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.
New Canadian Media – Where Ontario Stands
For over two decades, Canada has welcomed an average of 250,000 immigrants per year. These newcomers often settle into any one of the country’s major metropolitan centres, chiefly Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal or Calgary. For countless new immigrants, uprooting their families and rebuilding their lives from scratch in Canada is made easier with the help of settlement agencies. But the future of some government-funded settlement agencies now hangs in limbo – including in Ontario, which boasts hundreds of agencies catering to newcomers. Many of these organizations anxiously await the unveiling of Canada’s federal budget on April 21. “Is there going to be another reduction? What is the scale of the reduction?” wonders Moy Wong-Tam, Executive Director of Toronto-based Centre for Immigrant and Community Services (CICS). “Every year, you hold your breath not knowing what to expect for that year,” she says, adding that her organization is “falling behind inflation.”
Vancouver Sun – Permits for Human Trafficking Victims Become Harder to Get: Advocate
Human trafficking victims who escape their captors can apply for a special permit allowing them to stay in Canada for 180 days and access medical care, but fewer and fewer are being approved by the federal government, said the manager of a Vancouver shelter for trafficked women. Citizenship and Immigration Canada issued 212 permits to 89 people between May 2006 and December 2012, spokesman Remi Lariviere said in a statement. This works out to an average of about 32 per year. Trafficking victims can apply to renew the permits after the initial 180-day period. But just 14 permits were issued across the country in 2013, the most recent year for which figures are available, Lariviere said.
Journal de Montréal – Plus scolarisés que les citoyens nés ici
Les immigrants sont beaucoup plus scolarisés que la population originaire du Québec, ce qui serait attribuable à la sélection des nouveaux arrivants faite à la frontière, révèle une analyse de Statistique Québec. Près du tiers des Québécois ont un diplôme universitaire. Cette statistique est élevée principalement à cause de la réussite académique des immigrants. En fait, ils sont 37 % à être titulaires d’un certificat, diplôme ou grade universitaire. À titre de comparaison, seulement 21 % des citoyens originaires du Québec détiennent ces équivalences, relate l’Institut de la statistique du Québec qui, en 2014, a décortiqué les données provenant de l’enquête nationale auprès des ménages canadiens. Selon l’analyse, la raison qui explique la présence d’un aussi grand nombre d’immigrants ayant décroché un diplôme universitaire sur le territoire est simple: le gouvernement du Québec sélectionne les nouveaux arrivants à l’aide de critères hautement élevés. Le Québec serait préférablement à la recherche de nouveaux immigrants étant fortement scolarisés, soutient l’auteur Marc-Antoine Gauthier.
CBC – Italy Rescues 1,500 Migrants at Sea in Less than 24 Hours
Italian navy and coast guard ships rescued around 1,500 migrants aboard five boats in the southern Mediterranean in less than 24 hours, officials said on Sunday. All of the migrants were rescued on Saturday by two coast guard ships and one navy ship in five separate operations, the coast guard said in a statement. Three of the migrants’ boats were in difficulty and sent rescue requests via satellite phones while they were off the coast of Libya. The Italian vessels spotted the other two while heading for the others. The migrants were all transported onto the Italian ships and were being taken to either the island of Lampedusa or ports in Sicily, the statement said. […] During the first two months of this year, arrivals were up 43 per cent versus the same period of 2014, officials have said.
Chinese students are flocking to Australia, making up a fifth of about 400,000 people seeking an education Down Under. At Federation, more than 44 per cent of the students attending Australia’s newest university come from overseas with most paying fees that are about double those paid by locals. Education is now Australia’s fourth-largest export with record revenue of 16.69 billion Australian dollars ($13 billion US) last year, as a relaxation of visa rules helped draw more students. […]The number of people on student visas at the end of October was greater than the population of the capital city Canberra, according to government data. Students from China were the largest group, making up 21 per cent of the total while 14 per cent were from India. […]”The universities need the revenue from international students: They charge them fees that are way in excess of what domestic students pay,” Andrew Norton, director of the higher education program at the Grattan Institute, a non-partisan think-tank, said by phone from Canberra. “It’s a hugely profitable business, and huge profits attract players.”
CBC – Nova Scotia Refugee Health Services Get Medical Clinic Space
Some help from Capital Health means refugees arriving in Nova Scotia will not have to have urgent care needs addressed in a room in a local non-profit organization’s office. Capital Health is in the process of hiring a nurse to work with incoming refugees 1.5 days a week and doctors working with the refugee health program will soon have a space in a clinic to examine patients. It’s a big step for care for those coming to the province, said Gerry Mills, Director of Operations, Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia (ISANS). Right now, patients are being seen for assessments in ISANS’s office, in a room that is also used as a classroom at other times in the week, with paper covering windows for privacy. […] As part of Canada’s humanitarian commitment the province has about 200 refugees arriving each year. Many come from refugee camps or other potentially violent situations, said Mills. […] Many enter the country needing vaccinations, mental health and oral health care needs. Some arrive with undiagnosed chronic conditions, lack of medication for ailments such as heart conditions or diabetes.
