Born and raised in New York, Dodi Robbins graduated from Harvard University and has been practising law for 13 years.
Her first language is English. Yet like all other skilled immigrants applying to settle in Canada, the American corporate lawyer must now take a language test to prove her English is good enough to settle here.
“I was outraged, insulted and floored,” said Robbins, who obtained her law degree at Benjamin N. Cardozo Law School in New York. A mother of two, she has been working in Toronto on a work permit for four years as compliance and regulations counsel for an international financial services company.
“I almost fell off the chair. I’ve been practising law here for years and I have to prove my proficiency in English?”
Last month Ottawa made its language proficiency test mandatory for all skilled immigrant applicants, including native English and French speakers. The so-called “ministerial instructions” stipulate officials are not to process applications without language test results, starting June 26.
The tests – the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and Test d’évaluation de français (TEF) – will affect tens of thousands of immigrant applicants from English- and French-speaking countries. Immigration statistics show Canada landed about 33,500 permanent residents from these countries in 2008; about 60 per cent were skilled workers or investors. The United Kingdom, United States and France are among the top 10 source countries.
Ottawa’s move is creating a furor among immigration lawyers, especially since the government had tried to make the test mandatory back in 2008, then backed down amid protests from the Canadian Bar Association.
Critics say the government is now trying to use the ministerial instructions to circumvent public scrutiny and consultation, ramming through changes without parliamentary oversight.
Earlier this month, Toronto immigration lawyer Cathryn Sawicki applied to Federal Court for a judicial review of the legality of the minister’s instructions.
The application, with arguments to be filed Wednesday, claims the instructions on the language test violate Canada’s immigration law, which states applicants have the option of either a language test or a written submission attesting to their language ability, the latter intended for people whose first language was English or French.
Sawicki said Immigration Minister Jason Kenney should be going through the parliamentary system if he chooses to change the law.
Winnipeg litigation lawyer David Matas said the manner in which the language test was made mandatory could set a “dangerous precedent” if the immigration minister can change the law with the stroke of a pen.
“What they have done is illegal,” he said. “If they can use (the law) this way, they can use it in many different ways,” like choosing to accept immigrants from some countries and not others, he added.
Ottawa has argued a test is the “fairest, most transparent, objective, consistent and accurate” way to assess language proficiency.
But Toronto immigration lawyer Robin Seligman said Canada should make exemptions, as Britain and Australia do. Both countries offer exemptions to native English speakers, to those who hold passports or have lived for 10 years or more in an English-speaking country, and to university graduates of an English-speaking country.
Meanwhile, Robbins says she is juggling her full-time job and two kids to prepare for the IELTS test in August.
________________________________________
IELTS test
The test is divided into academic and general streams. Each stream includes 30 minutes responding to questions from recorded tapes, 60 minutes reading passages with various tasks, 60 minutes on a writing assignment and an essay, and a roughly 10-minute interview with an examiner to test oral skills.
500 — Test centres in 130 countries
1.4 million — People who sat the test in 2009
24 — Test centres in Canada
189 — Organizations, including universities and colleges, which recognize the test in Canada
$285 — Exam fee in Canada
Source: IELTS

The United States has long prided itself as being a global superpower, and consequently, celebrating all that comes with that title. Which is namely, being able to claim you’re the best at most things.

But it looks like Canada can now confidently say it is finally better than the U.S. in one area (besides winning gold medal Olympic hockey games): economic management.

On Monday, the LA Times ran a piece on why Canada’s economy is defying the nearly ubiquitous trends of economic malaise afflicting the developed world. And it explains why the U.S. is still struggling to recover from the global recession while Canada has almost shrugged off its effects.

“We did a lot of things right going into the financial crisis,” Glen Hodgson, senior vice president at the Conference Board of Canada, told the Times.


It all started in the 1990s, when Canada could have easily been a contemporary member of Europe’s “PIIGS” — an acronym referring to Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain, countries with bloated debts and sputtering economies. Canada too had a massive debt load in the early ‘90s. It also faced credit rating cuts across the board, and saw borrowing costs spike as a result.

