Website sells Canadian birthright for $35K to foreign moms 

2025/03/11 Leave a comment

One of the problems of alternative media and TikTok influencers is their lack of capacity and knowledge.

The number of suspected birth tourists (non-resident self-pay) has been published annually (by me) and the British Columbia data is no longer the highest given the large drop pandemic and post-pandemic of Chinese birth tourists at Richmond General and other British Columbia hospitals (see Birth tourism has doubled since the pandemic lull):

A suspicious website is advertising would-be mothers from around the world the opportunity to have anchor babies in Canada, ensuring their children become naturalized citizens.

The Russian-language website “CanadaMama consulting” is advertising their services at fees ranging up to $35,000 for migrant women interested in baby-tourism. The website promises a “safe birth” and a “life full of opportunities.” 

Potential clients are being lured by the prospect of free education, healthcare, employment opportunities and international travel for their children. The website’s default language is set to Russian, but also has built in English, Ukrainian, Chinese and Spanish translations.  

Canadian TikTok influencer Mario Zelaya was the first to bring attention to the website.

Among the services offered to those interested include property rentals, immigration consultation, visa support, medical service advisory and even newborn photography. 

Akin to airline companies, the website has multiple package options ranging from economy, to optimal to comfort, with additional services such as food delivery, hospital tours, shopping advice and interpretation services offered to those willing to pay extra.

CanadaMama also claims to operate “under contract” and work alongside Canadian hospitals – an unverified claim. 

The company claims to have operated for more than five years, carrying out dozens of successful births

Unconditional birthright citizenship in Canada is attracting many birth tourists, especially in British Columbia–where some hospitals have reported non-citizens making up a quarter of their maternity ward patients.

A Calgary-based obstetrician gynaecologist, Dr. Colin Birch, said in a CBC interview that birth tourism had the biggest impact on cities that had international airports, with trends slowing down after air travel was shut down during the pandemic. …

Source: Website sells Canadian birthright for $35K to foreign moms

Filed under Birthright Citizenship, Citizenship Tagged with

Life in the shadows: Inside the world of Toronto’s undocumented migrants

2025/03/11 Leave a comment

Good series of profiles:

Every morning across the Greater Toronto Area, thousands of undocumented workers head out to their jobs in construction, cleaning and home care, despite the fact that they are not legally allowed to live or work in Canada.

Unlike in the U.S., where many undocumented people entered without authorization at the southern border, most of these individuals in Canada entered the country legally. They came as temporary workers, international students, tourists or refugee claimants, and saw their visas expire or refugee claims rejected before they were able to transition to another type of legal status.

It’s hard to give a definitive number of undocumented people in Canada, but the federal government says it could be as high as 500,000. Many have few legal resources and struggle to navigate Canada’s complex and sluggish immigration system. By staying in the country without authorization, they are forced into the shadows, where they face limited and substandard employment, health and housing options. The Globe and Mail spent time at sites where migrants congregate in Toronto – a church, a newcomer support centre and street corners where day labourers pick up under-the-table work – speaking with undocumented and formerly undocumented people. (The Globe is using only middle names for most people in this story owing to their risk of detention and deportation.)…

Source: Life in the shadows: Inside the world of Toronto’s undocumented migrants

Filed under Immigration Tagged with

Canada to grant legal status for thousands of undocumented construction workers

2025/03/10 Leave a comment

Up to 6,000 undocumented construction workers will be given a pathway to gain legal status in Canada, Immigration Minister Marc Miller said Friday in a news conference.

“These undocumented migrants are already living and working in Canada, and are contributing to the sector,” Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said in a statement.

“This pathway will keep them here legally so that they can continue to build the homes our economy and communities need with the proper protections.”  

This announcement comes over two years after the federal government said it would be expanding a small-scale pilot project that offered permanent residence for out-of-status construction workers who are already working undocumented in the sector here.

The government did not provide further details on when the pathway will be implemented or the criteria for eligibility.

