Canadian Immigration Officials Consider Czech Visa Reinstatement

Citizenship and Immigration Canada recently removed the passport visa requirement for Czech nationals visiting Canada. This meant that such individuals became eligible to seek admission at a Canadian port of entry without first seeking a passport visa at a Canadian visa office. This expedited the ability of tourists and business persons to travel to Canada.

A recent wave of refugee claimants from the Czech Republic, number approximately 100 in the past few months, has caused Canada's Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to reconsider this move, however. The claimants, mainly of the Roma ethnicity, are generally considered by Human Rights agencies to be discriminated against by the Czech population. In 1997, as similar wave of refugee claims derived from the Czech Roma, which at that time caused a 10 year reinstatement of the passport visa requirement.

Canadian Government Promotes Recognition of Immigrants' Qualifications

Canada's government has enacted a number of strategies in the past several years intended to specifically address its effort to improve the integration of immigrants into Canadian society. A large part of this overall effort is the improvement of the recognition of foreign credentials in Canada. By improving the recognition of such international credentials, the government seeks to improve the success of Canadian immigrants quickly finding work in the fields of their expertise.

As part of the effort to improve credential recognition, the government has recently introduced a new resource directed to Canadian employers. Integrated in to the Foreign Credentials Referral Office (FCRO), the Employer's Roadmap is intended to aid employers in meeting their labour needs more effectively, while allowing skilled newcomers to apply their expertise to work in Canada more quickly.The Employer’s Roadmap derives from a partnership between the FCRO, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), and The Alliance of Sector Councils (TASC).

Speaking about this new resource, Canada's Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism states that “The Government of Canada is committed to improving the labour market integration of internationally trained workers – this is essential to building a strong Canada: socially, culturally and economically. Employers are key partners in helping internationally trained workers find jobs in their areas of training, and this resource makes it easier for employers to assess their qualifications.”

Facilitation of Admission of VANOC Workers

As the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games approach, Citizenship and Immigration Canada is seeking to facilitate the admission of approximately 7000 foreign national through Regulatory amendments. VANOC, or the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, has been given the authority to register and accredit foreign nationals who are performing a specific role or function within the organization, which will allow for the admission of such nationals through deemed multiple-entry temporary resident visas, which are not subject to the normal cost-recovery fees.

These Regulatory amendments to Canada's Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations allow such admission between the dates of December 12th 2009 through March 28th 2010. They are automatically repealed on April 22nd 2010. These amendments were developed though consultations with VANOC and various Canadian government bodies, including Human Resources and Skills Development Canada; The Royal Canadian Mounted Police; Canada Border Services Agency; and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

Given the international significance of Olympic and Paralympic Games, these amendments by Citizenship and Immigration Canada are intended to streamline and facilitate the immigration process of VANOC registered members. The consultation of the various organizations ensures that such chagnes do not have a negative impact on Canada's immigration programs or the health safety of Canadians.

B.C. Employers Recognize Benefits of Canadian Immigration

Industry leaders in the province of British Columbia are stating that the employment of skilled Canadian immigrants is a practice which is beneficial to all parties and which should be encouraged within local businesses. Heads of commerce such as the CEO of BC Hydro and the Vice President of Spectra Energy feel that their companies experience numerous benefits through the employment of new Canadians, and that such new arrivals benefit from the experience they receive within Canadian industry.

Bohdan Bodnar, vice president of human resources for Spectra Energy's Canada operations, feels that Canada is able to attract the best and brightest from abroad. He feels that improving the recognition of their credentials once they arrive in Canada should be a primary focus of the Canadian government in order to ensure that they quickly find work in the fields of their expertise. He states that his company seeks to help Canadian immigrants with this challenge by paying for skilled workers to attend cultural and linguistic workplace-preparation programs.

Bob Elton, CEO of BC Hydro, says that his company seeks to aid the integration process by hiring Canadian immigrants to work with more established employees who are accredited. The result of this is that new immigrants gain the work experience required by some accreditation processes and his company may be able to to secure a loyal employee.

Canada's Minister of Citizenship and Immigration has stated that his government recognizes the needs for improved integration, for which substantial funding has been devoted. However, looking to the efforts of Canada's industry leaders may yield some strategies on effective means of achieving this effort.

Researcher Commends Integration of Canadian Immigrants

Will Kymlicka is the Queen's University Canada Research Chair in Political Philosophy and author of several books on the topic of multiculturalism. In a recent interview Canada's Globe and Mail news organization, he suggested that Canada has demonstrated and unprecedented level of integration of new immigrants into its society.

Some of the facts that Kymlicka points to in asserting Canada's success with immigration include:

• that, unlike many nations promoting immigration, most Canadian immigrants move on to become citizens;
• that the children of immigrant families tend to outperform those of non-immigrant families in regard to education - an anomaly in any Western democracy;
• Canadian immigrants comprising visible minorities tend to demonstrate very high levels of pride in Canada.

Kymlicka does identify some areas in which Canada can improve its immigration integration. He suggests that facilitating the recognition of academic credentials and employment experience will help economic integration.

Canadian Immigrant Agency Receives $1.9 million

An Ottawa organization has received a CAD$1.9 million provincial grant that will assist it in expending its services to Canadian employers. The organization works with local employers in order to assist them in removing barriers to hiring and retaining skilled workers who immigrate to Canada. Part of the near-term plan of the organization is to create a new working group which concentrates on the biotechnology sector; current programs currently focus on health-care, IT, finance, and public sectors.

The agency presently predicts that local labour requirements will exceed the supply of workers by 2014. It predicts that Canadian immigration will be responsible for all labour market growth in the region by the year 2011.

The Ontario Minister of Citizenship and Immigration states that "Programs like United Way Ottawa's Hire Immigrants Ottawa have proven effective in getting newcomers jobs that match their skills, expertise and qualifications."

Province of Quebec Funds Employment Resource

The province of Quebec has announced CAD$6 million in funding for programs intended to assist new Canadians to successfully settle in Canada. The money will go to local community groups that provide services and guidance to immigrants to aid them in getting their credentials and training recognized or upgraded so they can find work related to those skills.

The province has announced that the first CAD$900,000 of the available funds will be contributed to a group of nine community grounds in the municipalities of Villeray, St. Michel, Ahuntsic-Cartierville and the east of Montreal Island. Some of the services that these groups provide include improving language skills, assisting in the preparation of resumés, preparation for employment interviews, and more.