Immigration.ca - Canada Immigration News - January 2007
Following the costly evacuation of 15,000 Lebanese-Canadians from war-torn Lebanon this past summer, the Canadian government has finally decided to review its citizenship policy. The evacuation, which cost the government roughly $94 million, is considered to be just one of the many benefits of Canadian citizenship granted to non-residents at the expense of tax-payers. Many critics feel that it is time for the government to reconcile the obligations of Canadian citizenship with the range of government benefits granted to Canadian passport holders.
Advocates suggest the government introduce a special tax for non-resident Canadians that would require Canadians who have been living overseas for more than 5 years to pay $500 for a Canadian passport. Such a tax could raise $200 million a year if 80 percent of Canadians living overseas choose to maintain their citizenship.
Canadian citizenship policy is lauded by many as one of the most generous in the world. The current policy, designed to lure newcomers to Canada, grants citizenship to immigrants after just three years of residency, entitles babies born to tourists to full citizenship, permits a person to acquire citizenship through ancestry even if their qualifying parent never lived in Canada and does not require non-resident Canadians to pay income tax.
Yet despite this generous policy, an estimated 2.7 million Canadians live outside the country. Non-resident Canadians comprise roughly 8 per cent of the Canadian population and pay no taxes but are entitled, by virtue of their citizenship, to a range of government benefits.
Professor Chant, Emeritus Professor of Economics at Simon Fraser University, coined the term ‘Passport Package’ to describe the array of citizenship benefits granted to Non-resident Canadians. In addition to being granted evacuation from countries suffering war or internal strife, non-resident Canadians are entitled to a list of benefits that includes:
- Ability to enter Canada freely at any time;
- Easier qualification for healthcare benefits on return to Canada;
- Consular services including protection if charged with criminal offences and assistance with other legal matters;
- Transfer to Canada to serve sentences for offenses committed on foreign soil;
- Eligibility for resident tuition fees and postsecondary financial assistance;
- Easier entry and exemption from visa requirements when traveling to many other countries.
Even though the costs of this ‘Passport Package’ lie with resident Canadians who pay taxes, some are hesitant to speak in just economic terms and label overseas Canadians a financial drain to the country. John Kirton, a political scientist at University of Toronto, says that the ‘Canadian diaspora’ should be considered an asset, as they are “ambassadors promoting Canadian culture and values abroad and also fostering family business networks.” Kirton alleges that “it is the quintessential Canadian experience to carry more than one passport.”
The current Canadian citizenship policy has its benefits for some and its costs for others. In this spirit, critics argue that the interests of tax-paying Canadians and the broader interests of Canada should be forefront in the upcoming policy review.
Sources:
Marina Jimenez, The Globe and Mail, “Critics urge special tax for overseas Canadians.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070101.CITIZENSHIP01/TPStory/National
John Chant, C.D. Howe Institute Backgrounder, “The Passport Package: Rethinking the Citizenship Benefits of Non-resident Canadians.”
http://www.cdhowe.org/pdf/backgrounder_99.pdf
