ARCHIVED – Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration, 2006

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Section 1
Making Immigration Work for Canada

It is estimated that globally as many as 200 million people currently live outside their country of origin, either on a permanent or temporary basis. Canada has played an active international role in helping to manage the movement of people. Internationally, Canada is recognized for its expertise and experience on migration. Work will continue to build bridges internationally to advance important social and humanitarian goals and to position this country as a world leader in managing global migration, while at the same time positioning Canada as a destination of choice.

In this regard, the traditional role that immigration has played in building Canada as a strong, diverse and prosperous country is set to continue in the coming years. Canada continues to enjoy a reputation as a destination of choice for immigrants worldwide and 2005 marked the sixth consecutive year that CIC met or exceeded planned immigration levels. Moreover, this was achieved in a way that balanced the goals of family reunification and ensured immigration contributed to the growth of Canada’s economy.

Supporting Canada’s Economy and Competitiveness

While many stakeholders at all levels contribute to building Canada’s economy, immigration will play an increasingly important role in supporting economic prosperity and competitiveness. Our population is ageing and, with this trend, there are fewer new entrants into the labour force. At the same time, the country is facing significant labour market shortages in some sectors and regions – particularly in Western Canada. Immigration has a key role in addressing these short- and long-term labour market needs – attracting people with the right mix of skills and talents to support economic growth today and in the future. Other industrialized countries (and even some developing countries) are confronted with similar challenges around longer-term population and economic growth, and will be increasingly competing with Canada for this global pool of skilled workers.

Despite the success in bringing roughly a quarter of a million new permanent residents to Canada each year, there are still many more individuals who would like to come. This high demand for immigration to Canada has pushed the overall inventory of applications beyond 800,000 individuals. Given this large inventory, the challenge lies in achieving timely processing of applications and sustaining high levels of client satisfaction. At the same time, CIC is committed to the timely processing of visitors, students, and workers applying to come to Canada, groups for which volumes have increased steadily in recent years. Accordingly, it will be important to look for ways in which CIC can better manage these demands in a timely and responsive manner.

Bringing newcomers to Canada is only part of the challenge; equally important is the need to ensure that they have the opportunities to successfully integrate into the Canadian economy and society once they arrive. CIC is committed to working with settlement service providers in the delivery and improvement of services provided to newcomers. It will therefore be important to look at ways in which the current range of settlement programs and services – including those provided by provincial and community partners – can be improved to better help immigrants in the early settlement period. The challenges newcomers face are many – acquisition of English and/or French, recognition of their credentials, skills and work experience acquired abroad, and familiarity with the norms of the Canadian workplace just to name a few.

Recent Accomplishments

The Government of Canada has introduced a number of recent initiatives that will help address these challenges. For example, to better support employers in using Canada’s temporary foreign worker program, on September 1, 2006, the Government of Canada announced the creation of temporary foreign worker units, on a pilot basis, in Calgary and Vancouver. These units will provide advice to employers on hiring temporary foreign workers and will pre screen supporting documents from employers to accelerate the application process.

On a related front, changes to Canada’s foreign student program have also been announced that will help address the labour market needs of some employers. Foreign students are now permitted to work off-campus during their study period – something that facilitates their acquisition of Canadian work experience. With Canadian work experience, foreign students are more likely to consider immigrating to Canada as being an attractive option upon graduation, and are well positioned to make a rapid transition to the Canadian workplace as immigrants.

In addition, measures are currently being designed to make the immigration system more responsive to labour market needs. Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC) and CIC have begun work to create an agency for foreign credentials recognition with the $18 million set aside in Budget 2006. This measure will smooth the labour market transition for immigrants who are experiencing difficulty having their foreign education and credentials recognized in Canada.

The Government of Canada recognizes that workplace integration is successful only in the context of a broader social integration. To help newcomers with the costs of starting a new life in Canada, the Government introduced a 50 percent reduction in the Right of Permanent Residence Fee in May 2006. The Budget also made commitments to facilitate immigrant integration and solve settlement challenges in the long term. Existing settlement funding for new immigrants was increased by $307 million over the next two years. This increase in settlement funding will be used to extend existing programs and to tailor integration services to meet the needs of individual immigrants whose settlement needs may be complex.

The Government has also taken action to better support families and enhance fairness for those families who choose to adopt children from abroad. Legislation was tabled in the House of Commons in May 2006 to amend the Citizenship Act in order to allow children adopted abroad by Canadian citizens to obtain Canadian citizenship without first having to become permanent residents. With this change, the difference in treatment between children adopted abroad and children born abroad of a Canadian parent will be minimized. On a separate front, new measures were also announced to help victims of human trafficking in Canada by issuing temporary resident permits, exempting them from the processing fee, and making them eligible for federal interim health care benefits.

And finally, in order to maintain the timely standard of service that clients have come to expect of CIC, the Department needs to ensure it has the right tools to support efficient and effective processing of applications. The Government is working on a number of significant measures to improve client service standards and affect responsible management of the immigration program. CIC is now in the final stages of implementing the Global Case Management System (GCMS). This system is an integrated, automated case management tool, supporting client operations around the globe. GCMS will improve data integrity, overall efficiency, and help CIC deliver the kind of service Canadians expect.

2005 Levels

The Government committed in the 2004 Annual Report on Immigration to admit between 220,000 and 245,000 permanent residents in 2005. In the end, 262,236 permanent residents were admitted to Canada in 2005, of which 156,310 admissions (60% of the total) were in the Economic Class and 105,926 admissions (40% of the total) were in the non-economic class. These larger-than projected admission numbers were the result of higher admissions of skilled worker applicants and their dependents – in part because some applicants arrived in Canada more quickly than is usually the case – and an increase to the Parents and Grandparents immigration category admissions because of increased processing efforts.

Critical Partnerships

The success of Canada’s immigration program is a shared federal-provincial/territorial responsibility dependent on international and domestic partnerships. CIC participates in numerous international migration organizations to position its approach to immigration in the broader global context. CIC also works in close collaboration with Canada’s security-oriented government departments and agencies to mitigate security threats that non-bona fide immigrant applicants may pose and to maintain the integrity of Canada’s borders. In particular, CIC shares responsibility with the Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) for the administration of IRPA. The CBSA is responsible for immigration processing at ports of entry, as well as for the enforcement provisions of IRPA. To map out the working relationship between the two organizations and to establish the principles and structures for a sustainable partnership, CIC and the CBSA negotiated and signed a memorandum of understanding on March 27, 2006. CIC works closely with HRSDC, given the importance of its role in assessing labour market needs and supporting immigrant labour market integration. CIC, more generally, collaborates with provincial / territorial governments, non-governmental organizations, community-based service providers and voluntary organizations to address immigrant social and economic needs.

Canada’s Immigration Plan for 2007

CIC’s commitment is to admit new permanent residents in 2007 within a target range of 240,000 and 265,000 admissions. The target for the Economic Class has been increased by 15,000 compared to the 2006 Immigration Plan. For the Family Class, CIC has also raised the targets of the Spouses, Partners and Children category by 5,000 and the Parents and Grandparents category by 1,000.

Table 1: Immigration Levels Plan 2007

Going forward as part of its levels planning perspective on immigration needs and put in efforts, the Government will work with provinces and territories and other stakeholder groups to develop a more multi-year perspective on immigration needs and put in place the necessary supports and services to integrate newcomers successfully.

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