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.
Toronto Star – Seasonal Migrant Workers Stripped of Parental Benefits
Ottawa has quietly eliminated the special parental benefits for foreign migrant workers who contribute an estimated $3.4 million annually to Canada’s Employment Insurance system. Effective Monday, EI’s special parental, maternal and compassionate benefits are only available to those who are authorized to work in Canada year-round. As a result, the 30,000 migrants workers employed under the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program can no longer take leave and collect a fraction of wages while caring for their newborns or sick children, said Chris Ramsaroop of Justicia for Migrant Workers, a workers’ advocacy group.
Toronto Star – Canada Opens Immigration to Skilled Trades Workers
With Canada’s construction market poised to become the world’s fifth largest by 2020, Ottawa has launched a new immigration stream to attract skilled trades workers. The Federal Skilled Trades Program, which opens for applications Jan. 2, will help address labour shortages amid a construction boom on the eve of the 2015 Pan American Games in Ontario. The new stream offers permanent residency to electricians, welders, heavy-duty equipment mechanics and pipefitters and is open to undocumented construction workers with a job offer or a Canadian certificate of qualification, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said Monday.
The Guardian – [UK] Immigration: End This Foolish Block on Overseas Students
Last week, it was announced that the number of immigrants moving to the UK in the year to March fell to the lowest level since 2004, dropping by 30,000 to 536,000. The coalition has committed itself to reducing net migration to the “tens of thousands” by 2015, so the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics seem at least a small step towards meeting that target. […] Last year, international students brought £2.5bn into the UK in fees alone, but tougher restrictions have seen a 26% drop in student visas. Following the example of other countries, students should be classified separately, hence exempted from the general cap on immigration numbers.
Calgary Herald – Documentary Shows Immigrant Experiences in Canada’s Great Outdoors
With commentary from famous wildlife artist Robert Bateman and Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods, the film follows some newcomers from their urban homes in Edmonton and Calgary to the wondrous provincial and national parks of Jasper, Kananaskis, Waterton and Kootenay, B.C., among others, where they participate in programs offered by Parks Canada and Alberta Parks. Despite an ill-timed squall in Dinosaur Provincial Park near Brooks that threatened to wash away some tents, the experiences are mostly positive for these newbie campers. Those include a wide array of new Albertans with a wide range of backgrounds and stories to tell.
Immigration Canada is planning to deport a 24-year-old man to Pakistan, even though he was granted a stay in 2009. Sami Sheikh has lived in Montreal since he was 12 years old. He was born in Dubai, but says that Montreal is all that he knows. Sheikh’s parents are from Pakistan and were deported from Canada three years ago. Sabir Mohammed Sheikh and his wife, Seema, lived with their family in Montreal for eight years but lost their refugee status for lying on their application. They failed to mention that they had been living in Dubai for 20 years before arriving in Canada.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada News Release – Making Canada’s Asylum System Faster and Fairer: New Asylum System Comes into Force December 15, 2012
Canada’s new asylum system, which was included in the Protecting Canada’s Immigration System Act, will come into force on December 15, 2012, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney announced today. […] Failed asylum claimants from countries that have a history of producing genuine refugees will have the benefit of this full fact-based appeal. The new [Refugee Appeal Division] will have the authority to reverse a negative decision by the [Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada], if the evidence compels it. […] For claimants from countries that do not normally produce refugees, their claims will be expedited, but they will still receive the same individualized hearing that all asylum claimants currently receive.
