Canada
to ease way for 700,000. Ottawa to unveil revamped
immigration rules to cut backlogs
OCT 31: Ottawa plans to unveil sweeping changes to
immigration with an increase in the annual intake of new
Canadians, and a promise to increase much needed temporary
workers and tackle the enormous backlog of 700,000
prospective immigrants.
Ottawa's influential newspaper
The Globe and Mail
quotes Canada's Immigration Minister Joe Volpe, as saying
Canada hopes to be taking in as many as 300,000 immigrants a
year within five years, and will start by raising its target
for next year to between 225,000 and 255,000.
Canada is reportedly on track to accept 245,000 this year,
the very high end of last year's target, says the news
report.
"We have to start thinking about the Immigration Department
as a
recruiting vehicle for Canada's demographic and labor market
needs ..... we are the lungs of the country," said Mr. Volpe
in an interview with
The Globe and Mail. "We are
producing more jobs than the labor market has workers for.
..... We're desperate for immigration."
He also pledged to tackle the backlog problem and introduce
a system
to expedite the processing of the more than 700,000
prospective immigrants who face waits of as long as 48
months to have their applications processed in Canadian
missions around the world.
Under the current process, immigrants are selected on the
basis of
education, French-.and English-language skills, and
adaptability, a
recruitment system that attracts mainly highly educated
people who
complain their professional credentials are not accepted in
Canada.
Many foreign doctors and engineers say they end up working
as taxi
drivers and waiters — a trend confirmed by Statistics
Canada, which
has found that recent immigrants earn less than their
Canadian-born
counterparts despite higher levels of education.
The newspaper says Mr. Volpe does not want to scrap this
selection system, but he wants to bring in more workers on
temporary visas (there are about 95,000 a year) to fill
positions in the trades, such as pipe fitters and truck
drivers.
According to the newspaper, Volpe plans to consult with his
provincial counterparts, unions, business and
immigrant-serving groups to better understand exactly what
kinds of workers are needed. He envisions an expanded local
and provincial role in immigrant selection.
"Every provincial minister wants more immigrants. Today in
Saskatoon, they need 5,000 more people to fill new jobs. But
in order for us under the current system to bring in 5,000
people, we have to bring in 15,000 (their family members)
and it will take three years," Mr. Volpe said. "So we have
to think about a more flexible system, a way to get in
professional people and skilled people."
Mr. Volpe is also planning to introduce a new "in-Canada"
application that will allow temporary workers and students
to apply for landed-immigrant status once they have worked
here for a certain number of months, in much the same way
that live-in caregivers can apply for permanent residency
after two years working as nannies, adds the report.
Another priority for the Canadian Immigration Department is
to process
applications more quickly, says Volpe.
"Under the current system, we make people wait months before
we even open their application. We would like to open their
applications
more quickly, and get them started on the process," an
immigration
official said. Applicants who have been accepted on a
provisional basis could start language training and
credential recognition overseas, while awaiting their landed
papers. The department also plans to hire more staff in
either missions overseas or in a centralized processing
centre in Canada.
Mr. Volpe is also in favor of introducing a limited amnesty
plan and granting legal status to the thousands of workers
who toil in the black-market economy, particularly in
Ontario's construction sector. This initiative, however, is
complicated because 11 other federal agencies must sign on,
including the RCMP, the Canadian Security Intelligence
Service, the Finance and Justice departments and Human
Resources Skills Development Canada.
"You have to sell them a model that everybody can live with
because
there are consequences for all of them," said Mr. Volpe,
adding that
he "totally supports" a plan to regularize the status of
undocumented workers, if they pass security and background
checks.
An estimated 200,000 undocumented workers is said to live in
Canada.
According to the news report, this year's annual report will
show that Canada accepted 236,000 immigrants in 2004. Of
those, 57 per cent are economic immigrants, and 43 per cent
are in the family class, including refugees and others
granted permanent residency on humanitarian grounds. Canada
is on track to accept 245,000 immigrants in 2005 -- at the
high end of its target and a signal of what's to come.
(DesPardes News Monitor)
Articles
Oct 31: The United States Senate is likely to debate
permanent residentship to thousands of immigrants from countries
like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and China, as the annual budget comes up for
discussion Monday.