But Canada responded with deep spending cuts to fix what many economists saw as a ticking economic time bomb. The federal government introduced harsh austerity measures that every Canadian felt — social programs were gutted, civil service pay was cut — as Canada attempted to decrease its massive 70% debt-to-GDP ratio.

In the end, after slowed growth and thousands of lost jobs, it worked. By 2008, Canada went into the global recession with a debt-to-GDP ration of just under 20%.

That meant Canada was better prepared than the rest of the developed world to face the effects of the recession. This year, for example, the country’s fiscal deficit is forecasted be $33 billion, well below the 3%-of-GDP threshold that economists consider manageable. Compare that to the U.S.’s 9.2%.

But that’s not the only thing Canada has done better than the U.S. The Times for instance points out that Canada’s banks were heralded as beacons of stability after the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the start of the credit crisis in 2008. Banks here are relatively conservative compared to their American counterparts — exposure to sub-prime loans was low and home equity lines, which contributed to the credit crisis in the U.S., are recent offerings in Canada.

Another interesting facet of Canada’s economic success is attributed to the handling of immigration. The Times says that while Canada admits 60% of its immigrants as “economic immigrants” — that is skilled workers, entrepreneurs and investors — only one in seven such immigrants to the U.S. match that criteria.

And that might not change anytime soon. Because illegal immigration is such a dominating topic in the U.S., making changes to the country’s immigration system tend to take a back seat in policy discussion. That means Washington will likely continue to emphasize bringing in family members of current immigrants over targeting highly-skilled workers. Which is simply counter-intuitive, since such people are so crucial to today’s knowledge-based economy.

So will the U.S. wake up and adopt Canada’s best practices? Although all of the above issues have been discussed (and extensively debated) in Congress, it seems unlikely. The immigration issue doesn’t look like it will be tackled anytime soon, considering Arizona’s new immigrant law has pushed illegal immigration to the forefront now more than ever before. Meanwhile, austerity measures haven’t gained much traction in the U.S., and banking reform faces significant opposition in Congress.

Whatever the U.S. ends up doing, one thing is for certain: when it comes to economic management, Canada reigns supreme. And that doesn’t look like it will change anytime soon.

Ghost advisers will face criminal charges, hefty fine and jail time
thestar.com

Published On Sun Jun 6 2010

Nicholas Keung
Immigration Reporter

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is set to introduce a new law that will make it a criminal offence for anyone to offer immigration services without being a registered consultant.
The Cracking Down on Crooked Consultants Act, to be unveiled in Parliament Tuesday, will allow law enforcement authorities to lay criminal charges against the so-called “ghost consultants,” who prey on vulnerable to-be migrants but are off the officials’ radar, the Star has learned.
Such individuals could face a $50,000 fine and a two-year jail term upon conviction.
The changes come two years after a Star investigative series that exposed the problem of unscrupulous immigration consultants who have continued to take advantage of the law’s loopholes despite a new regulatory body Ottawa established in 2004 to weed out these operations.
“The new legislation will crack down crooked consultants who are exploiting tens of thousands of people who dream of coming to this country,” one source told the Star. “This has created an entire industry of underground ghost consultants who offer people fraudulent advice and counterfeit documents and never fulfill their promises — this has obviously been a long-standing problem.”
Examples of consultants taking advantage of the system include charging applicants for refugee claims when they’re not real refugees or taking applicants’ money without completing the necessary paperwork.
Currently, RCMP and Canada Border Services Agency officers can only go after those unauthorized individuals whose names appear in immigration or refugee applications as the legal representatives — but ghost consultants never identify themselves in any official document.
Often, immigrant and refugee applicants have to bear the consequences of such frauds and misrepresentation, seeing their cases unnecessarily rejected and their dreams shattered.
The criminalization of unauthorized consultants was one of the key recommendations put forward by the all-party parliamentary citizenship and immigration standing committee, which conducted a nation-wide consultation in 2008 to revamp the consultants’ regulatory system after the Star investigation.
The Star series found that the consultants’ regulator, the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants, only has the authority to regulate its 1,500 members but was itself engulfed in and consumed with internal management issues — pushing some frustrated consultants to practise underground. It’s not yet known if the government will seek an overhaul of the regulatory body.
Another source told the Star that the proposed legislation will allow improved information-sharing among enforcement authorities and the regulator “on individuals providing unethical or unprofessional representation or advice.”
These changes will complement the immigration department’s public awareness campaign in the past year to warn immigration and refugee applicants of the use of unauthorized consultants and its improved web-based application tools that make it easier for applicants to file applications on their own.
One of the two sources also said, as part of the overall crackdown strategy, the Canadian government plans to sign bilateral and multinational agreements with other countries to crack down on fraudulent activities of overseas immigration consultants, who are out of Canada’s reach.
Unpaid third parties, such as family members, friends and not-for-profit community groups, who provide immigration services, would not be affected by the new law.

