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.
CBC – Temporary Foreign Worker Changes Side-Swipe Fashion Industry
Canada’s fashion industry appears to be the latest sector of the economy side-swiped by changes announced earlier this summer to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. Fashion industry companies that hire foreign models say they have been lumped into the same category as employers who hire low-skilled workers in the fast-food industry. Canadian retailers, modelling agencies, photographers and hundreds of other members of the fashion industry are calling on the federal government to expedite applications to bring in foreign models and eliminate the $1,000 fee employers must pay for every foreign worker they hire. Alecia Bell, president of Toronto’s Elite Model Management, one of the world’s most prestigious modelling agencies, says she recently lost a contract worth $300,000 due to delays created by the changes, and fears the new rules will put more Canadian jobs at risk. In an interview with CBC News, Bell explained that not receiving a work permit in time to hire a foreign model meant 25 to 35 Canadian jobs had to get cancelled — including hair and makeup artists, stylists, photographers, videographers, equipment rentals, caterers and car services.
Toronto Star – Seniors Home Project Marks Milestone for Vietnamese Canadian Community
If founding an ethnocultural-specific senior home is a reflection of an immigrant community’s coming of age, Vietnamese Canadians have just reached a milestone. The 100,000-strong community in the GTA envisions, along a tree-lined side road in Vaughan, a not-for-profit elderly care facility with three wings that can meet the linguistic, cultural and dietary needs of Vietnamese-speaking seniors. The recent purchase of a 5.6-acre, $2.8-million property on Pine Valley Dr. is a major step toward realizing that dream. It’s hoped the 200-bed Golden Age Village for the Elderly can be erected there in five years, to serve the generation that arrived here largely in the late 1970s-80s “boat people” migration, after the Communist takeover of South Vietnam. […] Institutional care is a new concept for Vietnamese elderly, who back in Vietnam could expect to be looked after at home by their children and grandchildren, said Thi Chau Vo, 91, who was sponsored to come to Canada by her son in the early 1990s.
Radio-Canada – Une famille tunisienne au Nouveau-Brunswick expulsée
Une famille tunisienne, établie à Dieppe depuis trois ans, à la suite de la révolution de jasmin qui a chassé Ben Ali du pouvoir, devra bientôt quitter le Canada. La demande d’asile de la famille Beinsheik a été rejetée par Immigration Canada. Youssef, Sonia et leur fille Sarah se sont convertis de l’islam au christianisme et selon eux, ils sont menacés de mort dans leur pays. Ils soutiennent que les chrétiens, minoritaires, sont persécutés par le gouvernement, constitué d’islamistes modérés, et par des groupes salafistes. Les motifs religieux évoqués n’ont toutefois pas convaincu la commissaire des dangers encourus par la famille dans son pays d’origine. Selon elle, le pays est sécuritaire où il fait bon vivre. « Je ne peux pas réaliser que je vais remettre les pieds en Tunisie. Et je ne me vois pas à 47 ans aller dans un autre pays, ou bien être incarcérée dans une prison […] je vois tout en noir » se désole Sonia Beinsheik. La famille doit quitter volontairement le Canada le 5 septembre, en défrayant les coûts du voyage. Si elle obtempère, il lui restera une possibilité qu’elle puisse faire une nouvelle demande. Si elle dépasse cette date butoir, elle sera expulsée par la force et ne pourra jamais revenir au pays. Les Bencheik ne comprennent pas pourquoi ils n’ont pas été acceptés.
Journal de Montréal – Éducation et immigration doivent s’adapter aux mutations de l’emploi
Depuis 20 ans des changements profonds se sont opérés dans le marché du travail. Correctifs et adaptations s’imposent pour faire face aux défis des années à venir. «Pour les cinq prochaines nous prévoyons qu’une majorité d’emplois se concentreront dans les services, notamment en santé et dans le commerce de détail, et nécessiteront un diplôme postsecondaire, a mentionné Lassad Damak, économiste pour Emploi-Québec. Ces emplois progressent et appartiennent à ce que nous appelons des emplois “hautement qualifiés, de niveau professionnel et universitaire”.» […] Néanmoins, des demandes réelles s’apprêtent à affluer et forcent des arrimages entre les programmes d’éducation et les conditions d’immigration. «Nous sommes en adéquation entre les besoins du marché du travail et la formation afin de déterminer quels programmes promouvoir ou développer et quelles sont les compétences recherchées qui doivent figurer sur la grille de sélection des nouveaux immigrants», a précisé M. Damak. Les domaines de formation priorisés par Immigration Québec sont mis à jour chaque année et tiennent compte des analyses suivies d’Emploi-Québec.
Catholic Register – Iraqi Christians Rally in Toronto for Persecuted Brethren at Home
Led by Eastern-rite Catholic and Orthodox clergy, protesters marched silently from Front and Bay Streets through downtown Toronto to the provincial legislature to draw attention to the current situation Iraqi Christians and other minorities face as Islamists force Christians out of their ancestral homeland in Iraq. Many of the protesters were recent immigrants with families still in Iraq. […] The Archdiocese of Toronto has welcomed 820 refugees from Iraq over the past three years, but most of those had been refugees since shortly after the 2003 American-led invasion to topple former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. Protest organizers were asking the Canadian government to speed up the refugee process for a new wave of threatened and displaced Iraqis. Iraqi refugees come to Canada only three or four years after they are told they have a sponsor waiting for them in Canada, said protest organizers.
CBC – Immigration Raid Captured on Reality TV Leads to Charges
Charges have been laid against a Vancouver contractor in connection with a controversial raid by Canada Border Services Agency last year. […] The raid was captured by a camera crew for Border Security: Canada’s Front Line, a reality television show that had the blessing of the CBSA to film its officers and staff on the job. […] The agency came under intense criticism and was accused of both sensationalizing the arrest and coercing detainees to sign release forms in order that video of the raid could be used in the show. The CBSA’s president Luc Portelance has also recommended the organization cease involvement in the show. However, the work of CBSA officers and staff will continue to be filmed by Force Four Entertainment, the company behind the reality show.
