News Release – Economic Growth and Prosperity the Focus of Immigration Changes

Montreal, April 20, 2012 — Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney spoke at the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations and outlined how a transformed immigration system would benefit the Canadian economy.

In his speech the Minister outlined a series of changes planned for the immigration system to make it faster, more flexible and focused on jobs to promote national economic growth and prosperity that can benefit all regions of Canada.

Proposed changes to the economic immigration system include eliminating the backlog of old Federal Skilled Worker applications, modernizing how selection is done under that program to better reflect the importance of younger immigrants with Canadian work experience and better language skills, creating a new Federal Skilled Trades program, and modifying the Canadian Experience Class to better facilitate the transition to permanent residence by successful skilled temporary workers.

Economic Action Plan 2012 also announced changes to CIC’s Business Immigration Programs, which will target more active investment in Canadian growth companies and more innovative entrepreneurs.  Under proposed legislative amendments, CIC intends to introduce new small-scale programs on a temporary basis to try innovative approaches to economic immigration. Improvements to the existing Immigrant Investor Program (IIP) could be rolled out over a longer timeframe, as any changes would require extensive consultations with provinces and territories, particularly the province of Quebec, which operates its own Investor program under provisions in the Canada-Quebec Accord. Furthermore, adjustments to the current IIP would have to go through the regulatory process.

“The changes I’ve announced are to ensure that immigrants who come to Canada can contribute to the economy quickly,” Minister Kenney said. “And the cornerstone of success is being able to speak one of Canada’s official languages. That is why the government is also proposing changes to the citizenship rules so that new citizens have the language abilities they need to succeed.”

Under the proposed change, prospective citizens would be required to provide objective evidence of their language ability with their citizenship applications. Applicants would be able to demonstrate language ability by submitting a variety of evidence, including the results of approved third party tests, evidence of completion of secondary or post-secondary education in English or French, or evidence of achieving the appropriate language level in certain government funded language training programs.

“The proposed change would encourage citizenship applicants to ensure that they can speak English or French when they apply,” Minister Kenney said. “Language is an important component of the successful integration of immigrants and new citizens.”

Adequate knowledge of English or French is a requirement for citizenship in Canada and has been a requirement since the first Citizenship Act of 1947. The Government of Canada provides language training free of charge to permanent residents.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/releases/2012/2012-04-20.asp?utm_source=bitly-eng&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=generic

Province wants Ottawa to allow more immigrant...Kenney says increase not planned

http://www2.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/story.html?id=9fa60db2-3859-4614-b777-fa68fe3a364f

Joe Couture, The StarPhoenix

Published: Friday, April 20, 2012

Saskatchewan Immigration Minister Rob Norris says there is a "healthy tension" between the provincial and federal governments over a cap Ottawa has put in place that limits the number of immigrants allowed into the province.

"We're not going to be discouraged, nor are we going to be dissuaded," Norris said Thursday in response to comments made by federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney.

"There is a real momentum here to make sure that (federal leaders) understand that Saskatchewan needs to continue to move forward on immigration."

Among the province's requests of Ottawa is an increase in the number of nominations allocated to the province for the Saskatchewan immigrant nominee program, Norris said.

"We're capped at about 4,000 right now," he said. "What we've said is we'd like 6,000. We can handle that. - With more than 11,000 jobs open and available today, we see that there are broad-based needs - we know there are more improvements we can be making here, but quite candidly, many, many sectors are firing on all burners."

While there is "no intention" to reduce Saskatchewan's allocation, Ottawa doesn't have immediate plans to increase it, Kenney said in a phone interview Thursday.

"Certainly, Premier (Brad) Wall and minister Norris have strongly advocated for that and we take their perspective very seriously," he said. "Our first priority is to address some of the weaknesses in the provincial nominee program."

Those include the nominations "creeping into" areas where other federal immigration programs apply and the need for minimum language requirements, which Norris endorsed earlier this month.

"Provincial programs play an important role," Kenney said. "But we do think there's an important nation-building dimension to immigration and we do want to maintain a significant federal role in selection."

"Once we've seen improvements in the provincial nominee program and once we've reformed our federal programs, we'll certainly be open to looking at possible further increases to the provincial nominee allocation," Kenney added. "It's not easy, though. Every province wants more allocations and overall, Canadians don't want us to raise immigration levels."

Kenney cited polling data indicating 10 to 15 per cent of Canadians support increasing immigration overall.

"For too long we've seen declining economic results for immigrants - bringing in newcomers to face unemployment and underpayment," he said.

But Norris said "the broad brush strokes probably don't apply here in Saskatchewan, because certainly what we've heard from employers, what we've heard from newcomers and what we've heard from communities is actually a very, very consistent spirit of welcome.

"We're seeing the reinvigoration of communities that - were having challenges of decline. Now we know there are challenges associated with growth, but those are the challenges that we welcome."