The new online tool will help teachers enlighten students about settlement and immigration to Canada.
By staff writer

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has released an educational tool that provides information about civics, history and citizenship in Canada. This tool will help the teachers to inform and educate students about various steps, which will be helpful in settling in the country, according to the ministry.

CIC Minister Jason Kenney says the resource is not just for newcomers but for all Canadians: "This web tool helps promote a solid understanding of Canada’s history, values, symbols and political institutions, and an appreciation of how ethnic and cultural communities have helped shape Canada’s national identity.”

The first module called A Fun Path to Learning includes mostly information from the recently released citizenship study guide, Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship. The guide helps newcomers learn essential facts about Canada’s political institutions and its history in regards to immigrants.

Kenney adds that a greater understanding of the country’s culture and history helps to unite all Canadians, whether they were born in Canada or have recently moved to Canada.

Recently Dr. Alice Wong, Parliamentary Secretary to Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, and Moira Stilwell, B.C. Minister of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development, signed the new Canada-British Columbia Immigration Agreement.


Immigation Minister Kenney had the following to say:

"The signing of today's agreement with British Columbia will support the integration of newcomers, helping to ensure that they're able to contribute to our economy and succeed in Canada." He also went on to say "I am also pleased to announce the first temporary foreign worker annex to this agreement today. This will facilitate the entry of these workers to help British Columbia fill critical labour shortages."

Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development had the following to say:

"The agreement will help Canada attract the skilled international workers it needs to meet the needs of the Canadian economy as we emerge from the global economic recession." Minister Finley went on to say "It will certainly strengthen British Columbia's ability to meet its labour market needs both today and in the future."

Minister Stilwell had the following to say:

"The renewal of this agreement strengthens our partnership with the federal government and our commitment to providing welcoming and inclusive communities and workplaces in B.C. for newcomers." Minister Stilwell went onto say; "Immigrants coming to our province not only enrich the social fabric of B.C., they also bring economic advantages, generate innovation, attract industries and workers, and spur economic growth."

It is the intention that the agreement will lead to improved collaboration between Canada Immigration and British Columbia on immigration matters. The immigration agreement involves community partners, including local governments, service providers and the private sector to help welcome and integrate immigrants into Canadian society. The Canadian Government will be transferring $114 million to British Columbia for immigration and settlement services and for welcoming communities initiatives.

It is hoped that the immigration agreement will result in more immigration intoto British Columbia and will encourage existing immigrants to say. This will help immigrants integrate and help meet British Columbia's economic and social needs.

Saskatchewan is now the only province enabling applications for immigration to be made online, part of a new website that immigrant Ercoph Bongomin said would have made his journey to the province easier -- if it had been available 10 years ago.

