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 – 5 Questions About Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program
The TFW program started in 1973 with the goal of bringing in highly-specialized workers from other countries – like academics and engineers – to fill gaps here in Canada. […] The new complaints appear to stem from changes during the past 12 years: the TFW program opened up to so-called “low-skill workers” and the government made the TFW application and hiring process quicker. These changes saw the program triple in size over a decade, from 101,000 temporary foreign workers in 2002 to 338,000 in 2012. Some argue the program became too big for the government to control, that businesses found loopholes to hire foreign workers as cheap labour even in areas with high unemployment and that the system was creating a group of “second-class citizens” in Canada who can’t upgrade their skills or work for other employers. […] Attempts at improvement went into high gear after the recent media storm. Employment Minister Kenney halted new approvals for foreign hires in the food and services sector and launched a review of the TFW program.
Straight.com – Immigration Bill C-24 Decried as Path to Two-Tiered Canadian Citizenship
Proposed changes to the Citizenship Act could create a new class of naturalized Canadians who have fewer rights than those born in the country. That’s according to Zool Suleman, a Vancouver immigration lawyer. He told the Straight that Bill C-24, which was introduced in February as the Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act, would make it so that new immigrants to Canada could see their citizenship revoked at the discretion of government bureaucrats. Citizenship could be rescinded if it’s decided an individual fails to show “intent” to reside in Canada, Suleman explained in a telephone interview. […] The Canadian Bar Association has found some of the proposed changes are “likely unconstitutional”. A 31-page brief prepared by the CBA’s national immigration law section states that the citizenship-revocation process outlined in Bill C-24 will “primarily be a paper one”, wherein a hearing before a Federal Court judge will only be granted “in limited circumstances”. The Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers has also published a summary of the changes outlining its concerns.
Chronicle Herald – Population Plan Needed for Halifax
Halifax is facing a population crisis as fewer people move to the city and more pack their bags for other parts of the country, a new report says. Immigration to Nova Scotia’s biggest city hit an eight-year low last year, while outmigration to other parts of Canada spiked to its highest level in over a decade, the report found. Halifax’s population grew 0.4 per cent last year, half the municipality’s normal rate and lagging behind most Canadian cities. […] Parts of the index mirror findings of the Ray Ivany-led report released earlier this year on improving the province’s economy. A key finding of the Ivany report was that Nova Scotia must grow its population through immigration and encouraging students to stay.
Brampton Guardian – Foreign Farm Worker Program Not Expected to Undergo Reforms: Official
The president of a Mississauga-based organization that helps Canadian farmers find temporary workers from other countries to work on their farms doesn’t believe possible reforms will affect the program. Ken Forth is president of Mississauga’s Foreign Agricultural Resource Management Services, which runs the federal government’s Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program in Ontario. This year about 16,000 workers from countries such as Jamaica, Barbados and Mexico, among others, will come to Canada to work on farms across the province. […] Members of Forth’s organization met with Kenney within the last month and he’s spoken with government officials as well. After the meeting, Forth said he was convinced any possible reforms likely won’t affect their program because “we’ve got a system in place that works.”
Toronto Star – Ugandan Gay Activists Denied Visas to World Pride
Canada has refused to issue visitor visas to 10 Ugandan activists invited to Toronto’s World Pride human rights conference in June over concerns they would stay to seek asylum. Gay rights advocates say the decisions by the Canadian visa posts in Nairobi and London speak to the hypocrisy of the Stephen Harper government, which, in February, joined other Western nations in condemning Uganda for passing one of the world’s harshest anti-homosexuality laws. […] The 10 men and women — all working in precarious conditions to support Uganda’s LGBTQ community — are among 160 speakers and 400 delegates from over 40 countries invited to the June 25-27 conference at the University of Toronto. […] In eight of the applications, officials concluded they did not believe the applicants had a legitimate business purpose in Canada.
CBC – Vote Compass Users Show Little Support for More Immigration in Ontario
The latest results from CBC’s Vote Compass indicates just 16 per cent of respondents support increased immigration to the province. Among respondents who intend to vote PC on election day, just 9 per cent think that Ontario should admit more immigrants. […]Thirty-eight per cent of respondents to Vote Compass are in favour of immigration levels in Ontario remaining about the same as they are now, while 39 per cent want fewer immigrants admitted into the province. They were responding to the question “How many immigrants should Ontario admit?” […] Of the respondents who indicated they would vote Liberal, 27 per cent supported lower immigration levels in Ontario. By contrast, 53 per cent of respondents who indicated a preference for the PCs and 37 per cent of those who indicated an intention to vote NDP supported lower immigration levels.