Kenney said the "employerdriven" federal reforms "will be disproportionately beneficial to a high-growth province like Saskatchewan," with programs to court "economic immigrant" investors, entrepreneurs, skilled workers and graduates of the province's two universities.

With the potential for more federally selected immigrants coming to Saskatchewan, Kenney said he does "anticipate that we'll continue to see an increase" in immigration in the province - though "not as quickly as in the past five years, because you can't sustain that velocity of growth.

English or French language skills may be required for citizenship

Latest fed immigration reform: prove you speak English or French to be Canadian

MONTREAL - Immigrants hoping to become Canadian citizens may soon have to provide written proof of their language abilities.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said Friday his latest reform is aimed at requiring citizenship applicants to prove they can speak English or French.

"I've met a lot of Canadian citizens who have lived here for many years who can't express themselves in French or English," Kenney said during a speech Friday to the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations.

"It's not acceptable because it limits their social mobility and their life in Canada."

Kenney announced a change to citizenship rules which would require prospective Canadian citizens to provide what's called objective evidence of their language ability with their application.

Expanding on language changes he's already announced for some immigration applicants, Kenney said people will also have to provide new documents to become Canadian citizens.

They will be asked to submit evidence they completed secondary or post-secondary education in English or French; they could also provide results of approved third-party tests, or proof of success in government-funded language training programs.

Kenney explained he wanted the linguistic proof to "ensure that all of those who join us as full members of our Canadian family in the future are able to fully participate in our society."

Adequate knowledge of English or French has already been a requirement since the first Citizenship Act of 1947 — but these new mechanisms are meant to enforce that requirement.

The government also provides language training free of charge to permanent residents.

Kenney's announcement was interrupted by two women protesters who bought tickets to the luncheon.

As he began his speech, each of the protesters took turns interrupting him and warning that the federal legislation would destroy people's lives.

They shouted at the immigration minister and were both quickly escorted out of the hotel room.

Outside the hotel, about 50 demonstrators staged a noisy protest against the changes to the immigration system.

Activist Jaggi Singh, who helped organize the protest, said the linguistic requirement will make it tougher to become a Canadian citizen.

"It lends itself to discrimination and profiling," he said.

Singh says immigrants can still contribute to society — even if they can't speak English or French.

"We know very well that, in cities like Montreal and Toronto, people from immigrant communities sometimes don't speak a language, but they learn a language as they work," he added.

Singh says his mother and father, who are in their 60s, didn't speak English very well when they arrived from India.

"They would not have been able to pass an English competency test in their first couple of years and it took them time to do that," he said. "It takes years and years."

Singh says citizenship shouldn't be based on how a person speaks a language, but on how they contribute to society.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/latest-fed-immigration-reform-prove-you-speak-english-or-french-to-be-canadian-148282885.html

Editorial: Dramatic immigration reforms necessary

While immigration lawyers are legitimately concerned about the pace of change to the immigration system, the government is on the right track with many of the recent reforms.

Editorial Obiter by Glenn Kauth

As immigration lawyer Mario Bellissimo notes onpage 1 of Law Times this week, the government has been “moving through one immigration program at a time like a stack of dominoes.” 

Perhaps most controversially, it has moved to remove scores of people from the backlog of applications to the federal skilled-worker program. But it has also been introducing a host of reforms aimed at ensuring those admitted to Canada will be able to succeed in the job market.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney appears to be taking the approach of overwhelming the system with changes, a tactic that often leaves critics struggling to respond and mount effective opposition. 

But after years of complaints about a system that moves too slowly and admits people who find it difficult to get good and relevant employment here, it’s clear that significant reform was in order. 

So rather than take an incremental approach that leaves much of the previous system intact, Kenny has clearly decided to revamp it wholeheartedly.

But while many of the changes are welcome, the government needs to pay attention to how it implements them. For example, while it’s sharpening its emphasis on accepting applicants who work in designated professions, it needs to be nimble in responding to changing economic circumstances. 

In that way, it can ensure that the list of designated occupations changes quickly according to fluctuating demand. It should also be mindful of the importance of allowing skilled workers to reunite with their families.

As for the elimination of so many people from the application backlog, it’s the unfortunate fallout of the dramatic but necessary reforms. 

While there’s talk of legal action by those affected, it would be unfortunate if the courts were to rule in their favour. Hopefully, Kenney and his officials have done their homework to ensure this is an unlikely possibility.

— Glenn Kauth

For more, see "What's Kenney's beef with lawyers?"

Minister Kenney Announces Proposed Plan to Expedite Skilled Workers' Transition from Temporary to Permanent Residence

Winnipeg, April 16, 2012 — To meet Canada’s labour market needs more quickly, highly-skilled temporary foreign workers could soon transition to permanent residence faster than before, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney announced today.

“Thousands of highly-skilled foreign nationals are working successfully in Canada on a temporary basis,” said Minister Kenney. “Expediting their transition to permanent residence would help Canada retain bright and talented people who already have Canadian work experience and the ability to communicate in English or French. In many cases, they already have a job lined up. Such newcomers are set for success.”