Canada’s construction sector is grappling with a severe worker shortage, with tens of thousands of jobs unfilled across the country. According to BuildForce Canada, “the industry could face a recruiting gap of more than 85,000 workers by 2033.” 

A 2023 RBC report said the construction sector is short a whopping 64,000 jobs, posing a significant problem for an industry that must produce enough housing to meet demand from Canada’s ever-growing population — and the best workers for the job are newcomers.

In a bid to address these labour gaps, the federal government said it will be introducing “a temporary measure to allow foreign apprentices to complete their studies without a study permit,” effective March 7.

Source: Canada to grant legal status for thousands of undocumented construction workers

Filed under Immigration Tagged with

Niraula: Canada’s immigration process is increasingly digitized, but that can make if difficult to navigate

2025/03/10 Leave a comment

While all of these ideas may help, the author ignores the need for program simplification as a necessary condition for digital transformation. And like so many, the call is for more resources rather than recognizing trade-offs and financial and other limits:

…There is a need for more inclusive and user-friendly digital infrastructures. Since migrants’ information needs evolve pre- and post-arrival, targeted strategies to disseminate authorized information are also necessary.

Many young people, including migrants, regularly use social media. To ensure digital tools support rather than mislead migrants, the Canadian government must use online platforms to share migration information in a way that is clear and accessible.

In addition, IRCC and provincial governments should enhance online resources by offering multilingual, user-friendly portals. AI-powered chatbots, simplified immigration guides in video or storytelling formats, and blockchain-verified advisory services could improve accessibility while preventing misinformation.

Greater transparency is required in how social media platforms promote migration-related information. Stronger regulations should define these platforms’ responsibilities for removing inaccurate immigration content, similar to fact-checking initiatives for COVID-19 misinformation. 

Organizations that help newcomers get settled need increased funding for pre-and-post arrival workshops on navigating official resources and understanding legal rights. Public education campaigns can help to empower migrants to verify information and detect fraud.

By strengthening both digital governance and education, Canada can ensure that a more transparent digital tools are a pathway to informed migration decision-making rather than a source of confusion and vulnerability.

Source: Canada’s immigration process is increasingly digitized, but that can make if difficult to navigate

Filed under Immigration Tagged with ,

Canadians can soon get their passport in 30 business days — or it’s free

2025/03/10 Leave a comment

Good to have this kind of service guarantee although more of a reflection of current service levels than a stretch commitment:

The federal government announced on Friday that it’s going to be speeding up the processing for passports so Canadians can get their documents within 30 business days — or they’ll be free.

Under the change, any complete passport application will be processed within 30 business days or it will be free, with the passport fees to be refunded. The 30-day period does not include the mailing time of the application or the passport itself.

The 30-day limit applies whether Canadians submit their application online, in person or by mail.

Citizens’ Services Minister Terry Beech did not say when the process would begin, however, only noting it would happen later this year.

The shift by the government comes just three months after thousands of Canadians saw passport delays amid the Canada Post strike, which followed months of issues due to post-COVID-19 delays.

Beech also noted in a press release that the federal government continues to roll out its online passport renewal program, which began in December 2024, with eligible Canadians able to complete their application, pay fees and upload a professional digital photo from their computer or mobile device.

The government says the phased roll-out is being used to monitor, adapt and refine the process to ensure it is working before it’s rolled out to more Canadians in the coming months.

Source: Canadians can soon get their passport in 30 business days — or it’s free

Filed under Government, Passports Tagged with

All Senate vacancies now filled as Trudeau makes 5 new appointments

2025/03/10 Leave a comment

Of note. My analysis of the diversity of appointments below across three prime ministers:

With just days to go until Prime Minister Justin Trudeau leaves federal politics, his office says five new appointments have now filled all the vacancies in the 105-seat Senate.

The Prime Minister’s Office says in a news release that the Governor General has appointed former Moncton mayor Dawn Arnold for New Brunswick and former MLA Tony Ince for Nova Scotia.

