A national alliance dedicated to providing an evidence base for newcomer settlement & integration and the promotion of welcoming communities in Canada
The Media Roundup provides links to recent and archived articles, in both English and French, on immigration and diversity appearing in the national and local news. Some international content is also included. Articles are updated weekly.
Documents obtained under access-to-information law show the Immigration and Refugee Board drafted costing estimates in November 2017 showing it would need $140 million annually plus an additional $40 million in one-time costs to finalize 36,000 extra refugee cases every year. That’s how many cases the board would need to complete to cut the backlog and also meet the current intake of new asylum claims.
From a refugee camp in northern Iraq to a townhouse in south-central Edmonton, the Maree family was met with people and places they never envisioned. But the Marees were also greeted with something they weren’t expecting; a $9,000 bill from the federal government to cover flights, an overnight stay in Toronto, and the medical exams required before their arrival. It’s debt that all refugees must pay upon their arrival to Canada, but one that settlement workers and volunteers say weighs heavily on the Maree family and other newcomers fleeing war.
A team from Carleton University, the University of Ottawa, and the Université du Québec en Outaouais is studying what makes a neighbourhood work for newcomers. “We’re looking at how the context of the neighbourhood, the environment of a particular neighbourhood may provide amenities or may lack amenities that have an impact on how well a newcomer can do,” said the U of O’s Luisa Veronis on CBC’s All In A Day. The researchers are looking at Mont-Bleu in Gatineau, Que., as well as Overbrook-Cummings and Ledbury-Herongate in Ottawa.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-gatineau-immigration-neighbourhood-study-1.4970912
The Immigration Department said there has been no official change in the requirements for temporary Canadian visas and would not comment on individual cases. The department did say each application is considered on the specific facts presented by the applicant. As long as they show the applicant is not criminally inadmissible, is in good health, can financially support him or herself and has all the required paperwork, and he or she agrees to leave the country when the visa expires, the applicant can be granted access to Canada.
https://globalnews.ca/news/4829464/undocumented-u-s-migrants-canada-visa/
The Yellow Vest movement in Canada has challenged policies seen as hostile toward the oil-and-gas industry, such as the carbon tax and Bill C-69, but has also broadened to criticize “mass migration,” illegal immigration and globalism. It doesn’t take long to find posts criticizing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the Yellow Vests Canada Facebook page. Some wish harm would fall upon the prime minister, while others suggest that the commenter would like to be directly involved in the violence.
One of two siblings accused in an immigration fraud case told a Canada Border Services Agency investigator that “everybody knows” immigrants using P.E.I.’s provincial nominee program were using the program as a “bridge” to reach destinations outside the province. Ping Zhong and her brother Yi were charged in May 2018 with aiding and abetting misrepresentation under the federal Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-pnp-immigration-fraud-1.4971662