Immigrating to Canada

  Immigrating to Canada

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Transcript for “Immigrating to Canada”

Video length: 10:13 minutes

Light music is playing in the background.

The video opens on a shot of Vancouver harbour with the city landscape in the distance.

People are walking, jogging and biking in a park beside a marina.

Video collage of people from various backgrounds and ages (a family: mother, father and son walking toward a bridge, an elderly woman, two women lean over a fence, a man speaks to students, a toddler holds a Canadian flag in his mother’s arms).

Main video begins with a close-up of the video host standing in a room with studio television monitors revealing a Citizenship and Immigration Canada logo.

Announcer: “Did you know that Canada has one of the largest immigration programs in the world? Every year, three types or categories of immigrants come to Canada. There are those we select for their skills and education to work in Canada and help build our economy.”

The angle changes to a close-up of host in the studio. The TV screens in the background have various shots of people.

Announcer: “There are people who come to join their families.”

Video changes to close-up of host in the studio with TV screens in the background.

Announcer: “And there are people who need protection, like refugees fleeing torture or persecution in their home countries.”

Video changes to close-up of host in the studio with TV screens in the background.

Announcer: “That’s who we accept as immigrants to Canada.”

Light music playing.

An opening graphic of a globe, with a waving Canadian flag, appears in the background. The title “Immigrating to Canada” then appears on screen in the centre of the shot.

Video changes to host in the studio with TV screens in the background.

Announcer: “The number we accept every year depends on several things. What kinds of workers will help our economy grow?”

A series of shots of an X-ray lab technician examining an elderly woman appear on screen.

Announcer: “What jobs are available that can’t be filled by Canadians?”

Video changes to a person pushing a cart filled with corn. A couple of construction workers are on location at an oil patch.

Announcer: “What’s the state of the Canadian economy?”

Video changes to a black and grey map of Canada being slowly populated with orange dots, as a title appears: “Wanted: Engineers.”

Announcer: “And what supports are available to help immigrants succeed when they get here?”

Video changes to a close-up of a young woman walking toward an immigration services office and speaking with an immigration officer.

Announcer: “To help answer these questions, we rely on research and talk to a whole host of people, including provincial and territorial governments.”

Video changes to a man shaking hands with others and attending a meeting.

Announcer: “We also talk to experts, including business leaders, trade associations and immigrant groups.”

Video changes to people sitting at a restaurant talking business, followed by Minister Kenney attending a focus group.

Announcer: “And we talk to people who provide services such as English and French language training directly to newcomers.”

Video changes to an English language teacher writing on a whiteboard as students attentively listen and watch.

Announcer: “We take other factors into consideration as well.”

The shot changes to a doctor in the centre of a refugee camp, followed by people gathering with UN officials, and finally, cargo being loaded onto a UN humanitarian aid aircraft.

Announcer: “Things like Canada’s proud humanitarian tradition in being a haven for those fleeing torture and oppression, as well as Canada’s population growth.”

The video changes to a busy street with many people walking about. A man is welding, followed by a man pulling a cart of goods down a street. The video changes back to another shot of a busy street.

Announcer: “Today, Canada needs a high level of legal immigration to keep our work force strong.”

The video changes to people of various occupations doing their jobs: a man operates heaving metal machinery, a medical professional tends to a patient at the hospital, and finally, a group of newcomers attend a workshop for work training.

Announcer: “Yes, the majority of new entrants to our labour force will continue to come from within Canada, from people leaving school, but as the baby boomers retire, our economy is going to rely increasingly on immigration for labour force growth.”

The video shows a health care professional helping a patient with rehabilitation exercises, and then changes to a shot of a man loading goods into a store.

Announcer: “Without immigration, the size of our work force will begin to shrink.”

The video shot changes to newcomers sitting at a citizenship ceremony.

Announcer: “All these considerations add up to a number, or rather to a range of numbers on how many immigrants we will accept each year.”

Video changes to a black and grey map of Canada being rapidly populated with orange arrows and green person-like figurines.

Announcer: “In 2012, we plan to accept between 240,000 and 265,000 new immigrants. That’s a little less than 1% of our population.”

A shot of China reveals people on a busy street. A shot of a family talking around a dining room table appears. People continue to shop at a market. A man appears, walking down the street. A couple hold a Canadian flag while attending a citizenship ceremony.

