $300,000 and required that they open mall kiosks, corner stores, restaurants and other small businesses before they obtained permanent status.

The new program was designed to give Canada an edge on the global stage. However, wealthy foreigners looking to “buy” residency or experienced CEOs and small business owners have also used it for a shot at permanent residence. 

“Some of the people in the SUV program shouldn’t be there, but they’ve had no choice,” said Stephen Green of the Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association.

He said Ottawa needs to bring back investor and entrepreneur programs so the SUV program can attract real innovators as intended. The program is working, he added, but requires more robust compliance requirements on the gate keepers — the designated organizations responsible for issuing support letters. 

The SUV program has been increasingly sold by rogue agents as a pathway for permanent residence rather than a business opportunity for potential startups.

“You’re not supposed to be having a business so that you can immigrate,” said lawyer Zaynah Marani, whose practice focuses on business immigration. “It’s more like as a result of this business, I would be moving to Canada.”

To be eligible, an SUV applicant must receive a letter of support from organizations designated by Ottawa to vet business proposals based on their worthiness and readiness. These organizations are approved to invest in or support possible startups; some also charge applicants hefty fees for services such as mentorship, access to resources and networking opportunities.

“You’re sort of stuck having to take that route even if you don’t want to pay that,” Marani said.

The number of designated organizations has grown from 28 to 77 since 2013, which contributed to the program’s backlog. To cap intake, Ottawa last year decided each organization could only submit up to 10 SUV permanent residence applications annually.

Fast-tracking processing of applicants with committed capital will admit startups that have a stronger chance of success by bringing their applications to the “front of the line,” said the Immigration Department.

But critics say these changes risk putting real innovators at further disadvantage. 

Lawyer Zeynab Ziaie recently came across a startup visa broker, who helps applicants put together business ideas and get letters of support from SUV designated organizations. 

“I was like all your business is shuttered now,” Ziaie recalled. “He said, ‘No, the price has gone up.’ So what ended up happening is it prices out real applicants who have fantastic potential and it’s more in favour of people who have a higher net worth and can cover the costs that are associated with this.”

As part of a submission to the federal government in May, the Canadian Bar Association’s immigration law section recommended replacing the designated organization model with a ranking system that awards points to SUV applicants based on a startup’s alignment with high-demand sectors, existence of investment funds by credible Canadian sources, years of previous business experience, and demonstrated success in prior ventures.

It also calls for the reintroduction of investor programs that tie thresholds for investment and job creation with residency in order to channel capital into underdeveloped regions and infrastructure.

Former SUV applicant Manasvi, now a Canadian citizen, welcomes any initiative that could help nurture young entrepreneurs and support Canada’s startup ecosystem.

“Canada is a great country to build a business and be in,” said Manasvi, 40, who now advises and helps Canadian companies scale and expand in international markets. “We just have to be very clear on how we create and structure programs and not just why we do it.”

Source: Immigration applicants for this Canadian program need to wait 52 months for a decision — now they also face skyrocketing refusals

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Brooks: The Rise of Right-Wing Nihilism

2025/08/25 Leave a comment

With the Trump administration arguably being the example, with its substantive weakening of public and private institutions, reversing long standing efforts to improve equality, and the consistent coarse nature of public discourse, enabled by normally more responsible Republicans, business and others:

…Other people, of course, don’t just cope; they rebel. That rebellion comes in two forms. The first is what I’ll call Christopher Rufo-style dismantling. Rufo is the right-wing activist who seeks to dismantle D.E.I. and other culturally progressive programs. I’m 23 years older than Rufo. When I was emerging from college, we conservatives thought we were conserving something — a group of cultural, intellectual and political traditions — from the postmodern assault.

But decades later, with the postmodern takeover fully institutionalized, people like Rufo don’t seem to think there’s anything to conserve. They are radical deconstructors. In a 2024 dialogue between Rufo and the polemicist Curtis Yarvin, published by the magazine IM-1776, Rufo acknowledged, “I am neither conservative by temperament nor by political ambition: I want to destroy the status quo rather than preserve it.” This is a key difference between old-style conservatism and Trumpism.

