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Immigration and Quality of Employment

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2009 showed key differences between many indicators of employment quality of immigrants and non-immigrants. Salaries received by immigrant employees were generally lower, while temporary and part-time employment was more common. However, employment quality indicators for immigrants who came to Canada over 10 years ago we close to those of employees born in Canada.

In 2009, compared to Canadian-born employees, working immigrants 25 to 54 years of age (especially those who immigrated later, were younger and had a higher level of education) were often employed by smaller companies and tended to be in a variety of professional groups.

Despite the differences between many employment quality indicators, the number of immigrants working more than one job was close to that of Canadian-born workers. Additionally, the indicators for flexible and part-time employment as well as employment training indicators were almost the same for immigrant and non-immigrant workers.

In 2009, 5.2% of both immigrant and non-immigrant workers held more than one job or worked night shifts. There were no known differences based on the period of immigration. 9.7% of immigrants were temporarily employed, while the percentage of temporarily employed Canadian-born workers was 8.3%. Only 7.2% of workers who immigrated over 10 years ago were employed temporarily; evidently, this number is lower than that of Canadian-born workers.

2010 Immigration Statistics

753722_214109361Tims International Ltd. monitors the changes in immigration statistics, legislation and regulations on a daily basis.

 

Every year the Canadian Ministry of Immigration presents a report for Parliamentary review; this report informs the authorities and the Canadian society about the current state of affairs in the field of immigration.

Governmental plans relating to immigration quotas for 2010 were announced in the 2009 report. The estimated number of new immigrants that will be accepted in 2010 is virtually the same as the numbers from previous years.

In 2010 Canada plans to admit from 240,000 to 265,000 new immigrants. The majority of immigration visas will be granted to candidates applying under the Economic class.

The breakdown for the Economic class of immigrants in 2010 is as follows:

-Federal Skilled Workers: 66,500 to 71,500

-Federal Business Immigration (Entrepreneurs, Investors, Self-Employed): 9,000 to 9,500

-Canadian Experience class: 2,500 to 2,800

-Immigration to Quebec: 30,300 to 31,600

-Provincial Immigration Programs: 37,000 to 40,000

-Family Immigration class quota is the second largest, after the Economic class. It is planned to grant from 57,000 to 63,000 immigration visas for sponsored applicants.

From 19,600 to 26,000 visas will be issued to refugees and persons in need of protection.

From 7,100 to 9,200 immigrants will take advantage of other immigration programs.

Immigration Reform

The Conservative Party has yet again secured the support of the Liberal opposition on an issue previously strongly disputed by the Liberals. This time the issue at hand is the immigration reform. In an attempt to avoid provoking an untimely election, the Liberal Party was forced to accept the propositions of the Harper government that it publicly rejected.

One of the provisions of the reform sanctions the Minister of Immigration to make decisions on adjusting immigration flow, establishing preferred categories of immigrants as well as resolving individual immigration and refugee claim cases. According to the opponents of the proposed bill, the drafted changes may lead to discriminatory practices in the immigration process. Remarkably, the opposition does not discuss the interests of the nation as part of this debate. Meanwhile, the main idea of the reform is to allow the Minister of Immigration to quickly respond to the needs of country by determining which categories of immigrants are in demand in Canada. Certainly, there are concerns that the Minister will have the opportunity to reduce the quotas on other immigration categories, those for instance, that will be deemed to be an unnecessary burden on the country but at the same time represent desirable electorate for one or another political party. The practical consequences of the reform will be evident in the not-so-distant future.

In the meantime, it is interesting to note the results of a recently published study conducted by Statistics Canada. The results of the study show that the success of immigrants, among other factors, is largely influenced by their background, more specifically their country of origin. However, this assertion is not supported by specific data that would allow to precisely determine the cultural background that warrants immigrants’ success in adapting to life in Canada or pinpoint the reasons for this success such as, language proficiency, business initiative, high demand for a given occupation or belonging to one or another group widely represented in the public sector.

Immigration Reform

 

The Conservative Party has yet again secured the support of the Liberal opposition on an issue previously strongly disputed by the Liberals. This time the issue at hand is the immigration reform. In an attempt to avoid provoking an untimely election, the Liberal Party was forced to accept the propositions of the Harper government that it publicly rejected.

 

One of the provisions of the reform sanctions the Minister of Immigration to make decisions on adjusting immigration flow, establishing preferred categories of immigrants as well as resolving individual immigration and refugee claim cases. According to the opponents of the proposed bill, the drafted changes may lead to discriminatory practices in the immigration process. Remarkably, the opposition does not discuss the interests of the nation as part of this debate. Meanwhile, the main idea of the reform is to allow the Minister of Immigration to quickly respond to the needs of country by determining which categories of immigrants are in demand in Canada. Certainly, there are concerns that the Minister will have the opportunity to reduce the quotas on other immigration categories, those for instance, that will be deemed to be an unnecessary burden on the country but at the same time represent desirable electorate for one or another political party. The practical consequences of the reform will be evident in the not-so-distant future.

 

In the meantime, it is interesting to note the results of a recently published study conducted by Statistics Canada. The results of the study show that the success of immigrants, among other factors, is largely influenced by their background, more specifically their country of origin. However, this assertion is not supported by specific data that would allow to precisely determine the cultural background that warrants immigrants’ success in adapting to life in Canada or pinpoint the reasons for this success such as, language proficiency, business initiative, high demand for a given occupation or belonging to one or another group widely represented in the public sector.