Announcer: “Everyone who wants to immigrate to Canada is assessed fairly, regardless of their country of origin, race, ethnic origin, religion or gender.”

Video fades to black.

The music changes to a serious tone as the video reveals a black and white shot of various people standing at primary inspection. An officer inspects documents and a passport. The video cuts back to the host.

Announcer: “People who have committed a serious crime or who belong to a terrorist organization or who pose a serious health threat are obviously not allowed into Canada.”

The video changes to a Canadian Visa Application Centre sign as people wait in line to apply for a visa. Immigration office officials review an applicant’s file.

Announcer: “All immigration applications are considered on a case-by-case basis, on the specific facts presented by the applicant in each case. Let’s take a look at those numbers again.”

The map of Canada appears as it is being rapidly populated by orange arrows and white and green graphical figures.

Announcer: “If we break them down a little more, about 61% of immigrants who come to Canada each year are economic immigrants and their dependants. Economic immigrants are chosen because of what they can contribute to the Canadian economy.”

Video changes to a man welding, students working at desktop computers, a diverse crowd of people crossing an intersection.

Announcer: “They include provincial nominees; people nominated by either provinces or territories to meet their specific economic and labour market needs. Economic immigrants also include skilled workers and entrepreneurs, the self-employed, and certain temporary workers and students we’d like to have stay in Canada after their work placements or studies are over so that they can continue to contribute to our economy.”

For the last remaining shots, the video changes to a woman working in a laboratory, a man working from a home office, a woman walking into a business. A student walks out from a university campus building. Young adults walk along a marina. The video continues with the host in studio and TV screens in the background.

Announcer: “As I said, that 61% also includes dependants, including spouses and young children of the economic immigrants.”

Video changes to children playing at a park, a woman holding her toddler as well as parents and children at a citizenship ceremony.

Announcer: “In fact, these dependants represent just over half of the overall number in the economic category.”

Video changes to a black and grey map of Canada being populated by orange arrows as well as white and green graphic, people-like figures.

Announcer: “About 26% of the immigrants who come to Canada each year are family class immigrants. These are spouses and partners of people already living in Canada, or children, or parents or even grandparents.”

Video changes to family having a picnic at the park with various shots of the family.

Announcer: “Most countries don’t have a family class program.”

Video changes to the family gathered in the living room, playing dominos.

Announcer: “Ours is one of the most generous in the world.”

Video returns to family having a picnic at the park.

Announcer: “Because our family class program is so popular, there is a large and growing number of parents and grandparents who have come to Canada or who are waiting in the queue for their applications to be considered.”

The video cuts to the host in studio with TV screens in the background and then returns to a black and grey map of Canada being rapidly populated by orange arrows and white and green graphic, people-like figures.

Announcer: “And about 13% of immigrants come to Canada each year for humanitarian or related reasons. A good number of those are refugees who come under the auspices of the United Nations.”

Video changes to a refugee camp, with a United Nations ground vehicle. There are also shots of people at the refugee camp and refugees getting services and working. A woman being interviewed smiles.

Announcer: “In fact, of all the refugees resettled through the UN, Canada takes one in every ten. Among developed countries, Canada welcomes more refugees each year than any other country in the world, except the United States.”

The shot changes to the host, on camera, in studio with TV screens in the background.

Announcer: “As I said, Canada selects immigrants based on objective criteria: what they can contribute to the economy, whether they have family members here, or whether they are refugees fleeing torture and persecution. And everyone, regardless of country of origin, is eligible to apply to immigrate to Canada if they meet these objective criteria.”

The video changes to immigration officers, followed by consultants and lawyers reviewing files in an office. Newcomers at a citizenship ceremony and a newcomer family walking together at a park alongside a marina appear on screen. Photos appear on screen of refugees fleeing on a flooded road with their possessions on a buggy. The last photo shows children and their mothers carrying food on their heads

A shot of a mother carrying her toddler, at a citizenship ceremony, appears and newcomers applaud during the citizenship ceremony.

The video changes back to the host in studio with TV screens in the background.

Announcer: “However, over the years, the countries of origin of immigrants have changed.”

The video changes to a black and grey map of the world. The countries are highlighted as the host names the top source countries of immigrants for Canada.

Announcer: “As you can see, most immigrants to Canada today come from China, India and the Philippines.”