In 2001, Bongomin and his family came to the province from Egypt, where they had been living as refugees from their home country of Sudan. Today, Bongomin, his spouse and their four children call Regina home. Bongomin works as an accountant and the whole family cheers for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

"I didn't know much about Regina," Bongomin said, referring to the time before his move to the city. "But my attitude was, anywhere people live, I can live. They (officials) told me, 'If you don't find it good for you, you can move to another province.' "

That was almost 10 years ago. The Bongomins have stayed.

"My experience here has been very good," he said. "As soon as I arrived here, I found also some people that came from my country before me and that makes it even better. I would tell (others) that Saskatchewan is a good place to live, especially Regina. It has all the feeling of a big city. At the same time ... the community is very supportive ... People are very friendly."

Bongomin upgraded his education at the University of Regina. He values the education system for his children, two of whom were born here. The story of their success is one of several featured on the new website.

The provincial government launched the website this month. It provides a central, comprehensive source of information about immigration, including how to apply through the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program -- the only program that allows people to submit their applications online, as well as track the status of their applications on the website.

Such a website would have made a difference for Bongomin.

"It took me longer to get all the information I needed. If this website had been there, it would have been easier," he stated.

"I think this demonstrates the real benefits of co-operation with Ottawa," said Rob Norris, provincial minister responsible for immigration, noting the federal government provided funds for the new project over three years to the tune of $450,000.

The website will allow for more efficiency within the provincial office, Norris said, noting staff will be able to focus on processing applications. A continuing goal is to reduce the time it takes to process an application, though some of that responsibility rests with the federal government.

Norris said he hopes the website will encourage prospective immigrants to choose Saskatchewan. Last year, about 9,000 immigrants came to the province as a result of the SINP. This year, the goal is 10,000.

Immigration is one of several avenues of population growth being pursued. Growth is important for both economic and revitalization reasons, Norris said. With many open jobs on the horizon, more people will be needed; plus, growth of the economy is related to population. There also are intangibles.

"We want to foster and facilitate increasingly diverse, dynamic and cosmopolitan communities," said Norris, noting newcomers are moving to 160 different communities, which are becoming more inclusive as a result. He said the province also is working with partners to enhance services to help immigrants settle.

Canada's large baby-boom population is starting to reach the age of retirement, this constitutes over a third of the Canadian workforce. They will be retiring over the next 20 years, what this means is that Canada will need to invest considerable efforts to keep offices, stores, companies and factories staffed with skilled and unskilled workers.

"The labor shortage is an issue that will be very real to this country over the next 20 years. Canada is increasing the flow of skilled immigrants already to avoid problems. Additionally, they are reducing barriers to inter-provincial mobility and improving the recognition of foreign qualifications making it easier for foreign trained skilled workers to achieve their immigration visa" says Renaud Dery, Managing Partner at Dery & Associates.

In the next couple of years, as the baby boomers are retiring the Canadian labor force will be losing a large volume of workers. At the same time, the demand for skilled workers will continue to rise rapidly and various projections show Canada's education and training systems will have a hard time keeping up. With those factors combined, high unemployment and large labor shortages are at a high possibility. "If Canada is going to keep up with the changing needs it's facing, we are going to have to continue to address our skilled worker needs and keep an open mind to foreign trained skilled workers." adds Richard Dery, Executive Director.

There are several industries where the demand for skilled workers will be felt the most. Oil and gas manufacturing are two sectors that are expected to increase rapidly in the coming year as well as the construction industry. There will be an increase in finance and accounting jobs as professionals will be sought out to change to new, mandated accounting practices. Additionally, engineering demand will grow as construction projects are being passed on to the next generation. As alwasy, the demand for nurses and doctors is going to be extremely high as the needs of the baby boomers will be considerable.

“We are a law firm that prides ourselves on offering personalized service. With the growing needs that the Canadian labor market is facing, more than ever we are doing our best to ensure a smooth and efficient transition for our clients giving them the opportunity to thrive and prosper in Canada.” adds Dery.

