Election 2011: Canadian immigration - A chilly reception

The number of immigrants permitted into Canada in 2010 is at a historic high. It sounds like our country, built on immigration, is providing a warm welcome. However, certain shifts in recent years paint a different picture: our welcome is chillier than it seems.

Over the years, our welcome has increasingly become based on money. Since 2006, we’ve welcomed 18,000 fewer refugees and family members. However, we've welcomed over 91,000 more economic class immigrants and temporary foreign workers (TFWs).

Economic class immigrants have to have skills Canada needs and be considered able to contribute to Canada’s economy. Unlike most TFWs, they can apply to stay in Canada. The incredible increase in TFWs (up over 43,000 since 2006) also suggests greater emphasis on economic considerations. Today, fewer refugees can even apply to come to Canada because of the imposition of visas and the removal of several exceptions to the Safe Third Country Agreement.

On top of this, the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) has imposed time limits in an attempt to reduce the enormous backlog of cases. However, these time limits make it very difficult for refugee claimants to make an effective case. The effect of this is seen in refugee claims’ success dropping substantially: 56% lower in 2009 than in 2005. Furthermore, although the vast majority of refugees are forced to use human smugglers, previously proposed legislation threatens punishments of up to a year in detention for refugees arriving in the country through this means.

Our welcome includes how well we help our immigrants integrate. Here, too, we’ve fallen down. In December of 2010, over $50 million in cuts to integration services were announced, forcing many agencies to close their doors. Those cuts were made even though 41% of immigrants under the age of 14 live in poverty (according to the 2006 census) and immigrants who arrived in the last five years had an extremely high rate of job loss: 12.9%.

We don’t appear to want to talk about it either. While hostile voices accuse refugees arriving in boats of being “queue jumpers” and “bogus refugees,” dissenting voices are dismissed.

Public justice demands that we, as Canadians, do our part to welcome the stranger: our neighbours. It demands that we take action to ensure that newcomers to our country are met with a warm welcome.

Questions for candidates:

• What actions will your party take to better integrate newcomers and reduce their marginalization?
• What actions will your party take to reduce the backlog and wait times of the IRB without reducing the fairness of the process?
• What actions will your party take to ensure that those who arrive in Canada seeking asylum are properly welcomed?

Links to more information:

• CPJ- Canadian Immigration: A one-way street
• CPJ- Is Canada Welcoming the Stranger?
• Canadian Council for Refugees
• Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives