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 – Quebec to Temporarily Suspend All New Private Refugee Sponsorship Applications
The Couillard government will temporarily suspend new private refugee sponsorship applications as of Jan. 27, due to the high number of cases currently being processed. More than 10,000 applications have been accepted by the province and are awaiting approval from the federal government. Three-quarters of them are for Syrian refugees. Minister for Immigration, Diversity and Inclusion Kathleen Weil announced the news on Monday.
CBC – Mexican Refugee Claims Jump After Visa Requirement Dropped
At least 70 Mexicans claimed refugee status in Canada the first month after the federal government lifted a visa requirement for travellers from Mexico. The one-month figure brings the total number of Mexican refugee claims for 2016 to 248, compared to 111 in 2015, according to figures provided by the Canada Border Services Agency.
La Presse – Le programme de parrainage privé des réfugiés suspendu
Les Québécois qui veulent parrainer des réfugiés devront prendre leur mal en patience. Par l’entremise d’un communiqué, la ministre de l’Immigration du gouvernement Couillard, Kathleen Weil, a annoncé lundi qu’aucune demande ne sera acceptée par le Québec après le 26 janvier, et ce, jusqu’à nouvel ordre.
L’Express de Toronto – Plus de 12 000 Français en Ontario et au Manitoba
Plus de 12 000 citoyens français sont inscrits au registre du Consulat général de France à Toronto, qui couvre l’Ontario et le Manitoba, ce qui représente une croissance de 20% par rapport à l’an dernier. C’est ce qu’indique le consul Marc Trouyet dans son message du Nouvel An. «Cette présence en très forte croissance témoigne de l’attractivité de ces provinces et aussi du potentiel de renforcement des relations avec notre pays.»
CBC – Illegal Entry: New Numbers Show Spike in Refugees Fleeing to Manitoba
The number of refugees illegally entering Manitoba near the Emerson border has doubled every year since 2013. New numbers provided to CBC by the Canada Border Services Agency show the number of refugees crossing into the province illegally has doubled every year. If the current trend continues, Manitoba will be on track to have 544 refugees enter the province for the 2016-17 reporting period.
CBC – One Year On, Syrian Refugees In Prince George, B.C., Still Between Worlds
Rose Tohme still remembers the moment she walked into the Prince George, B.C., airport for the first time. “Our plane was delayed, so it was late. It was 1 a.m.,” she recalled.
A welcoming committee was there to greet her family. “We were overwhelmed. I remember, you know, I cried.” This greeting, in the early hours of Jan. 8, 2016, was unlike anything the Tohmes had experienced since fleeing their home in Syria four years earlier. They had already been denied by Switzerland and Germany, and so were biding their time in Lebanon. “It was hard,” Tohme remembered. “We felt a kind of rejection.”
