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.
CBC News — Edmonton entrepreneur joins effort to ramp up anti-fraud protections for immigrants
As international students fighting removal from Canada over fake admission letters made headlines, Edmonton entrepreneur Kemi Bolatito-Bello saw an opportunity to help. With several businesses already under her belt, Bolatito-Bello pivoted to an entirely new industry in 2020. She earned a diploma in immigration law and a licence as an immigration consultant, then developed a new company through the Alberta Catalyzer, which provides coaching and other resources for tech entrepreneurs. Last year Bolatito-Bello launched Scooly — an AI-powered platform that connects international students and immigrants to vetted immigration experts and schools around the world. “Scooly was founded to solve immigration fraud for international students and immigrants,” Bolatito-Bello said in a recent interview.
The Globe and Mail — As border anxiety mounts, ads for smugglers in Canada helping migrants illegally cross into U.S. flourish on social media
Canada to USA. Safe Reach,” the Facebook post says. “No police. Low price. Payment after reach.” “Canada to USA. Safe Game. Cheapest in Market. 100-per-cent guarantee,” reads a post on Instagram. Smugglers offering to help people cross the border illegally into the United States are openly advertising their services on social media. The Globe and Mail has found multiple posts from people smugglers who are promoting“safe” routes to the United States, including from Montreal and British Columbia, with some claiming there will be no police involvement or checkpoints.
La Presse — Les fonctionnaires d’Immigration Canada ont sonné l’alarme dès 2022
Dès le printemps 2022, des chercheurs et fonctionnaires, preuves à l’appui, ont mis en garde le gouvernement Trudeau : les seuils d’immigration compliquent une crise du logement déjà très installée. Intitulé Population Growth and Housing Supply (en français, « Croissance démographique et offre de logements »), ce document a été rendu public après une demande d’accès à l’information de Richard Kurland, un avocat spécialisé en droit de l’immigration en Colombie-Britannique. La croissance rapide du nombre d’arrivants, « en particulier des étudiants internationaux, n’a pas été anticipée et les modèles n’ont pas été ajustés assez rapidement pour prendre en compte ces nouvelles tendances », peut-on aussi lire dans l’étude.
Radio-Canada — La baisse des quotas d’immigration suscite des craintes au Manitoba
Le programme fédéral des candidats provinciaux, essentiel à la croissance démographique du Manitoba, subit une réduction drastique. Le nombre de places attribuées cette année est réduit de moitié, ce qui pourrait affecter les entreprises locales et aggraver les pénuries de main-d’œuvre selon le gouvernement provincial. Cette année, le Manitoba ne recevra que 4750 places pour le programme des candidats provinciaux, soit la moitié du nombre qui lui avait été attribué l’an dernier.
Toronto Star — She immigrated to Canada nearly five years ago with a master’s degree. Why can’t she find full-time work?
As of December, the unemployment rate for newcomers — people who became permanent residents in the past five years or less — rose to 9.6 per cent, nearly double the 5.4 per cent rate for Canadian-born individuals. Nearly five years after moving to Canada, Mani Bhandari still hasn’t secured a full-time job. Despite holding a master’s degree in business management from India, Bhandari isn’t hearing back from the countless employers to whom she’s applied for work — both within her field and outside of it.
CBC News — Groups condemn Ottawa for slashing programs N.S. uses to bring newcomers to province
Industries that have relied on newcomers to take hard-to-fill jobs say Ottawa’s drastic cuts to immigration programs are “short-sighted” and “irresponsible,” and suggest they will have a devastating effect on Nova Scotia’s construction and hospitality sectors. Ottawa announced last fall it would slash the number of immigrants coming to Canada but only communicated the extent of those reductions this week. Nova Scotia’s two most significant immigration programs will only be able to bring half the number of people to the province that it did the last two years, with the total allocation for both programs being cut from 6,300 to 3,150. The allocation for the Nova Scotia Nominee Program is being reduced from 3,570 people to 1,785. The Atlantic Immigration Program will only accept 1,365 people in 2025, compared to 2,730 in both 2024 and 2023.
