an alliance of university, community, and government partners dedicated to fostering welcoming communities and promoting the integration of immigrants and minorities across Canada
The Media Roundup provides links to recent and archived articles, in both English and French, on immigration and diversity appearing in the national and local news. Some international content is also included. Articles are updated weekly.
Metro News – Immigrants’ First Days in Canada Captured in Travelling Pier 21 Exhibit
A series of “firsts” has marked every newcomer’s arrival in Canada, regardless of era or country of origin. Perhaps the first plane trip, the first winter, the first sight of Canada arriving at a port in Halifax, the first encounter with a countryman from the same homeland, the first English class, the first time of realizing, “I belong.” There are also the stories of the first job landed, the first home, the first taste of freedom, the first day of official citizenship and even the first confrontation with racism and discrimination. These experiences and impressions, told through the recollections of immigrants, are vividly captured in a travelling exhibit, Canada: Day 1, presented by The Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, on display at the Markham Museum until June. […]With a $500,000 gift from the RBC Foundation, the national immigration museum has collected personal stories from more than 1,000 immigrants across Canada through its oral history program. It also commissioned original artworks and collected immigration-related archival images for the exhibition, which covers the period from Confederation to today.
Toronto Star – Migrant Construction Workers Sue Ottawa for Discrimination
More than 150 migrant construction workers are suing Ottawa, claiming they have been discriminated against under a program that invites them to work in Canada but welcomes only English-speaking candidates when it comes to letting them stay on permanently. The workers from Italy, Portugal and Poland have been employed in Canada on work permits for at least two years. But under the Federal Skilled Trades (FST) program, they must pass a language proficiency test to be considered for permanent resident status. “They did not require English to have us work here on work permits. When we wanted to stay, they said we needed to pass the English test to qualify,” said Juvenal Cabral, 48, a Portuguese-speaking custom carpenter from the Azores and one of the plaintiffs in the case. “Why are we good enough to work here but not good enough to stay?’ […] In their lawsuit, the Italian, Portuguese and Polish workers said Immigration Minister Chris Alexander and his predecessor, Jason Kenney, have publicly expressed and implemented a program that favours Irish, English and Australian applicants for their “shared values” with Canadians.
Winnipeg Free Press – Marie Rose Place Offers Affordable Housing for Struggling Single Mothers New to Canada
The $11-million project is a public-private partnership with the federal government and City of Winnipeg providing $2.8 million, the province pitching in $2 million and the developer, Hargrave Holdings Ltd., contributing $6.2 million. The rent-geared-to-income block was a labour of love for Hargrave Holdings president Bob Dick after he read that more than 100 immigrant and refugee single moms and their kids come to Winnipeg on their own every year. They should have a nice, safe home to start over, said Dick. “They’re paying rent. They deserve decent accommodations,” he said. The downtown building is next to busy St. Mary Avenue downtown, but there’s no traffic noise in the well-insulated suites with floor-to-ceiling windows. […] The units are small, but don’t seem cramped because of the high ceilings and huge windows that let in so much light, said architect Hijab Mitra. She grew up in India and studied and worked in Britain, where she gained experience designing social housing in densely populated areas.
Globe and Mail – Canadian Universities Urge Ottawa to Relax Foreign Worker Program Rules
Canadian universities have used the temporary foreign worker program to recruit for approximately a quarter of their new permanent jobs over the last five years, federal government statistics provided to The Globe show – and schools are urging the government to relax new rules they say are hurting their ability to recruit internationally. An agreement is close, postsecondary sources said. […]Universities turned to the TFW program because it has provided a faster, more accessible avenue to hiring foreign academics than the federal skilled workers program, which imposed caps by occupation, including in jobs as university professors. […] Under changes introduced in June, employers offering high-wage positions must have a transition plan for how to shift jobs to Canadian residents. They can also choose to show that they will help a TFW employee become a permanent resident. Yet some universities have had applications for labour market impact assessments (formerly labour market opinions) rejected when they indicated that temporary faculty would become permanent.
Toronto Star – Immigration Program for Parents “Discriminatory,” Federal Court Rules
An appeal court has found that the federal government discriminates against parents and grandparents by delaying their immigration processing. The Federal Court of Appeal ruling this week is a partial victory for Amir Attaran, a University of Ottawa law and medicine professor who applied in 2009 to sponsor his aging parents, both American citizens, to Canada under the family class immigration program. The parental sponsorship program follows a two-step process: the Canadian sponsor has to be assessed for eligibility before the parents or grandparents can be screened for their permanent residency application. In 2010, Attaran complained to the Canadian Human Rights Commission, claiming that the program discriminated against parents and grandparents by delaying the processing of their applications. […] In a ruling released Wednesday, the Federal Court of Appeal said the decision by the human rights commission to dismiss the complaint was unreasonable. It overturned the lower court decision that there was a “bona fide” justification for the differential treatment. The court referred Attaran’s case back to human rights commission for reconsideration.
Toronto Star – Niqab Ban at Citizenship Ceremony Struck Down by Court
The Federal Court of Canada has ruled it is “unlawful” for Ottawa to order new citizens to remove their face-covering veil when taking the oath of citizenship. The federal government must immediately lift its existing ban allowing Toronto’s Zunera Ishaq to reschedule a new citizenship ceremony unless it appeals the ruling and receives the permission to suspend the order, the Federal Court said in a decision released Friday. While it is not unusual to have government policies overturned in breach of Charter and constitutional rights, the court ruling is unusual because the decision was based on the finding that the ban mandated by the immigration minister violated the government’s own immigration laws. […] While the government also argued that the ban was only a guideline that is not even directed at citizenship judges, and which they were free to disregard, the judge found “no such permissive language” in the policy.
