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| Subject: look at this article |
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Looks like there IS a quota per country :
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Immigration Canada´s dirty little secret is out
Richard Kurland
Special to The Province
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
On Friday, the Immigration and Citizenship Committee in the House of Commons blew the lid clean off Canada´s dirty little immigration secret.
Immigration Canada was asked to disclose the number of immigration applications waiting to be processed by country and more importantly the quota or "targets" set by Ottawa for each country.
You´d think immigration applications are processed on a "first come, first served" basis, right?
Dead wrong.
Processing times vary based on national origin because Ottawa wants it so.
The House of Commons was told there are 109,000 people waiting for skilled-worker visas in New Delhi. The quota set by Ottawa for Delhi is 11,350.
In London, England, 56,000 people are waiting to be processed as skilled workers. The target set by Ottawa is 12,600.
Immigration Canada knew this was happening, year after year, but refused to make decisions which would mean that processing times are fair and roughly equal no matter where you apply.
This has led to an unfair system where processing times will vary based on your country of origin. Files take longer to process in some places because that´s how Ottawa wants it.
The best excuse Immigration Canada spin doctors came up with so far to this discrimination is that India (and China) are already "top source" countries, so it doesn´t matter.
Well, imagine the outcry if a Vancouver bus driver said the same thing:
"Look, I can only take 100 passengers in my bus this trip. There are just too many Indians who want to get on to my bus. Oh sure, they have the correct fare and they´re first in line. But I want to leave space for others. So when half my bus gets filled with Indians, I don´t let anymore on. That´s my "target" from company headquarters. Indians will wait a lot longer for their ride, but hey, that´s not my fault. It´s the fault of all those Indians for wanting to get on on board."
Setting "targets" is the equivalent of slicing Canada´s immigration pie.
How "targets" are made and who approves them are not in the law, because no politicians in their right minds would want to openly debate a magic "appropriate" number of Chinese or Indians to immigrate to Canada.
It is the ultimate Political Death Pill.
So politicians rigged the system to ensure their fingerprints never appear on the "target" carving knife. You´ll have a better chance of nabbing the Queen´s jewels in Saskatchewan than learning exactly who slices the immigration quota pie.
But the cat´s out of the bag folks, thanks to the House of Commons Immigration Committee.
If I had my way, I´d get that same committee to approve and make public the country "targets" every year. It is something so important to so many people that it should not be done in secret.
As for visa officers who take so long to process immigration applications, the fault is not all theirs.
They deliver their "targets" as instructed and keep their heads down and mouths closed.
Until this gets straightened out, if you are Indian or Chinese wanting to come to Canada, pretend you´re in Mississippi in 1955, and get to the back of the immigration bus.
Richard Kurland is an immigration- policy analyst who monitors Ottawa through Access to Information requests. He can be reached at lexbase@canimmigrate.com
? The Vancouver Province 2005
[25-05-2005,13:21]
[**.194.183.155]
John |
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(in reply to: look at this article)
Damn.
That is really unfair.
[25-05-2005,13:37]
[***.123.170.131]
SW |
(in reply to: look at this article)
I am going to risk getting yelled at
thought so... but just to confuse the issue a little more... India, China and Pakistan make up about 50% of our immigration population at the moment. If we went strictly first come first served, folks in Buffalo, and London would be sitting there forever.
From a purely pragmatic perspective, the current system likely gives Canada a stronger range of skillsets. I am guessing by the postings on this forum that a huge percentage of Indian and Pakistani applicants are coming with IT skills. If they are complaining about lack of work now... I cannot imagine if more IT skills were allowed into the country on an annal basis.
From my personal experience I tend to think that government policy - good or bad, is not made in a vaccume. They would not risk the ire of every politically correct Canadian and PR if they did not have some sort of justification (public or not) to their policies.
