Upon return from our family vacation earlier this week, I sat down to catch up on the recent news stories. I came across two interesting developments in the immigration field. First, I learned that a new immigration Minister,
Diane Finley, an MP from Ontario, was appointed to replace the now former Minister who had only held the position for just under one year.
On the face of this announcement, it is inconceivable to me that a Minister with only 350 days of experience give or take a few days, and who is a member to a political party that has been the official opposition for roughly 13 of the past 14 years, could have mastered the complex and often controversial immigration portfolio. Yet, upon further reflection, the immigration department under the now former Immigration Minister could be said to have accomplished more in the past year than it did under both of the two previous immigration ministers. And, unlike the two previous ministers, there were no significant controversies plaguing the tenure of the outgoing Minister through his departure this week.
In fact this past year, there were several positive improvements on the Canadian immigration scene this past year worth mentioning. The Temporary Worker Program gained considerable momentum, with the province of Alberta leading the way in employment creation in 2006. In fact, the Albertan unemployment rate stands at an unprecedented low of 3.4%. This accomplishment, highlighted by the creation of Regional Occupation Lists in B.C.; Alberta and Ontario, is proof that the temporary worker stream is having a positive impact on the Canadian immigration process and the labour market at large, and is itself an area where major improvements continue to be made.
The Temporary Worker Program, along with the Provincial Nominee Program, is fast becoming the “Plan B” option to an increasingly overburdened skilled worker immigration program in Canada. The latter program has been struggling with severe processing delays at many of Canada’s visa offices abroad. These delays are said to be caused by a continued strong demand for Canadian permanent residence and by the informal country-based quota system being carefully managed by Canadian immigration authorities. In consequence, prospective immigrants to Canada are urged to explore options and alternatives that would permit early entry to Canada. In the face of five-year processing delays at some of Canada’s immigration offices abroad, and for persons with the right skills, and in some instances a sizeable sum of money, the Temporary Worker Program is the solution: where attractive employment opportunities and work visas for the applicant and spouse can often be obtained in under six months.
This brings me to the second news story of the early new-year. On Monday it was revealed that an executive of Maple Leaf Foods, a major meat packing company in Alberta, entered into a partnership arrangement with a Vancouver immigration consultant to recruit low skilled workers from China including 61 who paid $10,000 each to come to Canada.
On the face of this announcement, I see nothing morally wrong with people trying to buy their way onto a fast track to Canada. Trying to navigate certain immigration rules in this area is often too daunting for even the most motivated layperson, despite all of the resources at one’s disposal. Add to this the prospect of trying to identify the best employment opportunities in a country as vast and varied as Canada and it is easy to understand why someone would pay substantial fees for such services.
However, what I do find problematic is the prospect that a management representative of a large government-screened employer, would be in partnership with the company’s immigration consultant. Maple Leaf Foods of Brandon, Manitoba, a town with a population of 40,000, claims that it had no knowledge of the payments. Even if this is true, professionals do not, to my knowledge, work for free. Perhaps Maple Leaf Foods may have to take a closer look at enhancing its own management compensation packages and implementing clearer conflict of interest rules. More importantly, there is something improper on many accounts where an immigration consultant enters into a private partnership arrangement with an executive of the government- screened employer to recruit labour for the employer. This clearly violates the ethical rules that immigration practitioners ought to respect.
In the bigger picture, however, Canada continues to be a desirable destination for immigrants. Controversies aside, Canada’s employers and Canadians in general should be thankful that so many skilled people choose to live and work here. There are many areas of the world where people are leaving their homeland creating labour shortages in their own right that cannot be readily addressed. And, there are other desirable destinations where skilled workers are equally welcome.
We can expect 2007 to be an exciting year in the Canadian immigration field with continued headway to be made in the Temporary Worker Program in Canada as well as in the Provincial Nominee Program. It is this area which figures to play a much greater role in Canada’s Skilled Worker Program in the future. On that note, in the months ahead, watch for the province of Ontario to finally roll out its own long overdue immigration program. This initiative could go a long way to perhaps reduce the burden being placed on the Federal Skilled Worker Program.
How large can an Ontario program be? This year, some 45,000 newcomers will be admitted under the Quebec program alone, which has been selecting its own immigrants since 1978. In Ontario, which receives a larger share of Canada's immigrants, a provincial nominee program could well be larger.
Happy New Year to all.
