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.
Global News – ‘A Major Hub’: Western University Prof Outlines London Immigration Data in 2021 Canada Census
While new census data shows that immigrants made up nearly one-quarter of Canada’s population last year, it also highlights how the London region has become a more attractive destination for immigrants. In 2021, more than 8.3 million people, or around 23 per cent, were or had been landed immigrants or permanent residents in Canada, according to Statistics Canada. This was the largest proportion since Confederation, topping the previous 1921 record of 22.3 per cent, the report showed.
CBC News – Backlog of Applications for Foreign Workers Leaves N.S. Restaurants with 8,000 Jobs to Fill
Kim Dao and her husband Wen Prathumma own four Cha Baa Thai restaurants in Halifax, Bedford and Dartmouth. All four locations have reduced hours. Not only are they struggling to hire local workers, a significant problem for restaurants during the pandemic, but also foreign workers. And they’re not the only ones. According to Gordon Stewart, the executive director of the Restaurant Association of Nova Scotia, restaurants are facing lengthy delays in the processing of foreign worker applicants.
Montreal Gazette – Immigration Driving an Increase in Quebecers Who Speak Only English, Census Shows
Immigration is largely behind the recent rise in the number of people in Quebec who can only speak English, 2021 census figures made public Wednesday show. And fewer recent immigrants to the province can speak French compared to 2016. But that doesn’t mean Quebec should cut immigration to protect the French language, a Université Laval demographer says.
Toronto Star – Kitchener Organization Quietly Helps Afghan Refugees
For more than 10 years, iHelp International worked to help women in Afghanistan with training programs to equip them for work outside the home. Since the Taliban’s return to power, iHelp pivoted and now works to help Afghan refugees come to Canada. Wasai Rahimi’s Kitchener-based non-profit, iHelp International, sponsored the Wasokht family, who had been living in a refugee camp in Wahdat, Tajikistan, for three years. Private sponsorship means iHelp International and its supporters will look after the refugee family for at least a year as they settle into their new life in Canada.
Radio-Canada – À l’Î-P-E, une immigration en forte hausse et des contraintes supplémentaires
À l’Île-du-Prince-Édouard, la proportion de la population qui est issue de l’immigration est la plus élevée du Canada atlantique. Au total, 7,8 % des insulaires sont immigrants, contre 6 % en moyenne en Atlantique. Les chiffres du recensement en lien avec l’immigration, publiés par Statistique Canada mercredi, montrent que près d’un Canadien sur quatre (23 %) est, ou a été, un immigrant reçu ou un résident permanent. Il s’agit du plus fort taux par rapport à l’histoire du pays.
À Halifax, plus de 35 % de tous les immigrants qui vivent dans la ville sont arrivés entre 2016 et 2021, selon les plus récentes données de Statistique Canada. Ce sont 17 960 immigrants qui ont choisi de poser leurs valises dans la capitale néo-écossaise au cours des cinq dernières années. Un bond important, si on compare ce chiffre à celui des cinq années précédentes, où Halifax a accueilli 6 865 immigrants.