The graphic zooms in to a close-up of a map of Canada as it is rapidly populated by white and green graphical figures of people. It then cuts to a shot of many people walking the streets of Chinatown.

Announcer: “Together, immigrants from those three countries make up almost a third of our overall intake of immigrants. That’s a big change from the 1980s and early 90s, when Canada accepted far more economic immigrants from Hong Kong than from mainland China, and far fewer from India and the Philippines.”

Video changes to a black and grey map of the world again as certain regions are rapidly populated by white graphical people figures. This action is repeated a few times and the picture zooms into a map of Canada as the figures populate the graphic.

Announcer: “Over time, if a region or country has a growing number of people who want to immigrate to Canada and a large number of these people meet our selection criteria, then we will accept a large proportion of immigrants from those regions and countries. We adjust accordingly. Improvements to our program can also have an effect on where immigrants come from.”

The video cuts to the host in the studio as the TV screen in the background features the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act of 2002.

Announcer: “For instance, when Parliament adopted a new immigration act in 2002 to put more emphasis on English or French language abilities for the selection of economic immigrants, there was a decline in the number of immigrants from China and an increase in immigrants from European countries and French-speaking North Africa.”

The video cuts to the host in the studio with a TV screen in the background. The graphic highlights the various countries.

Announcer: “We expect that as the criteria and programs evolve in the future, so too will the source regions and countries.”

The video cuts to the eternal flame and various shots on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

Announcer: “Recently, Parliament adopted a new refugee reform legislation. As a result of these measures, Canada will increase the number of refugees resettled from overseas by 20%.”

Various shots of people in a refugee camp appear.

Announcer: “This will increase the relative proportion of immigrants Canada will welcome from countries that produce a large number of refugees.”

The video changes to a black and grey map of the world and certain regions and countries are highlighted as the host names them.

Announcer: “In the past, this has included Burma, Iraq, Iran and Vietnam.”

An airplane flies over toward a landing strip.

Announcer: “The number of immigrants Canada welcomes each year doesn’t include three groups. It doesn’t include the tourists and visitors from abroad to whom we grant over 900,000 temporary resident visas and who only want to come to Canada for a short stay.”

The video cuts to a crowded airport and a man in line at Canadian customs as an agent inspects his passport.

Announcer: “Nor does it include the temporary foreign workers and students who come to Canada to fill short-term labour market needs or to study.”

A shot of people working in a laboratory appears on screen, followed by a shot of a student reading a book on campus.

Announcer: “It also does not include what some estimate to be around 80,000 to 120,000 illegal immigrants currently in Canada.”

A stylized clandestine shot of a large number of people appears. The crowd shot reveals one person highlighted in black and white and walking down the street.

Announcer: “They may have come as tourists or clandestinely and then never left the country.”

Video changes to a man being cuffed and escorted by police officers.

Announcer: “In order to ensure that our immigration system is fair to those who have immigrated to Canada the legal way or may want to in the future, the Government of Canada will take every step to send illegal migrants back to their country of origin once they have exhausted their legal appeals.”

A photo of a man in handcuffs appears on screen. The video changes to an airplane taking off.

Announcer: “One more number: 85% of immigrants eventually become Canadian citizens. By becoming citizens, they become full members of our community, as do most of their kids.”

Various shots of a citizenship ceremony appear. Newcomers take the oath at their citizenship ceremony.

A painting of the signing of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms appears.

Announcer: “Our history becomes their history.”

Announcer: “Our past becomes their past.”

The video cuts to a veteran standing on the grounds of a military cemetery.

Announcer: “And our future becomes their future.”

The video changes to astronauts working with the “Canadarm” on the international space station.

The video focuses on a historic painting of Sir John A. MacDonald.

Announcer: “Immigration has always been part of our story. Canada’s first Prime Minister, Sir John A. MacDonald, was himself an immigrant from Scotland.”

The video cuts back to the host in the studio with TV screens in the background.

Announcer: “Immigrants have risked their lives to defend Canada, strengthen our economy, enrich our culture and uphold freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law. In Canada, if you work hard and play by the rules, you’ll succeed. That’s why Canada is a great country to live in. Immigrants are helping to keep it that way.”

Video changes to a waving Canadian flag.

The Canada word mark appears.

The video fades to black.