Canadian Immigration News

This week Canada marks the 25th anniversary of a defining moment in its history. It was at this time in 1982 that the Canadian constitution was repatriated and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms came into effect.

Canada's Citizenship and Immigration Minister, Monte Solberg, met this week with the country's four Atlantic Provinces to explore new ways of working together in a bid to increase the number of Newcomers that settle east of Ontario.

A recent poll ranks Canada as the country with the most positive influence in the world. 28,000 people in 27 countries were asked to rate 12 countries as either having a positive or negative worldwide influence. Canada’s overall influence rating topped the list with 54 per cent of respondents rating it mostly positive and only 14 per cent mostly negative. Japan came in at a close second with an identical positive rating but a higher negative rating.

In a speech delivered at the University of Oxford last week, the British House of Commons leader Jack Straw pointed to Canada as a model for multiculturalism and civic cohesion. Straw suggested that the United Kingdom could learn a great deal from the Canadian experience.

The British Columbia and Yukon Hotel Association (BCYHA) is actively recruiting Filipino workers through Canadian recruitment agencies. Of its 580 member organizations, 79 per cent will be hiring this year. Given that many BCYHA members have spent thousands of dollars this year on unsuccessful attempts at hiring Canadians, the bulk of their new employees will likely be foreign workers.

Former tenants are bringing complaints of racial discrimination against H-Mart, a large Korean grocery store chain, in connection with a mall in Langley, B.C., a suburb of Vancouver. Three small business owners are alleging that H-mart, who recently purchased the West Willow mall, refused to renew their leases because they were not Korean.

European employees are hired in association with the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP), which effectively speeds up an immigrant's work permit and landed immigrant application processing.

On New Year's Eve, a baby was born on an international flight as the plane flew over Canada. When the Ugandan mother and her baby landed in Boston, American officials deemed the baby a Canadian citizen to speed their passage through customs.

Forty-three million dollars over two years has been earmarked by the British Columbia (BC) provincial government to help immigrants find work in their fields and better integrate into their new communities. From improved English language training programs to employment, education, health and recreation services, ‘Welcome BC’ aims to ensure that the province remains an attractive destination for new immigrants.

According to Canada's auditor general, Sheila Fraser, Canada's Foreign Affairs department is collecting more than it should from Canadian passport applicants. She announced that the $25 consular service fee (which is lumped into the $85 cost of an adult passport) is more than the department should be charging, given the services that passport holder receives in return.