Immigration levels frozen
Focus turns to students, workers
OTTAWA — Immigration levels will remain frozen for the seventh straight year as the government shifts the makeup of newcomers to create more space for foreign students and skilled workers who want to stay in Canada permanently.
After tabling his department’s annual report in Parliament on Wednesday, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced Canada would admit between 240,000 and 265,000 newcomers in 2013 — a target that’s gone unchanged since 2006.
Noting Canada is moving to prioritize young people with strong language skills and homegrown credentials, Kenney also indicated that the Canada Experience Class (CEC) would welcome a record 10,000 permanent residents in 2013, about 3,000 more than were admitted this year.
He said the growth in CEC would come at the expense of the federal skilled worker program, which has not been as successful when it comes to integration.
The program is undergoing a makeover, and a new points grid that favours younger workers with strong language skills is expected to be implemented within the first half of 2013. Under the revamped program, skilled workers will also have to get their education credentials assessed before they come to Canada.
“We believe that young people like these can be model immigrants to Canada,” Kenney said, pointing to a handful of international students from Carleton University and the University of Ottawa who joined him for the announcement on Parliament Hill.
“They will complete their studies with degrees or diplomas that will be recognized by employers, they will have perfected or improved their English or French language skills and it will be very easy for them to find successful employment in Canada. Many of these young people will rep- resent, we hope, the future of Canada’s large and generous immigration program.”
The CEC stream ultimately fast-tracks permanent residency for temporary foreign workers and international post-secondary students already in Canada. Just 2,500 permanent residents were admitted through the program in 2009 and Kenney admits growth has been slow.
“The very first year we targeted 8,000 and we only got 2,500 applicants. It mystified us. We issue about 75,000 study permits a year. In addition, of course, we have about 60,000 temporary foreign workers,” Kenney said in an interview.
“Each year, somewhere in the range of 150,000 people are coming on temporary visas who in principle could qualify for CEC but only a tiny fraction were applying,”
“I still met university administrators over the last year who didn’t seem to know about it. … You’re going to see me on campuses, meeting with foreign students, explaining the process … and encouraging them to think about staying in Canada.”