To make Canada’s immigration system more flexible and even more responsive to our labour market needs, Citizenship and Immigration Canada intends to reduce the work experience requirement for eligible temporary foreign workers applying to stay permanently. One major benefit of the change would be to make it easier for skilled tradespersons working in Canada to transition to permanent residence as their work is often project-based and can be seasonal. 

Currently, to be eligible to apply, applicants under the temporary foreign worker stream of the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) must have acquired 24 months of full-time work experience within the last 36 months. Under the proposed regulatory changes, the requirement would be reduced to 12 months of experience.

The announcement is the latest in a series Minister Kenney has made about transforming Canada’s economic immigration program into a fast and flexible system focused on jobs, growth, and prosperity. 

Launched in 2008, the CEC offers a pathway to permanent residence – and eventually Canadian citizenship – for international students and temporary foreign workers with highly-skilled Canadian work experience. The CEC aims to support the economic success of immigrants by selecting those who are most likely to succeed in Canada’s labour market.

In 2011, a record number of people were admitted to Canada under the CEC. According to preliminary admissions data, 6,022 immigrants were welcomed under the CEC last year, a significant increase in admissions of more than 50 % from 2010. In 2012, 7,000 permanent residents are expected to be admitted through the CEC – more than ever before.

“The CEC is a key part of our plan for the future of immigration in Canada, and so it is gratifying to see the dramatic growth in the program since its inception,” said Minister Kenney.

Further details about the proposed changes to the Canadian Experience Class will be announced later in 2012.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/releases/2012/2012-04-16.asp?utm_source=bitly-eng&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=generic

Editorial: Helping Foreign Workers

Click link to view full story on the Calgary Herald.  http://www.canada.com/mobile/iphone/story.html?id=6461696

Minister meeting with employers in Saskatoon as part of moves to better economic immigration program.

Saskatoon, April 11, 2012 — The Government of Canada is strengthening its partnership with employers to ensure the economic immigration program better meets the needs of Canada’s economy, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney announced today at a roundtable discussion with Saskatoon employers.

The Government is building a fast and flexible economic immigration system that focuses on finding people who have the skills and experience required to meet Canada’s economic needs.  The development and delivery of a modernized, efficient economic program will rely on partner engagement and – in particular – a greater role for employers.  The Government is working to better understand employers’ challenges, their workforce planning, hiring and recruitment practices, and the circumstances in which they use the immigration system.  Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) also wants to hear from employers in specific areas where changes are proposed to its programs.

“Economic growth and job creation remain the top priorities for our Government,” said Minister Kenney.  “Labour shortages are becoming a growing problem in many regions, and this is particularly true in this part of the country.  Our Government wants to make it easier for employers to hire permanent or temporary foreign workers when no Canadians are able to fill a position, and we want to involve employers in immigrant selection.”

Today’s roundtable is part of a series of meetings to consult with employers – who have first-hand knowledge of the economic impacts of Canada’s immigration policies – on how they can be more involved in immigrant selection, and to update them on work the Department has under way.  Previous sessions with senior CIC officials have taken place in Halifax, Vancouver, Ottawa, Montreal, St. John’s and southern Saskatchewan.  Minister Kenney will also meet with employers in Halifax next week.

The Government has already undertaken some initiatives to make the immigration system more responsive to the needs of employers.  For instance, the Department processes federal skilled worker applications with a qualifying job offer on a priority basis. CIC also recently redesigned its website to include a new section to guide employers to the most suitable programs for hiring permanent and temporary foreign workers.  The new sectionof the website builds on the success of other online tools for employers, such as theEmployer’s Roadmap.

“We want to go from a passive immigration system to an active system where Canadian employers are actively recruiting people in the international labour market from abroad,”said Minister Kenney.

During the meeting, Minister Kenney also outlined several important Economic Action Plan 2012 commitments to the immigration system.  These include:

• Realigning the Temporary Foreign Worker Program to better meet labour market demands;
• Supporting further improvements to foreign credential recognition and identifying the next set of target occupations beyond 2012;
• Moving to an increasingly fast and flexible immigration system where priority focus is on meeting Canada’s labour market needs; and
• Returning applications and fees to certain federal skilled worker applicants who have been waiting for processing to be completed.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/releases/2012/2012-04-11a.asp?utm_source=bitly-eng&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=generic

Changes to Language tests for Provincial Nominee Programs coming in July.

See full story on the Globe & Mail http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/hello-bonjour-language-tests-coming-for-some-immigrants/article2398540/

Wall Street Journal says Canada beats U.S. (They’re not talking hockey)

According to the Wall Street Journal Canada has become a "favoured destination for investors seeking refuge from the turmoil sweeping the euro zone and the continuing uncertainty over the U.S. fiscal position." It heralded our triple-A rating and the Canadian government's "sterling" fiscal standing.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/top-business-stories/wsj-says-canada-beats-us-theyre-not-talking-hockey/article2393231/?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_content=2393231