Non-profit executive Katherine Hay, charity CEO Farah Mohamed and former provincial politician Sandra Pupatello have been appointed for Ontario.

There were 22 vacancies in the Senate when Trudeau became prime minister in 2015 and launched what his government called a “new, non-partisan, merit-based process” to advise on appointments.

There have been 100 independent appointments to the Senate made on the advice of Trudeau, with a dozen in 2024 and 10 this year.

Source: All Senate vacancies now filled as Trudeau makes 5 new appointments

Filed under Multiculturalism Tagged with

Government Monitoring of Immigrants’ Social Media

2025/03/08 Leave a comment

While hard to trust the Trump administration on much, a case can be made to check social media to flag potential security threats:

As part of an effort to enhance screening measures, the White House has announced it will require millions of immigrants seeking benefits ranging from green cards to citizenship to provide social media information on their immigration applications. 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a notice in the Federal Register on March 5, 2025, detailing plans to collect social media identifiers (“handles”) on nine immigration forms to comply with Executive Order 14161, “Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats,” signed by President Trump on January 20, 2025.

According to the notice, USCIS will collect social media handles (but not passwords) to verify applicants’ identities and to assess whether granting immigration benefits might pose security or public safety risks.

The new requirement will apply to nine forms, including:

  • N-400 (Application for Naturalization) 
  • I-131 (Application for Travel Document) 
  • I-192 (Application for Advance Permission to Enter as Nonimmigrant) 
  • I-485 (Application for Adjustment of Status) 
  • I-589 (Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal) 
  • I-590 (Registration for Classification as Refugee) 
  • I-730 (Refugee/Asylee Relative Petition) 
  • I-751 (Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence) 
  • I-829 (Petition by Investor to Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident Status)

USCIS estimates this proposal would affect over 3.5 million applicants annually. The public has 60 days to submit comments on the proposal via the Federal eRulemaking Portal (Docket ID USCIS-2025-0003). After the comment period, DHS will review feedback before deciding whether to implement the rule as proposed, modify it, or withdraw it.

USCIS Social Media Monitoring: A Decade of Expanding Surveillance

For years, officers of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) have been checking social media accounts to look for immigration fraud across various application types, from family-based petitions to employment visas and naturalization applications.

The formal history of USCIS social media monitoring shows a clear evolution:

  • 2016: USCIS established a dedicated Social Media Division within its Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate (FDNS), marking the beginning of institutionalized social media vetting.
  • 2017: The Trump administration implemented “extreme vetting” procedures in March, intensifying the scrutiny of visa applications, including more thorough examination of applicants’ social media. In September, DHS issued a Federal Register notice indicating it would collect and keep information from social media on all individuals passing through the U.S. immigration system.
  • 2019: The Department of State began requiring all visa applicants to disclose their social media handles as part of forms DS-160 (Nonimmigrant Visa Application) and DS-260 (Immigrant Visa Electronic Application).
  • 2021: The scope of monitored platforms expanded to include not only major U.S.-based social media platforms but also international platforms from China and Russia.
  • 2025: With the latest Executive Order 14161 signed by President Trump on January 20, 2025, USCIS is now formalizing and expanding social media data collection to nine different immigration forms.

Law enforcement, however, has always been free to use social media as part of investigations of both threats and crimes.

Social Media Monitoring and Immigration Applications

USCIS officers and consular officials often use social media to confirm the legitimacy of relationships and claims made in applications. This can include checking the consistency between online activity and information provided in forms and searching for any content that might contradict statements made during the application process….

Source: Government Monitoring of Immigrants’ Social Media

Filed under Immigration, Social Media Tagged with ,

Coyne – Tariffs are only the start: we must buckle down for years of conflict with the U.S. [population]

2025/03/08 7 Comments

Coyne somewhat surprisingly ends up endorsing the Century 2100 population goal, with little critical thinking regarding its limitations and fallacies (a larger population does not mean a more prosperous population):

…Last, and perhaps most important: if we’re tired of the Americans kicking sand in our faces, maybe it’s time we bulked up. We’re roughly 42 million to their 340 million today. But suppose we aimed to make that eight-to-one margin more like four-to-one by the end of the century. Suppose, that is, we took seriously the idea of aiming for a population of 100 million.

