Speaking Notes - The Honourable Joe Volpe, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, at the Progressive Governance Seminar “Migration, Integration, and Diversity”

Toronto, Ontario, May 19, 2005

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Good Morning/Bonjour

I’m glad to be here with you this morning, and very proud to have the opportunity to address such a distinguished group as this. I’d like to begin by extending my warmest welcome on behalf of the Government of Canada.

I’d also like to note that it is an honour it is for Canada to host this very important seminar. It’s especially nice to see so many of you with such a wide range of backgrounds and perspectives come together to share ideas on migration and making migrants a part of society.

Today we live in an age of migration. The International Organization for Migration puts the global estimate of international migrants at 175 million, or 2.9 percent of the world’s population. This means that one in every 35 persons is a migrant.

It’s true that people throughout history have left their homes in search of better opportunities or a safer environment — but never in such large numbers, or with such relatively easy access to travel and far-flung destinations.

Diversity within this global movement is also a fact of life. The flow of migrants is no longer simply east to west — from Europe to the Americas. Many people from many different cultures with many different beliefs possessing a wide range of backgrounds and skills are on the move from one part of the globe to the next.

All of us, therefore, need to collectively find new approaches to managing global migration, and new ways of helping newcomers in our respective countries quickly adapt to their new lives without requiring that they completely abandon their own customs or traditions.

We need as well to develop mechanisms or policies that help and encourage all to become fully participating members of our communities and share in our national growth. This surely represents one definition of what we mean by promoting the development of plural and inclusive societies.

All of us too need to find the appropriate balance between economic, family class and refugee migration. We need to maintain an open border policy. But we also need protect the safety and security of our citizens.

This morning I’d like to speak with you about these challenges as well as Canada’s experience in addressing some of them.

This country’s experience with immigration is unique. Embracing newcomers and celebrating diversity in one form or another have always been core to our identity as a nation, and vital to our future prosperity, cohesiveness and growth. The model is singular to our history and environment. But each of us can benefit from the knowledge, experiences and background of one another.

Canada’s experience is that of a nation that is and has been built by immigration. Today we have one of the highest per capita rates of immigration in the world, with nearly 17 percent of our population foreign-born and another 30 percent descended from earlier generations of non-British, non-French immigrants.

While most newcomers have traditionally come from Europe, the number of people with African, Asian Arab or other non-European ancestry is constantly increasing, and now stands at about ten percent.

Since 1990, Canada has welcomed more than 200,000 newcomers annually — with China, India, Pakistan and the Philippines now representing our chief source countries.

Why is this important?

Like many other countries, Canada today faces the dual challenge of an ageing population and declining birth-rates. It goes without saying that immigration will not change the age structure of the Canadian population. But it will be a key to maintaining labour force growth as Canadians age.

Skilled workers, however, are not the only category of newcomers we select every year. The country has a very strong tradition of providing humanitarian assistance to asylum seekers and convention refugees. We also make it easier for families to reunite with their loved ones abroad. Canada traditionally strives to achieve a ratio of 60 percent economic and 40 percent non-economic immigration each year. How do we strike such a balance?

An important component of Canada’s program is a requirement for the Minister of Immigration to table an annual immigration plan before Parliament on the number of foreign nationals projected to become permanent residents in the following year. This number is determined after consultation with Canada’s provinces as well as appropriate organizations and institutions. Such a process allows us to balance immigration levels with available settlement and integration resources. But it can come with difficult choices and tradeoffs.

Let me turn my attention now to the importance of strong integration programs. I suggested earlier that immigration in Canada has become a serious investment for ensuring our future economic strength. It is an important tool for maintaining our competitiveness and our way of life. But the wide range of backgrounds, skills, cultures, interests, languages, religions, myths and general narratives that each group brings to Canada today presents policy makers with a new set of challenges.

How, for example, do we foster social cohesion and a sense of national identity? How do we do that within a framework that promotes inclusiveness and equality?

Key to our success in Canada has and will continue to be national integration programs. Integration fosters relationships of trust that allow Canadians to take joint and collective action and peacefully resolve conflicts. It also confers on every newcomer full participation in Canadian society.

Canada’s integration policies build mutual respect among immigrants, refugees and native-born Canadians. In many ways, then, integration is the basis of our cohesion.

The model is essentially a continuum that moves to the acquisition of citizenship after a relatively short period. It’s a two way process of accommodation that welcomes all immigrants into the Canadian family and strives to ensure their full participation across the important economic, social, political and cultural dimensions of our country.

Canada’s Host program perhaps best exemplifies the two-way exchange to build respect and trust that is at the core of integration.

Support for young newcomers is an increasingly important part of the integration continuum and essential to our future as a country. One way Canada has begun to address the needs of young immigrants is by providing settlement workers in schools to help their families adapt to a new country. Our main approach to addressing the needs of young newcomers is by working with the family as a whole.