But there’s another, even more radical reaction to progressive cultural dominance: nihilism. You start with the premise that progressive ideas are false and then conclude that all ideas are false. In the dialogue, Yarvin played the role of nihilist. He ridiculed Rufo for accomplishing very little and for aiming at very little with his efforts to purge this university president or that one.

“You are just pruning the forest,” Yarvin said dismissively. He countered that everything must be destroyed: In general, Yarvin is a monarchist, but in this dialogue he played a pure nihilist. One version of nihilism holds that the structures of civilization must be destroyed, even if we don’t have anything to replace them with. He argued that all of America has been a sham, that democracy and everything that has come with it are based on lies.

The Rufo/Yarvin dialogue was sent to me by a friend named Skyler Adleta. Skyler had a rough childhood but has worked his way up to become an electrician and is now a project manager for a construction firm. He lives in southern Ohio, in a community that is mostly Trump-supporting. He himself generally supports the president. I know him because he is also a fantastic writer who contributes to Comment, the magazine my wife edits.

Skyler told me that in his community he is watching many people lose faith in the Rufo method and make the leap into pure nihilism, pure destruction. That is my experience, too. A few months ago, I had lunch with a young lady who said, “The difference is that in your generation you had something to believe in, but in ours we have nothing.” She didn’t say it bitterly, just as a straightforward acknowledgment of her worldview.

Faith in God has been on the decline for decades; so has social trust, faith in one another; so has faith in a dependable career path. A recent Gallup poll showed that faith in major American institutions is now near its lowest point in the 46 years Gallup has been measuring these things. But the core of nihilism is even more acidic; it is the loss of faith in the values your culture tells you to believe in.

As Skyler and I exchanged emails, I was reminded of an essay the great University of Virginia sociologist James Davison Hunter wrote last year for The Hedgehog Review. He, too, identified nihilism as the central feature of contemporary culture: “A nihilistic culture is defined by the drive to destroy, by the will to power. And that definition now describes the American nation.”

He pointed to our culture’s pervasive demonization and fearmongering, with leaders feeling no need to negotiate with the other side, just decimate it. Nihilists, he continued, often suffer from wounded attachments — to people, community, the truth. They can’t give up their own sense of marginalization and woundedness because it would mean giving up their very identity. The only way to feel halfway decent is to smash things or at least talk about smashing them. They long for chaos.

Apparently, the F.B.I. now has a new category of terrorist — the “nihilistic violent extremist.” This is the person who doesn’t commit violence to advance any cause, just to destroy. Last year, Derek Thompson wrote an article for The Atlantic about online conspiracists who didn’t spread conspiracy theories only to hurt their political opponents. They spread them in all directions just to foment chaos. Thompson spoke with an expert who cited a famous line from “The Dark Knight”: “Some men just want to watch the world burn.”

This may be where history is leading. Smothering progressivism produced a populist reaction that eventually descended into a nihilist surge. Nihilism is a cultural river that leads nowhere good. Russian writers like Turgenev and Dostoyevsky wrote about rising nihilism in the 19th century, a trend that eventually contributed to the turmoil of the Russian Revolution. The scholar Erich Heller wrote a book called “The Disinherited Mind” about the rise in nihilism that plagued Germany and Central Europe after World War I. We saw what that led to.

It’s hard to turn this trend around. It’s hard enough to get people to believe something, but it’s really hard to get people to believe in belief — to persuade a nihilist that some things are true, beautiful and good.

One spot of good news is the fact that more young people, and especially young men, are returning to church. I’ve been skeptical of this trend, but the evidence is building. Among Gen Z, more young men now go to church than young women. In Britain, according to one study, only 4 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds went to church in 2018, but by 2024 it was 16 percent. From the anecdotes I keep hearing, young people seem to be going to the most countercultural churches — traditionalist Catholic and Eastern Orthodox.

They don’t believe in what the establishment tells them to believe in. They live in a world in which many believe in nothing. But still, somewhere deep inside, that hunger is there. They want to have faith in something.

Source: The Rise of Right-Wing Nihilism

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    Sharp rise in Americans applying for refugee status in Canada, data shows

    2025/08/25 Leave a comment

    Header misleading. An increase yes of about 20 percent but still small numbers, only about .05 percent:

    More Americans applied for refugee status in Canada in the first half of 2025 than in all of 2024, and more than in any full year since 2019, according to data published on Thursday by Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board.

