Election Promises for immigrants

Pre-Election Promises to Perspective Immigrants

On November 24, just days before Parliament was dissolved and an election called, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Joe Volpe made a significant announcement regarding immigration application processing.

On any other news day that announcement could have been a page one story, but at a time when the Liberals were handing out cash left, right and centre, the announcement did not register on all radars.

The promise that Mr. Volpe made was two-fold. First, Mr. Volpe promised a $700 million investment over five years into Canada’s troubled immigration processing system, with the hopes of decreasing waiting times and increasing efficiency. Second, Mr. Volpe announced that a number of new categories of immigrants will be welcome to make applications for permanent resident visas.

Canadians and new immigrants alike have reason to be sceptical of a strategy of throwing cash at a problem to fix it. However, the new streams of applications offers hope of a true benefit to our immigration system. These new application options will fall under an In-Canada Economic Stream, due to be implemented by 2007.

Although details have not yet been released, it appears that the new economic stream will allow persons who have studied or worked in Canada for a number of years to apply for permanent resident visas from within the Canada.

Observers predict that the new in-Canada Economic Stream will be similar to the live-in caregiver program. Under that program, a person who has entered Canada as a live-in caregiver on a work permit may apply for permanent residence from within Canada, if they have completed two years of full-time employment as a live-in caregiver within three years of arriving in Canada.

The practical benefits of a new in-Canada stream are numerous. First, foreign workers and students will be able to come to Canada with confidence that if they like it here and succeed in their endeavours, they will have an opportunity to remain in Canada. That opportunity in and of itself makes Canada a more attractive choice for skilled workers and students looking for opportunities outside of their homelands.

Second, applications for permanent resident visas are usually made outside of Canada. Foreign workers and students in Canada who want to stay in Canada have to submit their applications for permanent resident visas outside of Canada. Allowing these applicants to apply from within Canada will take a significant amount of the workload of off our visa posts outside of the country. For every application made within Canada, that means one less application in Buffalo, Beijing, Damascus, New Delhi or anywhere else.

A third benefit is to employers in Canada. Critical labour market shortages can be addressed with enduring, as opposed to band-aid solutions. It is well known that employers often shy away from hiring foreign workers out of not understanding the process and not wanting to have to re-hire or re-train after the foreign worker leaves Canada. However, knowing that hiring a foreign worker could lead to a permanent job, allows an employer to hire foreign workers with more confidence.

While Mr. Volpe predicts that the new stream will lead to approximately 16,000 new permanent resident applications each year, some observers predict that that number will increase significantly over time and that this announcement is a step in the right direction.

However, one question that remains is whether this promise will survive the bitter-cold, winter election.