Is the system broken, yes. What is a better way? we could discuss that one until all our PP requests come. :)
[25-05-2005,13:58]
[***.20.170.23]
sharon |
(in reply to: look at this article)
I totally agree Sharon.There must be diversity and if it would be on a first come first served basis , 99% of all immigrants would be Indians or Chinese and smaller countries wouldn´t stand a chance.And yes, there are probably more engineers and IT people coming to Canada than people they really need, like construction workers,crafts people etc..
I posted this article to show there is a quotum per country,the fact there is such a thing is actually good news for the smaller countries.
[25-05-2005,15:37]
[**.194.183.155]
John |
(in reply to: look at this article)
I beg to disagree.
I think you did not see the point. If we were to generalize saying that Indians are from IT only, then its unfair to non-IT Indians applying for immigration, unless there is a feeling that Canada does not want more of Indians (which are your thoughts, seems like). Period.
But if by "stronger range of skillsets" you mean commerce fields like IT, mechanical, civil, accountants etc etc, then Canada should not worry if they are Indians or anyone else. You can have a limit on the skillsets (which is more practical considering the labor force needs !!)
Moreover who said there needs to be an advantage for any country or anyone for that matter. The reason to immigrate is personal, and a person arrives at that decision, irrespective of where he/she lives at that moment. I don´t agree to the reasoning that other seemingly smaller countries should have any "unfair" advantage.
[25-05-2005,19:20]
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Raj |
(in reply to: look at this article)
On second thoughts....
Maybe you guys are right. Going from the various posts about the unemployment scenes for new immigrants, I guess it does not matter what skillsets they have. Most of them are going to be pizza delivery guys or truck drivers or cab drivers anyway.
So I think it makes sense to have them from different countries at least, so I think its fair enough....
[25-05-2005,19:31]
[***.242.242.2]
Raj |
(in reply to: look at this article)
Yeah,I wouldn´t mind a swedish cab driver for a change :)
But, serious now, the point was that if there wouldn´t be quota, Indian and Chinese applicants would be dominating the immigration system. And though every Indian and Chinese has the right to get into Canada, it wouldn´t be fair towards other, smaller , countries.
[25-05-2005,19:45]
[**.194.183.155]
John |
(in reply to: look at this article)
Well, imagine the outcry if a Vancouver bus driver said the same thing:
"Look, I can only take 100 passengers in my bus this trip. There are just too many Indians who want to get on to my bus. Oh sure, they have the correct fare and they?re first in line. But I want to leave space for others. So when half my bus gets filled with Indians, I don?t let anymore on. That?s my "target" from company headquarters. Indians will wait a lot longer for their ride, but hey, that?s not my fault. It?s the fault of all those Indians for wanting to get on on board."
[25-05-2005,21:26]
[**.117.46.230]
Kenny |
quotas (in reply to: look at this article)
I understand everyone´s concern. However, within a quota system there is a sense of a "fair" spread. The US has had quotas for years in processing immigrants by authorizing only so many visas under the categories. Similarly Indian, Chinese and I believe Africa have disproportionate waiting times prior to issuance of their requested visas.
The difference apparently between Canada and US is that the US makes pubic its quotas on a regular basis and one can request them via e mail.
We hope that everyone who wishes to come to Canada gets the chance!
[25-05-2005,21:47]
[**.55.224.10]
Ron&Ben |
(in reply to: look at this article)
yea canada also is getting an unfair amount of gays and lesbians from all over the world..shouldnt there be a quota for that...
[26-05-2005,00:10]
[**.140.236.90]
Arjun |
(in reply to: look at this article)
ok everybody, this thread is falling apart. Nobody suggested all Indians are IT, nobody hopefully thinks all PR´s drive taxi, nobody said we have too many Indians... let´s stop guessing what someone meant and simply take a post at face value.
John says it best - citizens of every country should have a shot at Canadian immigration. if it means protecting a small quota from each country annually, then so be it. Don´t forget, each immigrant becomes a family network that often results in further immigration in later years.
I do not see this policy as unfair or discriminatory whatsoever. In fact, the contrary.
[26-05-2005,04:43]
[***.20.170.23]
sharon |
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