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.
Citoyenneté et Immigration Canada – Communiqué – Nombre élevé soutenu de visas de visiteur délivrés des missions de Chandigarh et de New Delhi en 2013
Le Canada est une destination de choix pour les visiteurs, les étudiants et les voyageurs d’affaires en provenance de l’Inde. Les bureaux du Canada à Chandigarh et à New Delhi ont délivré un nombre élevé de visas de visiteur (84 672) et de permis d’études (13 613) de janvier à décembre 2013. C’est ce qu’a déclaré aujourd’hui le ministre d’État (Multiculturalisme), Tim Uppal, lors de la conférence Pravasi Punjabi Divas Sammelan, qui se tenait à Anandpur Sahib. Le Programme de traitement accéléré pour les gens d’affaires, offert en Inde depuis juin 2008, est un autre exemple de l’engagement du Canada à créer des liens entre les deux pays
The Guardian – The High Cost of Being a Legal Immigrant in the US: $465
A year and a half ago, President Barack Obama announced a band-aid for the immigration system, providing two-year work permits for undocumented immigrants who were brought to the US as children before their 16th birthdays. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program had undocumented immigrants rejoicing that the door to the US had opened, if only slightly. […] Cost has been one of the top reasons why people eligible for DACA delay their application, says Sarah Hooker, policy analyst at Migration Policy Institute. The $465 application fee, while minuscule to most middle-class Americans, has played a large role in preventing young undocumented immigrants from applying for work permits.
CBC – Local Chamber of Commerce Wants Immigrants Processed Faster
The Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce has joined the provincial chamber in offering advice to Ottawa on changes to the immigration system. Windsor-Essex chamber president Matt Marchand says employers want Canada to have the fastest immigration processing time in the world. He says the current wait is far too long for businesses, because many have jobs that need to be filled immediately. […] Marchand says under the Australian immigration model, visas for permanent residence are processed within 58 days. The government of Canada is proposing a six-month processing time under the new system.
Northern Life – Foreign-Trained Professionals Focus of $2.7M Grant
A program which has so far helped 300 foreign-trained professionals who wish to work in Northern Ontario has received a $2.7 million provincial grant. The Professions North program was established by Laurentian University in 2010, but funding for the program was due to dry up in March. […] The funding is part of a $63.6-million provincewide investment in foreign-trained professionals over the next three years. […] Professions North project manager Michel Racine said the program — which has offices throughout Northern Ontario and one in Toronto — provides assistance such as resume preparation and job search techniques. It also makes referrals to northern university and college programs which help foreign-trained professionals gain the credentials they need.
Leader-Post – Sask. Federation of Labour Duels with Federal Gov’t. Over Foreign Workers
The long-running controversy over the federal government’s temporary foreign worker program sprang back to life when the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour asked why Ottawa thought it necessary to drop provisions banning employers convicted of a serious crime from employing foreign workers. SFL president Larry Hubich compared the “great fanfare” with which the federal Conservatives announced the foreign worker program changes with how they quietly dropped this ban over the holidays. […] In a notice on New Year’s Day, the federal government said its original proposals aimed at banning employers convicted of human trafficking, sexually assaulting an employee or causing the death of a worker were “too rigid and cumbersome,” The Canadian Press reported.
Ottawa Citizen – Immigration Minister Tells Ontario: Pay for Refugees’ Health Care Yourself
A week after Ontario began providing health care to many refugees, the federal government has firmly closed the door on either restoring the program it cut 18 months ago, or helping to pay for it. Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews has said she will present the federal government with a bill for the program the province set up to fill gaps after federal cuts to refugee health care. But the message from Immigration Minister Chris Alexander’s office is blunt: If you want it, pay for it yourself. Canadians don’t want “failed asylum claimants and asylum claimants from safe countries receiving better health care benefits than Canadian taxpayers,” said Alexander’s press secretary Alexis Pavlich. […] Doctors working with refugees say the federal government is misleading Canadians about the situation — at the expense of refugees. […] “The tone from the (federal) government is that refugees are getting better health care than ordinary Canadians. That is just not true,” said Meb Rashid, a Toronto family physician and one of the founders of Canadian Doctors for Refugee Care.
