Immigration in Canada - Part Two; How do we Choose Immigrants?

How do people gain access to Canada?  Brace yourself: it’s quite complicated.  

Canada’s Asymmetrical Immigration Policies

Keith Banting of Queens University also spoke at a forum on federalism sponsored by the Mowat Centre of the University of Toronto and the International Forum of Federalism on Friday, January 28^th.  He characterized Canada’s selection process as being characterized by “rampant asymmetry.”  That is, the Canadian government has entered into a series of bilateral agreements with the provinces, surrendering its role as the sole decision maker regarding selection and settlement.  The federal government maintains primacy, but the provinces now have a major say in what is called the Provincial Nomination Program (PNP).

So the selection of immigrants in Canada is not simply a federal decision.  Banting observed that about 50% of immigrants who come to Canada come via the federal selection process with a heavy focus on economic migration.  The other 50% come via each province’s approach to the nomination process. 

While both levels of government pay significant attention to the education of the applicant and the ability of the applicant to be self-sufficient during the process of settlement, the provinces allegedly focus more on local economic needs.  So a potential immigrant can try to come via the national selection process or, various Provincial Nomination Programs.  The complexity is truly mystifying.

Doctors Driving Taxis

It can take upwards of five years before someone’s application to migrate to Canada is processed (wait times vary depending on the country from which one applies—see http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/index.asp#immigration).  Currently there are close to 1,000,000 applications for permanent residency backlogged in the system.  Any notion of being responsive to economic needs is clearly lost!

Federally, the result of the immigration policies is a large number of immigrants with professional degrees like doctors and engineers.  The problem is that there are not sufficient jobs (or, in the case of doctors, resources) to place these immigrants in positions commensurate to the work they did in their country of origin.

For instance, in Canada there are over 8,000 foreign-trained doctors (7,500 in Ontario alone) who are trying to get licensed to practice.  (See http://www.thebigwait.com/ for an incredible documentary on the plight of International Medical Graduates.)  It is worth noting that many of the 8,000 doctors worked as highly specialized and acclaimed doctors prior to coming to Canada.  But to have their credentials recognized, each doctor must participate in a residency; and, there are only approximately 300 residency spots available each year. 

So it is that we have PhDs driving taxi cabs.

But what are we advertising when we recruit these people to come to Canada?

Provincially, the process seems to work a bit better with a focus on trades, not just professions.  But there is rampant inequity regarding the supports provided to immigrants from province-to-province and the rules surrounding access are truly perplexing.  However, given a 1-2 year waiting time for PNPs applying abroad, one questions just how “responsive” this system is.

Temporary Residents

Given the extensive backlogs experienced in processing immigration requests, the current Canadian government decided to institute a policy change, focusing heavily on temporary foreign workers.  While some of these people will apply for permanent status via their province’s PNP, most will not.  They are here to allegedly to address skill shortages in Canada.

But, there is much to be concerned about with the emphasis on temporary foreign workers:

• Exploitation of employees who are controlled by their employer
• A lack of supports for temporary residents
• A perception that temporary workers are not committed to nation building like permanent residents
• Corporations finding loopholes in the system to hire people for jobs Canadians are trained to do—but at a fraction of the cost

And consider the recent class action suit by a groups of temporary foreign workers against … wait for it … Denny’s!  Denny’s?  What unique skills did Denny’s need that were not available in Canada?  (See the story at http://thetyee.ca/News/2011/01/24/DennysForeignWorkers/).

Problems in European states with temporary foreign workers are well documented, and concerns have been voiced repeatedly to the current government; but there seems to be no end to this process.

A Word About Refugees

This post is getting long, so allow me to simply note that there are three ways someone can arrive in Canada as a refugee:

1. Government Assisted Refugees (chosen by the government from UN refugee camps, commonly known as “GARS”)
2. Privately Sponsored Refugees (groups of five or community organization—must be either UN refugee or be able to demonstrate refugee context) 
3. Asylum Seekers (known in Canada as Refugee Claimants—people who claim a refugee context once they arrive in Canada)

What most people don’t know is that GARS must pay back the government the travel expenses for their trip to Canada.  The result, for a family of four, can be in excess of $10,000—a burden for which most refugees are ill equipped to comprehend let alone pay.

Concluding Thoughts

This post, once again, has been rather extensive—though I feel like I have barely skimmed the surface on the issues.  It lays further groundwork for the context of our theological reflection.  What I find curious about the issues we experience today around immigration, settlement and integration is that they were not part of the discussion when the Canadian constitution (or the American, for that matter) was written.  Our society has evolved and has had to find ways to interpret the constitution in light of this new reality. 

Similarly, when it comes to theological reflection, we are approaching the text of Scripture with questions that require more than simply citing a verse or two.  We need a comprehensive understanding not only of Scripture and the themes contained therein, but also of the social and cultural milieu that forms the backdrop for each book of the Bible.  How do these considerations intersect with the issues we are facing today?  My hope is to contribute even a small amount to this extensive theological process progressively through these posts—and I hope to engage with you as we continue down this path.