People or commodities? The human face of immigration

In the last few months, Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, has been dropping hints about more reforms for Canadian immigration policy. Kenney claims a more efficient system is necessary to handle the backlog of applicants, which currently sits at well over 800,000.

The backlog has been blamed on insufficient resources to process all of the applications and low annual targets for immigrants, as well as generous acceptance criteria. Last year, new legislation gave the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration power to fast-track certain applications.

The main rationale behind this new ministerial role was to fast-track prospective immigrants with skills and education in specific fields of high demand in Canada. Kenney claimed last year that this step is necessary in order to keep entrance into Canada competitive, and to help domestic economic growth.

Not all of the details as to the forthcoming changes to the immigration system have been made public, but it is expected that Kenney will continue with the trend of the past decade toward economic immigration.

 Proponents of economic immigration argue immigration is necessary for economic growth due to anticipated labour market shortages in the future, combined with low population growth. Economic immigration is expected to shore up our labour market by favouring applicants with the skills to fill specific holes in the labour market. This then fosters productivity and creates economic growth.

There is, however, a danger that when the economy becomes the ultimate priority, we lose sight of the actual people coming into our country. People end up being faceless commodities in the pursuit of higher Gross Domestic Product.

In the mid 1990s, immigration policy in Canada underwent a major shift in priorities. Previously, immigration policy gave equal priority to family reunification, humanitarian needs and economic migrants. The new policy changed the focus to prioritize economic immigration.

At the same time, a pattern emerged within Canada’s new immigrant populations: low income and poverty. In 2007, despite the high skills of new immigrants from the last decade, most had lower incomes than Canadian-born workers with similar levels of education. Studies show that one of the major factors behind this is the lack of recognition of foreign credentials, forcing newcomers into lower wage jobs. Other factors include language barriers, countries of origin and racism. In addition without the support of family, a consequence of the focus on economic immigration, newcomers often find it harder to establish themselves economically in Canada.

These trends reveal the consequences of self-serving motivations behind immigration policy in Canada. There are major concerns, in terms of both economic and Biblical principles, about the reliability and also ramifications of economic growth as a primary catalyst for immigration policies.

On the economics side, Joseph Stiglitz from Columbia University is concerned about the connection, or lack thereof, of GDP and economic growth with the well-being of individuals. GDP is used to measure the overall progress of states, but it cannot decipher levels of economic inequality within states and the particular groups most affected by these inequalities.

The Biblical argument stems from the foundational belief in the dignity of all human beings. This foundation is based on the call and commandment to welcome the stranger among us and to love our neighbours as ourselves. The danger of GDP and economic growth becoming primary concerns is that prospective immigrants and newcomers are seen as commodities in the economic sphere, and not as people to be welcomed and loved as neighbours.

Economics and GDP are of course factors that need to be taken into consideration. Canada cannot simply open its doors to the whole world at all times. Resources and available jobs within Canada are not without limits. Economic immigration and matching skills to jobs is also important so newcomers can find work based on their skills, benefiting their families and society as a whole.

The problem is when economic goals and GDP take precedence over the well-being and living conditions of people. GDP is a faceless measurement and people are not simply statistics in the economic sphere.

Public justice calls for equity in the treatment of all people. This principle should be incorporated in the selection process of prospective immigrants, and in the social situations of newcomers once they arrive in Canada.

When considering the motivations behind our policies, it is important to remember that immigration has always been a central part of Canadian identity. Aside from Aboriginal peoples, Canada is a country of immigrants, and such an identity has shaped much of our history. We who have been welcomed here should not in turn refuse to welcome others.

It is also important to consider Canada’s responsibility toward other countries. This calls for the approval of applicants beyond the highly skilled and well-educated, giving other applicants the opportunity to live in Canada, while at the same time, helping their countries of origin also develop economically.

GDP and economic growth certainly need to be considered when developing immigration policies, but such factors should never take precedence over maintaining equity and dignity for all peoples.