The Immigrant Settlement and Adaptation Program (ISAP), for example, helps recent immigrants — including youth — settle, adapt and integrate into Canadian society. The program provides services like reception, orientation, translation and referral to community services — all of which can go a long way in helping newcomers adjust.

Language can also become a significant barrier to inclusion and participation for many newcomers, which is why we provide basic instruction in French and English through the Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) program. We also recognize that many skilled immigrants require a more advanced level of French or English to effectively participate in the Canadian labour market.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada today is investing $20 million annually to help up to 20,000 new immigrants a year across Canada in need of job specific language skills. This is in addition to the $140 million a year it invests for the delivery of basic language training.

It goes without saying that one of the most inclusive welcomes for many newcomers we bring to Canada is to provide them with appropriate employment that matches their level of education or experience. This is an issue of partnerships and collaboration in which we all have a stake in the outcome.

Experience demonstrates the need to engage all levels of government as well as non-governmental organizations, employers, professional associations and communities. The Government of Canada recently initiated the International Trained Worker Initiative (ITWI) in cooperation with 14 Federal Government Departments as well as many other levels of government and other stakeholders.

The ITWI is aimed at accelerating the entry of immigrants and foreign trained Canadians into the Canadian labour market in jobs that make full use of their skills and experience. It includes working on foreign credentials assessment and recognition, delivering advanced job specific language training, and providing better information and tools to immigrants before they come to Canada.

The Government of Canada has allocated $68 million over six years to Human Resources and Skills Development Canada to work with provinces and territories, regulatory bodies, sector councils and others to help develop better procedures for assessing and recognizing foreign credentials that are consistent, transparent, fair, accessible, and rigorous.

We’ve also allocated $75 million over five years under the 10-year Plan to Strengthen Health Care to accelerate and expand the assessment and integration of internationally educated health care professionals into Canada’s health sector. And $56 million over five years will go to Canadian Heritage’s anti racism strategy to help combat discrimination.

We know, as well, that communities need to put an appropriate infrastructure in place to accommodate and provide the appropriate welcome for newcomers. Newcomers are more likely to stay in a community that can meet their social, educational and cultural needs.

Working together, governments and other stakeholders need to evaluate the needs and impact of newcomers on local infrastructures, and ensure the necessary welcoming and settlement services are in place. Communities need to know who is arriving and when. They also must know how to be ready to meet their early needs.

So far I have touched on several aspects of Canada’s immigration and integration programs.

It’s also important to stress that Canada’s immigration program is also about securing our borders and protecting the health and safety of Canadians.

The Government of Canada recently created the Canada Border Services Agency to centralize and rationalize Canada’s security infrastructure while better coordinating its efforts with other jurisdictions and foreign governments.

The CBSA, of course, now has responsibility for the ongoing operational delivery of the immigration program at Canada’s ports of entry. Such a centralization of border functions within the new Agency will mean procedures are performed in the most efficient and cooperative way.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada will continue to issue visas and develop admissibility policies for immigrants, refugees and temporary residents. The CBSA will focus on its border management functions.

Today we must balance openness with vigilance. As well as freedom and rights, we have to talk about rules and responsibilities. Canadians are a generous people, but they are not naïve. That is why our new Immigration and Refugee Protection Act opens the front door wider to the immigrants we want to attract, while it also closes the back door to those who would abuse our system.

Being vigilant has also involved increasing our capacity to manage the security of our borders and ports of entry.

In this regard, we have adopted a range of security initiatives in partnership with the United States, including a comprehensive Smart Border Action Plan and a Safe Third Country Agreement.

We have also introduced a Permanent Resident Card to bring a much higher level of security for permanent residents and all Canadians. Experts are calling this the most secure card of its kind in the world today.

Another Canadian approach, since adopted by other countries — including the United States — has involved placing officers overseas to prevent people from attempting to travel to Canada with improper documents.

In the past six years, through the work of our Immigration Control Officers, nearly 35,000 people with improper documents have been stopped before they boarded planes for North America.

But in adopting these and other measures to strengthen our security, we are not compromising our openness or Canada’s tradition of humanitarianism. We have been faithful to the objectives of family reunification and the protection of genuine refugees who Canada should help.

Let me conclude these remarks with the observation that immigration itself is a natural phenomenon. Ever since the earliest days of civilization, people have set off in search of new sources of food or wealth.

It’s not something to fear. Nor is it something to stop for the sake of a few individuals or organizations bent on crime or terrorism. Immigration throughout history has been a positive phenomenon, provided that the proper management and control systems have been in place, including those related to settlement and integration.

None of us can act alone in this regard. None of us can act solely out of fear or prejudice. Building a world where our children and grandchildren can continue to live in peace and prosperity will require all of us adopt new ways of thinking and new ways to cooperate.

Together we can and will succeed.

Thank you.