For more information on the Skilled Visa go to: www.Canadim.com

Canadim is a Montreal based Immigration Law firm. The managing partner, Renaud Dery, is an attorney member of the Quebec Bar Association (www.barreau.qc.ca) with many years of experience in the field of Canadian immigration. He holds a civil and common law degree from the University of Ottawa, as well as a Master’s degree in law from the King’s College London in England. All associates are experienced and certified Canadian lawyers with in depth knowledge of the laws and regulations which govern Citizenship and Immigration in Canada.

Starting today, the popular new citizenship study guide, Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship is available as an audio download. The announcement was made by Senator Marjory LeBreton at the Canadian War Museum on behalf of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney.

“We want newcomers to successfully integrate into Canadian society and become full and equal citizens,” said Senator LeBreton. “This study guide is a necessity for anyone seeking Canadian citizenship and it must be accessible to everyone. Now you can listen to it in your car, on your commute, while you exercise – anywhere you choose.”

Because not all citizenship applicants have the same literacy or learning ability, this audio guide has been produced to assist those who are still strengthening their proficiency in French or English. It is the first step in developing more resources to accompany the guide.

As noted in this year’s Speech from the Throne, our Government will be commemorating the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812 two years from now. Events such as this, which helped shape our identity as Canadians and ultimately our existence as a country, are just one of many significant historical events added to the new study guide.

“A shared understanding of our history unites us as Canadians,” Senator LeBreton said. “The citizenship study guide places new emphasis on important historical events like the War of 1812 because a country’s future is built on its history. Newcomers are helping write the next pages of our history.”

The study guide is available as a CD or for download online as an mp3, .mov or .wmv file. To order or download, visit www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/multimedia/audio/discover/index.asp

Despite controversial measures introduced two years ago to speed up Canada's immigration process, a backlog of skilled immigrant applications appears to be re-emerging, critics say.

According to an analysis of Citizenship and Immigration Canada's latest data, the average processing time from all visa posts is 7 1/2 years, with 600,000 people in the queue for the 80,055 skilled immigrant visas granted in 2010.

The problem, immigration critics say, is twofold: longer waits as the government slowly sifts through the old backlog of applications that still runs in the hundreds of thousands, and a glut of applications to the 38 specific job categories introduced in 2008.

"We have a growing inventory because we have an oversupply of eager candidates," said Richard Kurland, a Vancouver-based immigrant lawyer and policy analyst who obtained the data. "The processing time is going to balloon. This is an early warning of a backlog returning."

To reduce the volume of applications, Kurland said Ottawa needs to trim the occupation list and install a warning system that alerts officials to remove a job category when it generates too many applications.

"It may be unpopular politically, but the immigration minister needs to fix this," Kurland said.

The new legislation was brought in to reduce the backlog and more quickly bring in immigrants whose skills are in demand, although opposition parties at the time warned it wouldn't solve the backlog.

Immigration spokesperson Kelli Fraser acknowledged this week that between March 2008 and now, the department has received 327,843 skilled immigrant applications for the 38 occupations, everything from geologists and specialist physicians to chefs and plumbers. But she said 80 per cent of decisions have been made within seven months or less.

Visa offices facing high workloads include Damascus in Syria, Guatemala, Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago, and Kingston, Jamaica.

The old backlog has been reduced by 40 per cent from 640,000 to roughly 400,000 applicants, she said. Under the old rules, a skilled immigrant application took four to five years to process; "given the size of the backlog, it cannot be reduced overnight," said Fraser.

At a recent immigration conference in Toronto, Immigration Canada's international director general Renald Gilbert said there are numerous challenges, resources being a key one.

"More applications mean a longer backlog," he said, adding over the last four years the federal government more than doubled resources to process temporary foreign worker permits, but increased resources at visa posts abroad by only 7 per cent. Part of the problem is the mismatch between the number of applications and government targets allotted to individual visa posts, said Phil Mooney, president of the Canadian Association of Professional Immigration Consultants.

