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.
Toronto Star – Citizenship Reform Hurts Good Immigrants, Newcomers Say
Ottawa’s proposed citizenship reform will punish good immigrants by putting more hurdles for them to become full-fledged members of society, many newcomers say. They say restricting citizenship won’t strengthen the value of Canadian citizenship — an argument Immigration Minister Chris Alexander made Thursday — but discourage newcomers from full civic participation. Some even wonder if Canada is still a welcoming country to immigrants.
CBC – Italy Rescues More than 1,100 Migrants South of Sicily
The Italian navy has rescued more than 1,100 migrants from nine large rafts in the waters south of Sicily, the latest arrivals from North Africa. Patrol helicopters identified the overcrowded rafts on Wednesday and four navy vessels participated in the rescue which ended early on Thursday, a statement said. The navy gave no details about the nationalities of the migrants. Italy is a major gateway into Europe for migrants, and sea arrivals more than tripled in 2013 from the previous year, fuelled by Syria’s civil war and strife in the Horn of Africa.
Wall Street Journal – Canada May Have Some Lessons for U.S. on Immigration
The U.S. is facing some deep-seated economic challenges. One of the most important is unemployment, and a key aspect of that problem is the mismatch between the labor needs of employers and the pool of available workers. Canada might be able to provide the U.S. with some guidance to help address that issue through immigration, according to David Rosenberg, chief economist at Gluskin Sheff in Toronto. Mr. Rosenberg, who served for seven years as the chief economist for Merrill Lynch in the U.S., told the U.S. Senate Budget Committee on Tuesday that Canadian programs to bring in skilled foreign workers could be an example for the U.S. “Canada’s experience in attracting foreign workers with skills and education, through its Immigrant Investor, Entrepreneur and Federal Skilled Trades Programs, may be a template worth exploring,” he told the committee.
South China Morning Post – How Mainland Chinese Millionaires Overwhelmed Canada’s Visa Scheme
Applications by tens of thousands of mainland millionaires flooded Canada’s consulate in Hong Kong and overwhelmed the country’s investor immigrant programme, an investigation by the South China Morning Post has revealed. Canadian immigration department spreadsheets obtained by the Post show how the huge number of applications forced the government in Ottawa to freeze the world’s most popular wealth-based migration scheme. One document, dated January 8 last year, showed there was a backlog of 53,580 Hong Kong-based applications for Canadian federal investor visas. That represented more than 70 per cent of the global backlog.
CTV News – Feds Set to Announce Funding to Help Skilled Newcomers Land Jobs in Their Fields
Ottawa is committing $800,000 to help skilled newcomers to Canada find work in their fields — part of a larger, job-centred effort that promises to be one of the key planks in next week’s budget. The cash infusion is for the National Association of Career Colleges (NACC), an organization representing an array of schools across the country that provide training in sectors with skilled worker shortages. […] The funding, details of which were obtained by The Canadian Press, is aimed at helping as many as 5,000 internationally trained and educated workers who are unable to find work in their fields to either explore other careers or land jobs that are closely related to their expertise.
Toronto Star – Canadian Citizenship: 5 Key Ways the Rules are Changing
The Harper government is calling the proposed overhaul of the Citizenship Act the first comprehensive reform to it since 1977. Here are five important proposed changes: […] Under new legislation, permanent residents will have to have a “physical presence” in Canada for four years out of six years, compared to the current three out of four years. […] More applicants will have to meet language requirements and pass a test, with the government expanding its age range for those requirements to those aged 14-64 […] The government would have the power to strip citizenship from dual nationals who are members of an armed force or groups engaged in armed conflict with Canada […] The new legislation would bar people with foreign criminal charges and convictions from getting citizenship. […] Permanent residents who are members of the Canadian Armed Forces will have a fast-track to citizenship.
