IMMIGRATION RIGHTS
These sessions brief immigrants on what to expect and how to connect upon arrival. Although our immigration system is reforming the economic immigration elements, it still operates a generous family reunification program. Canada cut the backlog in parent and grandparent applications by almost 54% since 2012 and brought in the Parent and Grandparent Super Visa which is valid for ten years and allows multiple entries and prolonged stays.
Believing that immigration should benefit both new and established Canadians, Canada has taken steps to improve the security side of the system. This was done through the Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act which imposed stiffer penalties for misrepresentation on immigration applications, removed the possibility of appealing a deportation decision
for foreign criminals on Canadian soil who were sentenced to more than six months in prison, barred potential immigrants with a foreign conviction bearing a sentence of ten or more years from admissibility, and barred applicants who are inadmissible on serious grounds like national security, international rights violations, or organized crime from applying for humanitarian and compassionate consideration. To counter potential abuse, the current government has also reformed the refugee and asylum portion of the system through measures like the Designated Country of Origin.
Human rights respecting countries with the rule of law which do not normally produce refugees are designated as such, so that asylum claimants from those countries receive additional scrutiny and faster processing.
We recently brought the total
number to 42 such countries by October 2014 by introducing a list of designate safe countries. Asylum claims from designated countries have dropped by 88% since 2011, freeing up resources to address legitimate claimants from elsewhere.
Lastly, Canada has just implemented a new electronic only program called Express Entry which fast-tracks the most qualified candidates from the economic immigration categories. The program is based on rankings in language proficiency, age, skills and experience, and most significantly, existing employment offers at the time of application. It allows the most qualified candidates from the economic immigration streams to enter an express processing pool which takes approximately six months from invitation to application to receiving permanent residency.
Coupled with other reforms, this ensures that those economic immigrants who are most likely to succeed in Canada are given priority without creating paper files and backlog.
Conclusion
Canada’s immigration system may not be perfect, and will continue to need adjustments from time to time, but serves as an example of sensible reforms matching available immigrants to the country’s needs.
By rebalancing the system to better meet our economic needs without compromising family unification programs; by prioritizing economic category applications from those most likely to succeed; and by clarifying our national expectations of newcomers, Canada has set the stage for many years of generous and productive immigration.
The Parliamentarian | 2015: Issue Two | 101
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