    Their share of total refugee claims – 245 of about 55,000 – is small and Canada’s acceptance of U.S. refugee claims has historically been low. Asylum-seekers from other countries crossing the land border from the U.S. are sent back under a bilateral agreement with the reasoning that they should apply for asylum in the first “safe” country they arrived in.

    Last year 204 people filed refugee claims in Canada with the United States as their country of alleged persecution. Claims from the U.S. also rose during the first Trump administration.
    The data does not say why the claims were made. Eight lawyers told Reuters they are hearing from more trans Americans wanting to leave. Reuters spoke with a trans woman from Arizona who came to Canada in April to file a claim, and to a woman who came to file a claim on behalf of her young trans daughter…

    Source: Sharp rise in Americans applying for refugee status in Canada, data shows

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    Two contrasting views on national service

    2025/08/25 Leave a comment

    Starting with David McLaughlin advocating, followed by Paul Kershaw noting how youth are already providing “national service” through a variety of means:

    Building Citizenship Through National Service

    …So Canada has many models from which to choose. Mandatory service with a choice between military, civil defence and community services

    Canada has a modest form of national service now, actually, called the Canada Service Corps. But it is entirely voluntary and will benefit only 20,000 young people over three years. There are over five and a half million Canadians aged 16 to 29 today. A much bigger national service initiative is required.

    Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada is at a hinge moment in its history. Our economic sovereignty is threatened by the United States. Our international security is threatened by war, conflict and rising global tensions. Our national unity is threatened by political polarization, disinformation and regional economic disparities. And our national cohesion is under threat by domestic tensions imported from external conflicts and past immigration and refugee intakes that did not sufficiently account for our capacity to successfully integrate newcomers to our country.

    National service will not automatically fix this. National service would help build a shared Canadian identity necessary for our continued unity and prosperity. It would help bridge regional and civic alienation. It would reinforce common Canadians experiences for diverse communities. It is the best riposte possible to the dubious claim by our previous prime minister that we are the first post-national state with “no core identity, no mainstream.” National service speaks directly to the inherent pressures faced by a multicultural, pluralist society like Canada.

    As Canadians, we are proud of the personal liberties guaranteed under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. But rights come with responsibilities. Just as parents and schools strive to instill personal responsibility with our children, national service obligations would emphasize this as they come of age.

    National service would mark an important down payment to creating a stronger Canadian democracy around stronger Canadian citizenship. After all, it is never too early to learn about the importance of giving back.

    Source: Building Citizenship Through National Service

    Gen Z doesn’t need a year of national service. They’re already drafted into decades of service for older Canadians

    …It therefore feels dissonant for older Canadians to endorse yet another form of mandatory service for the young when, in truth, we already conscript younger Canadians into decades of obligations that advantage their elders. Service doesn’t just happen when young adults don a uniform in health care, fire protection or a climate corps. It happens every day when they absorb inflated housing costs, heavier taxes and mounting environmental debts so their elders don’t have to.

    Older Canadians now owe it to younger generations to revisit whether our governments do enough to leave a proud legacy. That may mean adjusting housing policy so affordability becomes a bigger priority than asset protection. It should mean reforming Old Age Security so retirees with six-figure incomes lighten the load for their children’s generations. And it absolutely means taking responsibility for today’s pollution, rather than expecting our kids to pay more dearly for it later.

    I’m not dismissing the value of civic programs that help young people contribute to their country. But until we acknowledge that millennials and Gen Z already perform critical national service on behalf of the aging population, it is misguided to demand even more. Young Canadians don’t need to give another year of national service. They need recognition – and reciprocity from older generations.

    Dr. Paul Kershaw is a policy professor at UBC and founder of Generation Squeeze, Canada’s leading voice for generational fairness. You can follow Gen Squeeze on X, Facebook, Blueskyand Instagram, as well as subscribe to Paul’s Hard Truths podcast.

    Source: Gen Z doesn’t need a year of national service. They’re already drafted into decades of service for older Canadians

    Filed under Citizenship Tagged with , ,

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