Canadian Immigration Minister Joe Volpe unveiled changes to Canada's immigration policy, including plans to take in as many as 300,000 new immigrants annually within the next five years.
Volpe, in a report on immigration introduced in the lower House of Commons on Monday, said Canada accepted nearly 236,000 immigrants last year, facilitated 2,000 international adoptions and reunited 6,000 refugee spouses and children with their families.
He said Canada intends to accept as many as 255,000 new immigrants next year.
"Looking to the future, more successful and well integrated newcomers in all parts of Canada are key to nation building and to our economic prosperity," Volpe said in his annual report on the immigration situation.
Volpe told the Globe and Mail in Monday's editions that Ottawa was "desperate for immigration," and would accept as many as 300,000 immigrants by 2010.
In his report, Volpe said Ottawa plans to hire more temporary workers to tackle the enormous backlog of 700,000 prospective immigrants. Applicants can wait of as long as four years to have their applications processed in Canadian missions around the world.
Canada -- a vast country slightly larger than the US, though much of it in the frigid north -- has only 33 million people, compared with 296 million Americans.
According to the most recent national census in 2001, 18.4 percent of Canada's population was foreign born.
Volpe said Citizenship and Immigration Canada had met the target for immigration for the past five years, with more than 220,000 people obtaining permanent residency annually since 2000.
"To succeed, we must make the system work better; it is not enough to have people come to our country," Volpe said. "Equally important, we need them to be successful once they are here to ensure that both immigrants and Canada fully benefit from the skills and talents newcomers bring."
Canada is often criticized for attracting educated immigrants, who then complain that their professional credentials are not accepted. Many foreign doctors and engineers end up working as taxi drivers and waiters, and those who do find jobs in their professions earn less than their Canadian-born counterparts despite better education.
Usha George, a professor of social work at the University of Toronto who specializes in immigrant policy, said that the immigrant engineers, doctors and nurses who are driving cabs or taking care of children for well-to-do Canadian families at least have the hope that their children will have better lives.
"Canada needs more people -- and more people are ready to come," said George, herself an immigrant from India. "It's seen as a safer place, a good country and more than anything else -- the feeling that their children will have better opportunities."
Volpe says he plans to consult with unions, businesses and immigrant groups to better understand what kinds of workers are needed, and how to better place them.
Ottawa is also planning to introduce a new "in-Canada" application that will allow temporary workers and students to apply for landed-immigrant status once they have worked here for a certain number of months.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was