I have been thoroughly disappointed with the immigration policy presented by our parties. A closer look at it clearly suggests that either they are nowhere close to understanding the issues or they are only providing lip service to new Canadians.
"Improve access to employment opportunities for immigrants" - Liberals
"Provide options such as posting of bond to allow higher acceptance rates for family visits" - Conservatives.
Honestly, these positions make no sense. As a new Canadian who came to Canada as an international student six years ago and then went through horrific times to immigrate in spite of having full time employment, I think Canadian politicians are not ready to get to the bottom of the issue. Other countries like Australia, the US, and England are fast enough to adapt to the changing world and the needs of their economy. The above quoted policy from the grits is hot air and the one from the Tories is nothing short of racism. The current Liberal government has taken steps toward change, but no one is addressing the key issues.
So here is Vijay Sappani’s immigration policy from my own experience as a new Canadian.
- Maintain the landing fee at $975 for new immigrants. Cut the landing fee in half for sponsored candidates and allow monthly installment payments for those in the lower income brackets. $975 is not a lot of money for a highly skilled professional who desires to immigrate to Canada. The money should be reinvested into cutting immigration processing time. Immigrants pay five to ten times more to agents and lawyers for processing their applications!
- Allow international students to apply within Canada. Student work permits should be extended until immigration processing is over and international students should be allowed to work up to 20 hours/week outside campus.
- Create/increase temporary work permits (TWP) that allow employers to hire skilled professionals like the US H1 visa system. This gives the flexibility to employers to bring skilled immigrants immediately, who are not interested in waiting for 3-4 years for immigration processing time to Canada. Employers can then decide based on the skills of the candidate to sponsor the candidate for immigration. Employer sponsored candidates should be processed within Canada and completed in 6-9 months. This is similar to the US H1 visa process that attracts many skilled professionals from India, China and other parts of the world.
- Pre-screen candidates in their home country. This is the biggest thing that needs to be done and no party is addressing it. Equalization exams for professionals should be done before they come to Canada. We hear stories of engineers working in factories and doctors driving cabs. The system should be changed. For example, I know many immigrants who came to Canada to practice a certain profession and who are not doing so. They have not been able to clear the equalization exams because it takes years to do it and meanwhile they take odd jobs to keep afloat and end up doing it. A potential immigrant under the pharmacist category should take the pharmacist equalization exam in the applying country. Once the candidate clears the first exam, he/she should be allowed into Canada within 3 months and integrated into the system within 9-12 months. The same applies to other skilled professionals like accountants, radiologists, engineers etc. This procedure allows highly skilled professionals to immigrate to Canada quickly, while those who lack the skills will be filtered at the application stage itself. A mere degree should not be the passport to Canada, if we want to bring only the best and those who can integrate into our system 100%.
- Recognition of foreign credentials- this is a tricky issue. There are two ways to do it. Continued on the next page Page 1 — Page 2
Article comments
1 - Aaman
Interesting policy - does Canada suffer from a lack of self-esteem being in the shadow of the US, leading to a lower profile for immigration?
2 - Triniman
Excellent ideas, Vijay. I hope you pass them on to the Feds and your MP.
I'm trying to encourage Canadians that election time is not the only time to have our say. We should do it anytime, by contacting our MPs and others in the House of Commons. Participating in democracy is something many, if not most Canadians take for granted.
3 - RJ Elliott
Glad to see you are interested in bringing in "brain-drain" types of immigrants, and not just any random criminal, illiterate dross that manages to make it to your coastline...
4 - Indo-canadian
You are vijay, way to go. you are thr first person to speak up our issues.
5 - david eliot
Vijay, U r the frist person to talk something sensible, You rock.
6 - Vijay Sappani
There are several challenges to this. While Immgration is controlled by the governement, equalization and industry standards are not. For Immigration Canada wil brgin someone in, if he/she has an pharmacy degree, but the immgrant needs topass the exam which is conducted by the OPA in Ontario. The government doesn't have much control there. So te government needs to work closely wth industry parters like CGA,CMA and others to set up testing centers in key cities around the world.
7 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
I don't know if you guys already have it, but e-mail discussion groups could be set up in countries like India, etc. for potential Canadian immigrants.
I'm a member of one such e-mail discussion group for potential Israeli immigrants. I learned a great deal in the States about Israeli bureaucracy, culture, etc. and now can help Jews there ande elsewhere who want to come home.
If memory serves, Canada uses 110 voltage. This means that it is usless to bring a fridge from India or Poland, for example, but you could bring a small food mixer with a converter or step-up transformer. If you already own the appliance, why buy?
I'd forgotten the phrase "New Canadian." I'm stuck with a similar moniker here - "new immigrant".
8 - Canadian Immigrant
I think Canadian government has done a tremendous job in promoting Canada and inviting immigrant. As we can see by how many immigrants have come to Canada every year. I had checked on immigration policy to US, England, Australia, and Germany, they are not as lenient as Canada in welcoming professional to come. Unless if you bring a billion dollars with you and offer hundreds of jobs, just do not expect to get a red carpet and welcome party in your new country.
9 - Simon G.
I am really deceived by employment policies in Canada. I have been here for 4 years, first as an international student. I have studied there in graduate studies, but I could observe that I hadn't the same opportunities as other Canadian students regarding internship and employment. I came here with no family, and I just wonder if I won't go back to my home country, France.
I think Canada makes a lot of advertising though, we can just see for example the immigration office in Tunis (Tunisia) which is more like a travel agency with an open door on the street!
But if landed immigrants are considered as "second zone labor force" here, there is no point making all this racket, and beautiful promises.
10 - Jon B
I don't know that Canada is actually serious about immigration. The waiting times for processing highly skilled people is stretching into years - I think currently it is up to 5.75 years to process up to 80% of Indian applications. Even for Australians, processing is 2.3 years to complete 80% of the applications.
The work permit situation may as well be non-existent I've found for my situation. I've got Australian post-graduate credentials in computer systems engineering but most organizations and recruiters won't consider me because I need a work permit. I am also in limbo as I went through an in-Canada spousal PR application - my Australian fiancee got her PR - she applied before I met her - and gave me an ultimatum to come to Canada. So I am in Canada but can't get a new job because no-one wants to really get a work permit. And I've just heard that HRSDC is taking ten to twelve weeks to process a Labour Market Opinion - this is after introducing a new online process to improve processing time.
Frustrated. You bet! Thinking about going to another Commonwealth country that really wants skilled professionals. Yes.
11 - John G
It is a global village. Potentially 200+ countries to choose from. I would not choose to immigrate to such a cold country, it would be way down on my list for weather alone.