Changes to Canadian Citizenship Rules Draw Criticism

Complexities in Canada's new Citizenship Act are drawing concerns and complaints from adoptive parents, to a large extent due to the complexity of certain elements. As is currently the case, the new rules permit Canadians who give birth abroad or adopt from another country to pass along their citizenship to such children. However, new federal legislation that will take effect this April can exclude those foreign-born children of Canadians from bestowing that same citizenship on their own children in the case that they adopt or give birth in a country other than Canada.

Canada's government explains that these changes are intended to correct a problematic loophole in the system. Closing this loophole will prevent foreign-born nationals from obtaining citizenship, then returning to their home country and being able to pass along Canadian citizenship to generations of family members who have never set foot in Canada.

Complaints suggest that these amendments to the Citizenship Act along with subsequent regulations that were released late last year do not consider the impact on internationally adopted children and children born to Canadians overseas. Contrary to these concerns, however, children born outside Canada who apply to become citizens after their Canadian parents sponsor them to come to this country as permanent residents are entitled to the same rights as children who are born here. In fact, the new rules will only have an impact on children whose Canadian parents choose to have them declared citizens of Canada while resident outside of Canada.

Immigrant Entrepreneur Loan Program

Credit unions in Nova Scotia have developed a program that is intended to provide funding to new immigrants who have an interest in starting, expanding, or buying a small business in the province. The program, which makes loans of up to CAD$150,000 available to Canadian immigrants, facilitates the opportunity to own and operate small businesses, to establish roots in the province, and to contribute to Nova Scotia's prosperous economy.

The program is intended to aid new immigrants by helping to bypass ordinary barriers in establishing a credit history in a new country. The Department of Economic and Rural Development will contribute CAD$2 million in loan guarantees, while the office of immigration will contribute CAD$100,000 a year for operating expenses.

The program also aids the province in retaining valuable new immigrants. "Immigrants who are able to establish businesses here are more likely to stay in Nova Scotia, thereby contributing to Nova Scotia's economic, social and cultural growth," says the Nova Scotia Immigration Minister.

Canadian Visitor Visa Exemptions

Recent changes to Canada's Immigration and Refugee Protection Act are now permitting visitor visa exemption to citizens of Poland and Lithuania. To be eligible, such an individual must hold a machine readable passport that contains a contactless integrated circuit chip and that is issued by one of the respective countries.

Others exemptions presently include:

• citizens of Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Republic of Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Israel (National Passport holders only), Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Portugal, Republic of Korea, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, San Marino, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Spain, Swaziland, Sweden, Slovenia, Switzerland, United States, and Western Samoa;
• persons lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence who are in possession of their alien registration card or can provide other evidence of permanent residence;
• British citizens and British Overseas Citizens who are re-admissible to the United Kingdom;
• citizens of British dependent territories who derive their citizenship through birth, descent, registration or naturalization in one of the British dependent territories of Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn, St. Helena or the Turks and Caicos Islands;
• persons holding a British National (Overseas) Passport issued by the Government of the United Kingdom to persons born, naturalized or registered in Hong Kong;
• persons holding a valid and subsisting Special Administrative Region passport issued by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China; and
• persons holding passports or travel documents issued by the Holy See.

Minister of Immigration Announces 2009 Goals

Canada’s Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, Jason Kenney, has released a New Year's message which lists the country’s achievements and goals with regard to Canadian immigration in 2008 and 2009.

Among the achievements described for 2008 are the expansion of the Post-Graduation Worker Permit Program; the investment of $1.4 billion since 2006 to assist immigrant settlement; and the implementation of provisions intended to expedite the processing of Skilled Worker immigration applications. The Minister's goal with the latter Action Plan for Faster Immigration is to reduce backlogs to 6-12 months, down from as much as 6 years.

Looking towards 2009, the Minister highlighted the fact that Canada will continue to maintain its immigration levels as other countries reduce theirs. He says, “The coming year will present challenges. However, we will meet these challenges together as we have many times before. We are fortunate to live in a country of great peace, prosperity, diversity and potential.”