A national alliance dedicated to providing an evidence base for newcomer settlement & integration and the promotion of welcoming communities in Canada
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.
With the increasing backlog in the federal immigration department’s inventory, many families are searching for answers about their futures. According to data received from the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada department, the country had a backlog of more than 2.4 million immigration applications as of June 29, up from 1.8 million applications in March.
Invoquant une pénurie de main-d’oeuvre à l’échelle nationale, plusieurs ministres provinciaux de l’immigration veulent avoir plus de contrôle sur le processus d’immigration dans leur province respective. Ils ont d’ailleurs envoyé une lettre à leur homologue fédéral pour réclamer des changements. Des ministres de l’Ontario, de l’Alberta, de la Saskatchewan et du Manitoba demandent de permettre à leurs provinces de sélectionner davantage d’immigrants avec les compétences dont leurs provinces ont le plus besoin.
https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1901184/immigration-provinces-penurie-main-doeuvre
As the war in Ukraine surges on, nearly 1,200 Ukrainians have left their homes and livelihoods to settle in Saskatchewan. However, some of them are struggling to join the workforce and kick-start their new lives due to government requirements. The Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) is now pushing for change to help add workers specifically to the agriculture sector more quickly and effectively.
https://globalnews.ca/news/9020562/sask-rural-municipalities-ukrainian-work-permits-expedited/
After spending the last three decades here in Canada, a local father accused of war crimes is fighting to be allowed to stay. Jaime Carrasco Varela is accused of crimes against humanity while serving under the Sandinista National Liberation Front government in Nicaragua from 1983 to 1989. Neither he nor his family dispute he did serve the left-wing government of the day but do maintain he was not involved in the atrocities he’s now accused.
In April, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced that those with work permits that expired or are expiring between January and December 2022 would be eligible for an 18-month extension starting in mid-June. In June, immigration Minister Sean Fraser said on Twitter that extensions would be available to those with permits expiring as far back as September 2021. Since the initial announcement, no further details have been released about the application process, which is expected to be through an online portal.
Citing a nationwide labour shortage, several provincial immigration ministers say they want more control over the immigration process, and have sent a letter to their federal counterpart calling for change. Ministers from Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba are calling on Sean Fraser, Canada’s minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship, to allow their provinces to select more immigrants “with the skills they need most” in a letter sent Tuesday night.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/provincial-immigration-labour-1.6532956