To get there in 75 years would require no acceleration in population growth: in fact, it would mean slowing our growth considerably, to roughly 1.2 per cent per annum, from the 1.5 per cent annually it has averaged over the last 75 years.

It isn’t only our relationship with the United States this would change. Most other large developed countries are projected to flatline or shrink over the same interval. By 2100, according to the United Nations, the population of Japan will fall from 123 million today to 74 million; Germany, from 85 million to 71 million; Italy, from 59 million to 35 million. France and the United Kingdom are projected to grow slightly, to 68 million and 74 million, respectively.

Were we merely to double our current population by then (a growth rate of less than 1 per cent annually), therefore, we would be the second largest developed country, a major player on the world stage – and better placed to hold our own against the Great Republic to our south.

Source: Tariffs are only the start: we must buckle down for years of conflict with the U.S.

Filed under Immigration Tagged with ,

Canada asking if its immigration officials will be hit by new Trump visa ban 

2025/03/08 Leave a comment

Absurb that it is necessary to check (but is prudent to do so):

Ottawa is seeking answers from the Trump administration about whether a visa ban for foreign government officials it blames for helping migrants illegally enter the United States would apply to Canadian public servants.

The U.S. State Department on Wednesday introduced a policy restricting visas to the United States for foreign officials – including immigration, customs, airport and port authority officials – who it believes are “knowingly facilitating illegal immigration to the United States.”

A press statement from Marco Rubio, President Donald Trump’s Secretary of State, says this would include foreign officials the administration believes have failed to enforce immigration laws.

The State Department did not immediately respond to questions about whether the policy applied to Canadians public servants.

Mr. Rubio’s statement said the new visa restrictions will target “foreign officials and others facilitating illegal migration into the United States.” It will include officials implementing policies and practices that “knowingly facilitate the transit of aliens intending to illegally migrate into the United States via the U.S. southwest border.”

The announcement did not mention the U.S.’s shared northern border with Canada or say whether the policy applies to illegal crossings from here.

On Thursday, the federal government said it is seeking to clarify from its counterparts in Washington on whether Canadian federal employees could be banned from entering the U.S. under the policy…

Source: Canada asking if its immigration officials will be hit by new Trump visa ban

Filed under Immigration Tagged with ,

Canadian snowbirds caught up in new registration requirements

2025/03/08 Leave a comment

Another example of the risk of doing things quickly without considering the impact (hallmark of the Trump administration):

An estimated one million Canadian “snowbirds” – seniors and retirees who winter in southern states such as Florida and Arizona – inject billions in tourism spending during their months-long stays in the United States. But under an executive order from President Donald Trump, these visitors will soon have to register to travel south of the border, as part of an effort to curb illegal immigration.

Mr. Trump’s order, called Protecting the American People Against Invasion, is believed to be the first time in history that the United States has included Canadians in a crackdown on undocumented migrants. Immigration lawyers in the U.S. said the order targets the wrong people and will further hurt the disintegrating Canada-U.S. relationship.

“Our immigration house is on fire, and we’re worried about the curtains,” said Rosanna Berardi, an immigration lawyer in Buffalo. “This is just stupid. This is picking on people that are coming as snowbirds. They own property here. They pay taxes. They are higher-level income earners. They spend a lot of money in the U.S. They are not part of the immigration problem.”

The order, issued by Mr. Trump the evening he took office, has received little attention amid the chaotic first weeks of a presidency dominated by tariff threats and orders that have isolated the U.S. from its allies. It requires all “aliens” 14 years or older staying for more than 30 days in the U.S. to be registered and potentially fingerprinted, unless otherwise exempted….

Source: Canadian snowbirds caught up in new registration requirements

Filed under Immigration Tagged with , ,

← Older posts

Newer posts →