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.
The Tyee – “Ghosts” Exploit Canada’s Foreign Temp Worker Program
Ghost consultants” is the name regulators and law enforcers give to illegal operators, some of whom swindle would-be immigrants to Canada. Those ghosts feed off hopes raised by the federal program that facilitates some foreign workers to enter Canada and work temporarily, often at wages below what Canadians would earn. But the illegal recruiters who operate outside Canada’s borders are beyond the reach of Canadian law enforcement. And while reporting for this Tyee reader-funded series found evidence of such illegal operations based on Canadian soil, no Canadian officials would estimate how many are operating in this country. If there is no way to stop such illegal exploitation tied directly to its Temporary Foreign Worker Program, say critics, Canada’s government is knowingly complicit in an unjust system of procuring global labour.
Montreal Gazette – Parent, Grandparent Immigration Stream Closed for 2014 Season
Just 33 days after the federal government began accepting new applications through the popular parent and grandparent immigration stream following a two-year moratorium, officials say they’ve reached their annual quota. Immigration Minister Chris Alexander announced Monday that his department had received 5,000 completed applications, the limit set for 2014. The program is now closed to new applicants until next year, although parents and grandparents can still apply for a 10-year, multiple-entry supervisa should they wish to spend time with loved ones in Canada for up to two years at a time.[…] The government also announced Monday that it was hiking the cost of study and work permits for those from abroad. Study permits will now cost $150, while work permits will cost $155. The cost of a 10-year, multiple-entry tourist visa, however, will be reduced to $100, from $150.
Citoyenneté et Immigration Canada – Communiqué – Les voyageurs tireront profit de l’adoption par le Canada du visa pour entrées multiples
Cabinet du ministre de la Citoyenneté et de l’Immigration du Canada – À compter du 6 février 2014, les visiteurs au Canada seront automatiquement admissibles à un visa pour entrées multiples. Ce visa permet aux visiteurs admissibles d’effectuer des allers-retours au Canada pendant six mois à la fois, et sera valide pendant une période maximale de 10 ans. Les visiteurs n’auront donc pas à présenter une nouvelle demande chaque fois. Les frais associés au programme de visa de résident temporaire (VRT) seront ramenés de 150 $ à 100 $ pour le traitement d’une demande de visa, que ce dernier soit pour entrée unique ou pour entrées multiples.
Citoyenneté et Immigration Canada – Communiqué – Réunir plus rapidement les familles
Le ministre de la Citoyenneté et de l’Immigration, Chris Alexander, a annoncé aujourd’hui le lancement de la prochaine phase du plan du gouvernement en vue d’éliminer l’arriéré de demandes dans le programme de parrainage des parents et des grands-parents (PGP). Tel qu’il l’a promis plus tôt cette année, le gouvernement du Canada a rouvert le PGP afin d’accepter 5 000 nouvelles demandes. Puisque Citoyenneté et Immigration Canada a déjà reçu 5 000 demandes complètes, la réception des demandes présentées au titre du programme des PGP sera une fois de plus interrompue jusqu’à l’an prochain, pendant que nous concentrerons notre énergie à réunir davantage de familles.
The Telegram – [Newfoundland and Labrador] Board of Trade, Feds Talk Immigration
Board of Trade chairwoman Sharon Horan and CEO Nancy Healey met with Immigration Minister Chris Alexander, Employment and Social Development Minister Jason Kenney and Minister of State and Minister for Newfoundland and Labrador Rob Moore while attending the Northern Lights conference and trade show in Ottawa this week. […] Horan said Newfoundland and Labrador’s aging and declining population is worrisome for the province’s employers. […]Horan maintains, though, that immigration, not retraining, is the answer. “Our position is that we don’t actually have a lot of unemployed people in Newfoundland and Labrador,” she said.
Toronto Star – A Rare Look Inside the “Black Box” of Canadian Immigration
It is always a mystery how immigration officials come to the conclusion if a marriage is genuine or fake, but now a new study has shed light on the inner thinking of the decision-makers. McMaster University professor Vic Satzewich was given rare access by Citizenship and Immigration Canada inside Canada’s overseas visa posts to examine how visa officers used their discretionary power to decide who deserved to join their spouses here. Satzewich is believed to be only the second Canadian researcher in 50 years being granted such access to what he calls the immigration department’s “black box,” after the late University of Toronto professor Freda Hawkins did her field research at the visa posts in Europe in 1964 to study immigration’s frontline operations. […] “The system allows racial biases to creep in the selection process. They could use their authority to put it bluntly and crudely, to keep Canada white,” Satzewich noted.
