Siavash Shekarian: Canada’s immigration system seems to be in peril

Another critique of current immigration policy which offers a national conversation as the solution. May be part of a solution but a conversation among stakeholders may not result in the politically hard choices and trade-offs necessary.

And of course, a business immigration lawyer favours business immigration, where most such targeted programs show mixed results at best:

It’s no secret that Canada’s immigration system is broken. From selection to integration, every aspect seems to be in peril. Yet, while headlines abound about Canada’s population trap, productivity emergency, housing crisis, and the mass exodus of talent leaving our country, discussions about the root causes and solutions remain notably scarce.

First, let’s clarify what’s “broken” about Canada’s immigration system. If the goal were to merely increase the number of people coming to Canada, then our system would be succeeding by every metric. But that’s not, and has never been, the objective. The objective of our immigration system is to grow the economy for everyone, not just increase Canada’s GDP. We want productivity — making the pie bigger for every Canadian, not just in total. Therefore, our selection policy should accordingly prioritize human capital, innovation, and entrepreneurship — the biggest contributors to boosting productivity. If that were the case, the temporary resident unemployment rate wouldn’t be nearly double the national average, the Bank of Canada wouldn’t be sounding the alarm about our productivity crisis and we wouldn’t be the only G7 country with business investment lagging behind residential real estate.

The misguided nature of our selection policy for attracting innovation and entrepreneurship is glaringly obvious. At the federal level, we have only two programs: the Federal Self-Employed program and the Start-Up Visa program. The first program was paused on April 30, while the second program was reactively curtailed on the same date.

Such clear disregard for innovation and entrepreneurship in our selection policy becomes a lot more alarming when put into context. According to the Business Development Bank of Canada: “Entrepreneurs are the backbone of Canada’s economy: They spearhead innovations. They’re responsible for virtually all net new job creation. They drive growth and transformation. Yet fewer people are venturing into business ownership each year, and nearly one-third of those who do will close their business within five years.”

On the other hand, Canada’s aging population and the ongoing retirement of baby boomers have caused a “succession tsunami” that will, in the near future, cause unprecedented damage to our economy. One therefore wonders why attracting entrepreneurs is being ignored by our policymakers.

The performance of our selection policy in choosing candidates with high human capital to enter our labour market is no better. The Express Entry system, designed to select the sharpest and brightest minds, uses a scoring grid based on potential economic output. However, flaws are prevalent both in design and use.

For instance, the system awards points for education without distinguishing between institutions. A University of Toronto engineering graduate is seen as having the same economic potential as a Conestoga college graduate. Points are awarded for work experience without considering where it was acquired. Additionally, the system completely ignores past earnings, which a highly regarded Statistics Canada report found to be the best predictor of future earnings and higher economic potential. Remarkably, despite its own policy report concluding that previous Canadian work experience is the largest unique contributing factor for predicting post-landing earnings, Canadian work experience remains among the lowest ranking in our Express Entry point system.

What does all of this tell us about the root cause of the problem? It reveals that our immigration system is driven by ambiguous and misguided party politics rather than transparent, reason-based national interest. With reactive and confused leaders shifting immigration policy on a whim and without consultation, it’s no surprise that an Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada commissioned report bluntly concludes, “the current organizational model at IRCC is broken.”

So what is the solution?

Firstly, we must recognize that immigration is an incredibly complex issue requiring a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach. Currently, a single broken department, notorious for its lack of transparency and accountability, has overshadowed all others. Our ultimate decision-makers must revamp this department and task it with uniting all levels of government and meaningfully engage society — civil society, academia, private sector, diaspora and local communities, and media. Together, we must redefine the goals and objectives of immigration, identify shortcomings, and collaboratively create sustainable solutions.

We need a national conversation about these issues. It’s time to move beyond the rhetoric and address the fundamental flaws in our system with transparency, accountability, and a commitment to the national interest. Only through collective effort can we transform our immigration policy into one that truly benefits all Canadians — old, new, and future.

Siavash Shekarian is CEO of Shekarian Law PC, chair of the business immigration committee of the Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association, and public affairs liaison of the citizenship and immigration section of the Ontario Bar Association.

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