| Canadians reacted predictably to the news that two immigrants were suing the federal government for misleading them about their chances of finding professional employment. For centuries, wave after wave of immigrants, regardless of culture and language, have been treated with the same disdain and discrimination that characterized our reaction to the Premakumarans’ lawsuit.
We might cheer on some disadvantaged Canadian soul with the guts to sue our government for failing to deliver a promised improvement in lifestyle, but not Selladurai and Nesamalar Premakumaran. The airwaves and op-ed pages were filled with indignant outrage: "Immigrants should take their lumps like the rest of us." "I have a brother-in-law who...." "These are just more newcomer ingrates looking for a free ride."
Once we had vented to our satisfaction, we moved on to more important issues, such as the Reform-Tory merger and the soaring Canadian dollar. The chance for a long overdue discussion on the federal government’s failing immigration policy was left in the xenophobic dust.
The Premakumarans are not alone. Thousands of skilled and educated immigrants who came to Canada to practice their professions are working at Wal-Mart or Tim Horton’s to make ends meet. Yet, the main goal of the federal immigration policy is to "maximize the social and economic benefits of migration to Canada" – federal lingo for allowing technical and professional people to immigrate instead of unskilled labour.
This disconnect between immigration and the labour market is a serious one with personal and national pain. It is also a problem that is beyond the federal government to resolve. Which raises the question, is the entire purpose of this immigration policy flawed?
For years now, sensitive to the anti-immigration sentiments in Canada, the federal government has used a points system to filter potential immigrants – meaning, let in the desirable and shut out the riff-raff. Please note that this is an entirely separate policy issue from preventing criminals and terrorists into the country. Rather, this is the national version of genetic screening, choosing those new Canadians we feel best meet our needs and image – a right that a United Nations-anointed top-five country can smugly claim.
The points system was re-jigged in the mid-’90s to support Canada’s economic goal of creating an innovative, skill-based economy. Applicants with professional credentials and university degrees were given the highest priorities. The changes were a success. By 2000, 44 per cent of male immigrants to Canada had university degrees compared to 19 per cent of Canadian-born males. Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s reports to Parliament are full of tick marks next to targets for numbers of skilled and educated workers.
Despite the glowing reports and annual expenditures of $218 million to meet this target, the real goal has not been achieved. Companies claim they still cannot fill positions, and thousands of immigrants remain underemployed. And, despite the growing education and qualifications of immigrants to Canada, there is a growing gap between the real earnings of new Canadians and those born in Canada, according to Statistics Canada. In 2000, Canadian-born men earned about 31 per cent more than recent male immigrants. In 1980, the difference was 13 per cent.
The policy is succeeding without achieving its purpose for a number of reasons.
There is a basic time-lag flaw in any policy meant to educate or import people to fill vacancies in the job market. By the time people finish their courses or arrive in the country, the position has either been filled or has disappeared. This systemic barrier is not the only hurdle immigrants face in their search for suitable employment.
Canada’s job market is marred by discrimination. Many Canadians appear complacent about the issue, but visible minorities and women continue to face unfair hurdles in competing for jobs.
Admission to a profession in Canada is governed either by provincial law or a professional organization, and both produce a bureaucrat’s wet dream of rules and regulations when it comes to giving foreigners Canadian credentials.
The first barrier is not in the hands of Citizenship and Immigration Canada, but our own. The department is working on the second barrier, but progress has been slow. Convincing a member-driven organization to suddenly open its doors to hundreds of newcomers is a tough sell at best. Veiled in the language of protecting Canadian standards and the public interest, professional organizations use their authority to protect their members.
Changing the immigration policy will not improve this situation. The federal government is wrong to believe it can manage the movement of people and their labour for economic or other purposes. It is time to end the management of immigration except for the basic goal of protecting public security. The federal government must either open the doors or pursue the simplest form of regulation possible.
ONLINE RESOURCES
· www.canadaimmigrants.com – pro-immigrant’s rights site.
· www.promptinfo.ca – profession and tradesperson immigrant policy.
· www.cic.gc.ca/ – Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
· www.learning.gov.ab.ca/other/immigration.asp – statistics on immigration to Alberta.
· www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/031008/d031008a.htm – StatsCan Daily article on immigrant earnings.
· http://www.gov.ab.ca/acn/200311/15419.html – Government of Alberta announces new initiative to help engineers, accountants, teachers, nurses, doctors, lawyers and other professionals trained in other countries find employment. |
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