For example, the number of skilled immigrants waiting for visas in Islamabad, Pakistan, is 40,587 but the total number of visas to be granted there in 2010 is only 1,350, according to Kurland's analysis.

The loose description of some qualifying jobs, such as "financial manager" and "college instructor" also contributes to an influx of applications, said Mooney.

And, he worries about the aggressive marketing in some countries by immigration firms, legal and otherwise, that push people to apply even though they only vaguely meet the criteria.

"The sales pitch is very persuasive. The same thing happening now is what was happening before. People can come without a job. When the job market saturates, these people quickly end up at the food bank."

The immigration department just announced this month plans to review labour market needs to update the occupation list.

Close to 600,000 skilled workers around the world are waiting in line to get into Canada with some processing missions showing visa queues that could stretch up to 15 years, a top immigration expert said.
Using data obtained via Access to Information requests, Richard Kurland, a lawyer and one of Canada’s top immigration analysts said that the numbers are an early warning sign for Immigration Canada to act and reduce the waiting times.
There are 594,274 people in inventory waiting for 80,055 skilled workers visas in 2010, Kurland estimated.
“Parliament does not want long processing queues for skilled workers, and gave the Minister of
Citizenship and Immigration harsh policy tools (“C-50”) to be deployed in this kind of situation,’ said Kurland in his latest Lexbase information bulletin.
“The Minister needs to consider downsizing the number of eligible occupations from the current 38, to a much smaller number.”
The global average waiting times for all categories at all missions is 2.64 years.
“But then we examined the skilled workers. A very different picture emerges. Global average for all missions is 7.62 years ,” Kurland noted.
Kurland said downsizing the total number of eligible occupations does not mean Canada loses out on potential immigrants.
“The people who are no longer eligible federally, may apply under Provincial Nominee Programs, or can choose to seek temporary status in Canada under the Foreign Worker Program and subsequently apply under the Canada Experience Class… Canada’s door remains open,” said Kurland.
“It may be unpopular politically, but the Minister needs to fix this.”
Current projections and estimates show processing times for skilled workers of 12.79 years (New Delhi 117,098 people); 7.69 years (Hong Kong 30,763 people); 57.80 years (Nairobi 8,960 people); 33.51
years (Accra 18,688 people), or 30.06 years (Islamabad).
“Experience shows that unless a Minister is able to say ‘no’, processing inventories will bloat, and processing times will continue to lengthen beyond reasonable limits,” warned Kurland.
Kurland’s warning comes as Statistics Canada reported that Vancouver’s visible minority population is on track to become the majority over the next two decades.
The report shows visible minority groups are growing rapidly and will account for 59 per cent of the metro region’s total population by 2031, up from a current figure of about 40 per cent.
Immigration — led by China and South Asia — is a leading factor in the changing demographic picture.
Of the estimated two million visible minorities living in the region in 20 years’ time, one in three will be Canadian-born, the report states.
Nationally, Vancouver’s diversity projections are second only to Toronto, which could be home to 63 per cent of visible minority residents by 2031. The Abbotsford-Mission region ranks third with an estimated population of 39 per cent over the same time period, followed by Calgary (38 per cent), Ottawa (36 per cent), Windsor, (33 per cent) and Montreal (31 per cent).
Meanwhile, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney said he is streamlining the process for assessing the language skills of applicants to the Federal Skilled Worker and Canadian Experience classes.
“The language requirements themselves have not changed,” said Minister Kenney.
“But beginning April 10, 2010, prospective immigrants will be required to prove their English and French language abilities at the time they apply. This requirement supports our commitment to fast, fair and efficient application processing.”
Previously, to prove language ability in French or English, applicants could either submit an independent, third-party test or a written submission to a visa officer.
An immigrant’s English or French language ability is one of the strongest predictors of their success in the job market.
Kenney also announced a new internet resource for newcomers to help them quickly and easily find a range of government services, in addition to settlement services, in their communities
This resource is easy to find at www.servicesfornewcomers.cic.gc.ca.