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.
Cameroonvoice – Immigration Québec : des changements positifs à la grille de sélection
Vous souvenez-vous du 11 août 2014 ? Pour celles et ceux qui l’ignorent, c’est la date à laquelle le nombre maximal des demandes de Certificat de Sélection pouvant être déposé par les catégories Travailleurs Qualifiés (programme régulier), Entrepreneurs et Travailleurs autonomes a été atteint (soit environ six mois avant la date butoir pour postuler, qui avait été fixée au 31 Mars 2015). Pour de nombreux candidats, cette nouvelle fût difficile à « digérer » puisqu’elle s’est conclue par de multiples renvois de dossiers qui avaient pourtant été acheminés au bureau d’ Immigration, Diversité et Inclusion Québec avant le 11 août 2014 mais qui malheureusement n’ont pas été comptabilisés dans les quotas acceptables pour 2014. Les postulants toujours désireux d’immigrer dans la province du Québec doivent donc bien se préparer cette année. L’ouverture des quotas pour l’année 2015 est attendue pour le mois d’avril et déjà, beaucoup d’entre vous ont anticipé la préparation de tous les documents nécessaires à la composition d’un bon dossier, prêt à être soumis sans attente, dès le printemps prochain.
The Province – Border Agency Still Lacks Oversight Year After Mexican Migrant Died in CBSA Holding Cell: Advocates
More than a year after a Mexican woman hanged herself in a B.C. immigration detention centre, advocacy groups say the Canada Border Services Agency still lacks crucial oversight to prevent such deaths. Three human rights organizations say there is still no independent body overseeing CBSA actions, one of the key recommendations from a coroner’s inquest into the death of Lucia Vega Jimenez. […] Currently, detainees can complain about their treatment at their Immigration and Refugee Board detention hearings. But the board has no legal power over their treatment, only over whether they stay in detention. […]The agency has agreed to implement safeguards at the airport holding centre, like having border agency staff on site daily, and offering mental health and suicide training to both private guards and staff. But the CBSA has not yet created a new above-ground holding facility within a 30-minute drive of the airport, and it has not eliminated its use of private security guards, two other recommendations from the inquest into the woman’s death.
Toronto Star – Critics Call for Fine-Tuning of Federal Skilled Immigration Program
A total of 779 candidates were selected in the inaugural round of Ottawa’s revamped skilled immigration program, but critics are already calling for the program to be fine-tuned. The successful applicants, selected at the end of January, accounted for 26 per cent of an estimated 3,000 people who entered the draw for the federal government’s highly-touted Express Entry program. The decisive factor was securing a positive Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) by a prospective employer to prove a candidate possesses skills that are in high demand. Successful candidates were those who scored at least 886 points out of a maximum of 1,200. Securing a positive LMIA automatically earned applicants 600 points, while personal attributes such as education, language skills and work experience made up the other 600 possible points. However, in the aftermath of Ottawa’s temporary foreign worker program controversy, critics say it has become too difficult to acquire an LMIA as officials tighten the screening for assessing if a foreigner’s skills are in demand.
Globe and Mail – Ottawa to Relax Foreign Worker Rules at Universities
Universities have persuaded the federal government to relax new rules on how they hire temporary foreign workers that they say made it more difficult to recruit global academic talent. An agreement struck this week between postsecondary institutions and the federal government will give schools flexibility in how they meet new rules imposed in June on employers looking to hire high-wage workers. Schools will no longer have to submit a plan on how they will transition jobs filled by highly paid foreign workers to Canadian citizens. Instead, universities and colleges will report to the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC), their national organization. […] It is unclear whether postsecondary institutions are the only sector that will be allowed to be self-governing in meeting some of the requirements of the temporary foreign worker program. In most cases, universities receiving TFW permits to hire foreign academics are actually planning to employ them in permanent jobs – the TFW program is simply a faster way to bring professors or researchers to Canada than the federal skilled workers program.
Toronto Star – Secrecy Shrouds Ottawa’s Information-Sharing Deal with Five Eyes Allies
A veil of secrecy has dropped around a series of immigration information-sharing agreements between Canada and its “Five Eyes” allies. In Washington this week, Francis Taylor, Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis, informed a congressional committee that “with the Five Country Conference — which includes Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom — we have concluded immigration information sharing agreements that reduce the likelihood that a person applying for asylum or a visa in any of the five countries who has an illicit past could hide that history.” […] Ottawa, however, has not announced any deals other than efforts to iron out stronger information sharing with the U.S. through the Beyond the Border perimeter security agreement. The Star requested further information Wednesday from Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander and his department about the status and nature of those information-sharing agreements, but interview requests were denied. […]The federal privacy commissioner’s office said Thursday it has raised concerns with the department about unauthorized use, disclosure of transfer of information that goes beyond Canada’s borders, both under the deal with the U.S. and the five-country information sharing initiative.
Radio-Canada – Ottawa déterminé à interdire le niqab lors des cérémonies d’assermentation
Ottawa portera en appel la décision de la Cour fédérale qui a conclu que le gouvernement ne peut interdire le port du niqab lors des cérémonies d’assermentation pour recevoir la citoyenneté canadienne. Le juge Keith M. Boswell a estimé qu’Ottawa avait en fait violé ses propres règles sur l’immigration en instaurant, en 2011, un moratoire sur le port du niqab au cours de ces cérémonies. Le premier ministre canadien a fait part de cette intention d’en appeler lors d’une conférence de presse tenue à Victoriaville, au Québec, jeudi. « Nous comptons déposer un avis d’appel concernant cette décision, a déclaré M. Harper en réponse à la question d’une journaliste. Franchement, je pense [personnellement] et je pense que la plupart des Canadiens et des Canadiennes trouveraient offensant qu’une personne cache son identité au moment même où elle souhaite se joindre à la famille canadienne. » Sa déclaration lui a valu les applaudissements des gens présents dans la salle. « Ce n’est pas notre façon de faire et je pense que c’est pas acceptable », a poursuivi le premier ministre canadien. Stephen Harper a aussi spécifié que la société canadienne était transparente, ouverte et que, dans cette société, les gens étaient égaux. La Cour fédérale a rendu un jugement vendredi dernier dans la cause opposant une femme d’origine pakistanaise, Zunera Ishaq, au gouvernement fédéral.
