Immigration.ca - Canada Immigration News - October 2009
Canada’s Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has made no secret of his views on the importance of language skills in the immigration system.
Now, a new study by Craig Alexander, and economist from TD bank, supports the Minister’s view. Alexander, who is noted as a prominent economist, argues that many immigrants’ poor language skills are “holding back” the country’s economy by billions of dollars a year.
Immigrants who are not able to function professionally in either English or French are often confined to low-paying jobs that require little communications skills. As more of these positions are filled, while simultaneously more immigrants enter Canada whose language skills are not up to par, naturally it would follow that more social assistance money is being drained.
Alexander’s study, which has been endorsed by the vice-president of TD bank, goes onto praise the Canadian Government’s language initiatives, and argues that they deserve to receive more financing.
In an attempt to raise awareness of their language programs, the Government has announced recently a pilot project where newcomers in Alberta, Nova Scotia and Ontario will receive vouchers in the mail to inform them of their right to attend free language-improvement classes.
However, neither the Government nor the author of the TD study, have acknowledged critics’ suggestions as to how the system could be improved.
Just one week prior to the release of Alexander’s study, the C.D. Howe Institute published its own report on the issue, showing that increased education requirements for immigrants would have a positive impact on Canada’s economy. Though they did not analyze the data on language, one could easily argue that the principle could be extended.
The debate is sure to carry on for some time, as no political party in Canada seems ready to overhaul the immigration system. Yet at the same time, we must not ignore the fact that innumerable valuable skills are going to waste in this country each year, and the potential benefits that are being lost to all of us, simply because Canada has not yet made this issue a priority.
Sources: Vancouver Sun
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Immigrant+language+should+count+more/2075030/story.html
The National Post
http://www.nationalpost.com/story.html?id=2113229
