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 – Nova Scotia Launches Immigration Stream Aimed at International Students
The Nova Scotia government has created a new immigration stream geared towards international students who have worked in the province for at least a year. Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab says the province will nominate candidates through the provincial nominee program for the federal government’s new express entry system, which cuts down wait times to about six months. Diab says the pilot project is necessary because well-qualified candidates, including international students, were not being selected by Ottawa for express entry under other provincial streams. She says it provides yet another avenue for immigrants hoping to gain permanent residency in the province. The government is allowed to nominate 1,050 immigrants this year under the provincial nominee program, up from 700 last year.
CBC – Express Entry: Early Immigration Data Shows Many Already in Canada
Nearly half of the skilled immigrants who qualified for a chance to obtain permanent residency within the first three weeks of the launch of a new immigration system were not applying from abroad but were already in Canada, CBC News has learned. Canada launched a new system known as express entry on Jan. 1 as a way to recruit the best and brightest of foreign nationals to fill open jobs for which there are no available Canadian workers. The report, obtained by immigration lawyer Richard Kurland through an Access to Information Act request, shows there were 775 candidates who made it to the top of the express entry pool in the lead up to the first-ever draw. The new data lists their country of residence and their citizenship. Where did the candidates come from? Many — 346, or 45 per cent of “the top 775 candidates in the pool” — resided in Canada, according to the Jan. 22 report prepared by the Department of Citizenship and Immigration.
Citoyenneté et Immigration Canada – Communiqué – Lutte contre l’antisémitisme sur la scène internationale
Le Canada se joindra à la communauté internationale en vue de l’élaboration d’un plan mondial de lutte contre l’antisémitisme et autres formes de haine raciale ou ethnique. L’honorable Tim Uppal, ministre d’État au Multiculturalisme, est en route vers Jérusalem où il participera au 5e Forum mondial de lutte contre l’antisémitisme. Cet événement rassemblera des personnalités publiques, des dirigeants politiques, des chefs de la société civile, des membres du clergé, des journalistes, des diplomates, des enseignants et des citoyens concernés qui évalueront la situation de l’antisémitisme dans le monde. Le Forum permettra un échange important de connaissances et contribuera à l’élaboration d’un plan de travail mondial de lutte contre l’antisémitisme. Cette année, le Forum se concentrera sur deux principaux sujets : la lutte contre l’antisémitisme et les discours haineux dans les médias sociaux, et la montée actuelle de l’antisémitisme dans les villes d’Europe.
CBC – Happy Valley-Goose Bay Businesses Seek Foreign Worker-Ban Exemption
Business owners in Happy Valley-Goose Bay are hoping to win an exemption from a federal ban on hiring temporary foreign workers. Last year, Ottawa made changes to the program, including a ban on hiring low-wage temporary foreign workers, in regions with high unemployment. Since then, central Labrador businesses say they’re struggling to find people to work. […] The Northwest Territories has an unemployment rate of just over seven per cent, but the territorial government asked for an exemption for Yellowknife itself, which has a rate just over two per cent. Tim Hortons franchise owner Rob Everard said that’s similar to the situation in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. “Because we’re lumped in, in unemployment, with western Newfoundland, and all of Labrador,” he said. “The problem is, because we’re lumped in, they can’t even give us actual rates of unemployment for Goose Bay.”
Metro News Canada – Legal Aid Makes Unprecedented Request at Penalty Hearing for Disgraced Refugee Lawyer
In an unprecedented move, Legal Aid Ontario is seeking intervener status at the penalty hearing of a disgraced Toronto lawyer who has admitted to professional misconduct in representing Roma refugees. On Monday, LAO and three other community and advocacy groups will go before a disciplinary panel of the Law Society of Upper Canada seeking standing in the sentencing of Viktor Hohots, who pleaded guilty to professional misconduct in March for failing to adequately prepare the asylum claims of 13 of his clients. […] Hohots has represented hundreds of Hungarian Roma refugees in recent years. The other applicants seeking standing include the Canadian Romani Alliance, Roma Centre and Romero House, which are represented by prominent constitutional lawyer Mary Eberts, a former Law Society bencher. […] Gina Csanyi-Robah, of the Romani Alliance, said the groups are concerned the regulator would only give a minor penalty for Hohots’ misconduct that amounts to a “slap on the wrist,” while the complainants paid a hefty price when their asylum claims were rejected and they were ultimately deported.
Radio-Canada – États généraux : des immigrants africains plaident pour l’inclusion
Une dizaine d’immigrants d’Afrique de l’Ouest étaient rassemblés samedi après-midi à l’Université de Saint-Boniface dans le cadre d’un « café-citoyen » sur les États généraux de la francophonie. Les participants ont discuté des défis de l’inclusion, notamment sur le marché du travail et, plus globalement, dans la société manitobaine. Pour l’un d’eux, Sidi Hartane, c’est important pour les immigrants francophones de pouvoir contribuer au débat parce qu’ils parlent français et ont l’expérience dans ce genre d’activité. « Nous serons certainement très contributifs à la communauté francophone, a-t-il assuré. Mais surtout viser à ce qu’on élargisse la définition de francophone. Parce que la définition de francophone, c’est tous ceux qui parlent français et non celui qui est français. Sinon la francophonie serait restreinte à la France purement et simplement. » Certains immigrants présents samedi ont d’ailleurs mentionné être venus s’installer au Manitoba à cause sa culture francophone.
