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General studies
Metropolis Virtual Library
http://www.canada.metropolis.net/search/search2_e.htm
This Library includes research projects, research reports, public policy discussion papers and more. As well, you can search for researchers and policy makers with expertise in a specific area of interest. 2003The Annotated Bibliography of Canadian Immigration Research, 1982-1992
http://artsandscience.concordia.ca/GEOG/course_notes/BIBLIO.html
Concordia UniversityVirtual Library of the Government of Canada
http://www.parl.gc.ca/common/library_prb.asp?Language=E&Parl=37&Ses=1
Parliamentary Information and Research Service PublicationsStatistics Canada
http://www.statcan.ca/english/clf/query.html?style=englishclf&la=en&qt=+
immigrant&qi=3&charset=iso-8859-1
Thousands of links to immigration related studies and statistics.Citizenship, Democracy and Ethnocultural Diversity Newsletter
http://www.queensu.ca/cded/news.html
Quarterly electronic newsletter with information about upcoming conferences, recent publications, journals, internet resources, and related research programs. Of interest to academia, public service or various non-governmental organizations.International Relations: General Resources
http://www.library.ubc.ca/poli/international.html
Information resources and services that are essential to learning, research and the creation of knowledge at UBC and beyond.
Canada's Immigration Policy
http://dsp-psd.communication.gc.ca/Collection-R/LoPBdP/BP/bp190-e.htm
Settlement and Integration: Language Training; Immigrant Settlement and Adaptation Program – ISAP; Resettlement Assistance Program – RAP; The Host Program; Immigrant Loans Program; Issues - Geographic Location, Who Should Deliver Services? Recognition of Foreign Credentials and ExperiencePerformance and Potential 2004–05: How Can Canada Prosper in Tomorrow’s World?
http://infocentre.cucbc.com/pdf/P&P2004-05.pdf
A new deal for immigrants is needed to ensure that they, and the Canadian society as a whole, realize the full benefits of their contribution... Governments need to develop a comprehensive strategy for immigrants—one that involves employers, educational institutions and community groups—that would together provide adequate resources, systems and mechanisms for improved immigrant selection, settlement, integration and labour market entry. - The Conference Board of CanadaImmigrant Settlement and Social Inclusion in Canada: Policy Matters
http://ceris.metropolis.net/PolicyMatter/2005/PolicyMatters16.pdf
True social inclusion would mean not only a radical reform of our policies of newcomer settlement, but also the development of economic, political, social, and cultural mechanisms and practices that include immigrants and refugees as full participants…. The ultimate test of the social inclusion framework, however, rests in its usefulness in framing practical policy alternatives to the growing reality of exclusion for Canada’s newcomers. 2005Competing for Immigrants
http://www.parl.gc.ca/InfoComDoc/37/1/CIMM/Studies/Reports/CIMMRP4/08-toc-e.htm
Report of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, 2002. Our aging population, our low fertility rate, and the existing and looming shortages of skilled workers — make immigration to Canada an important policy tool to ensure our future. Is that tool being used as well as it could be?Open the door, but not just yet
http://globecareers.workopolis.com/servlet/Content/fasttrack/20051001/COFOOT01?section=Trades
It's foolish to invite immigrants in to find work just as Canadian boomers' children are entering the job market… While it may have been demographically appropriate to raise immigration levels over the past decade as labour-force growth slowed -- a reflection of the pill-induced birth dearth of the late 1960s and 1970s -- it is not good demographic policy today… The children of the boomers -- the so-called echo boom born over the 1980s and early 1990s -- are now starting to enter the labour force. Over the next decade, Canada's priority should be to generate jobs for this young talent already living here…Immigration Legislative Review
http://ceris.metropolis.net/research-policy/research_content/immlegreview_e.html
I. International Trends; II. Canadian Values and Canadian Immigration and Refugee Policies; III. Persons Needing Protection; IV. Immigration and the Family; V. Immigrant Integration and the Economy; VI. Managing the System of Immigrant and Refugee Selection and Processing.Devolution of Social Programs and Spending Cuts: Impact on Immigrants and Refugees
http://canadianlabour.ca/updir/rp9.pdf
In the long term, Canada benefits culturally, socially, and economically from immigration... The impacts experienced by immigrants and refugees from program devolution and spending cuts are either exacerbations of existing policy and service gaps; and/or new gaps in policy and services. This report clearly points to the need for a stronger commitment to specifically address policy implications for immigrants and refugees including: The need to rethink the role of unions, government and non-governmental organizations in building equity measures into policy and services; The need to integrate issues of immigrants and refugees in on-going policy development work regardless of the sector; The need to acknowledge and appropriately address the differential impact on immigrants and refugees from policy changes and spending cuts; The need to rethink equity measures in a labour force that is being downsized. 1998.Canadian Immigration Policy for the 21st Century
http://jdi.econ.queensu.ca/Publications/Immigration.html#contents
Charles M. Beach, Alan G. Green and Jeffrey G. Reitz (eds.), 2003: based on conference, held at Queen's University, 2002.The Institutional Context of Immigration Policy and Immigrant Skill Utilization in Canada
http://www.utoronto.ca/ethnicstudies/skillutilization.pdf
Estimates indicate that the under-utilization of immigrant skills costs the Canadian economy about $2 billion annually… It is suggested that creating the institutional capacity for effective immigrant skill utilization is a priority for immigrant settlement policy, and that because of the complexity of the task, time pressures and also underlying racial attitudes, major institutional innovations will be required to achieve it.Canada’s Immigration Policy: The Need for Major Reform
http://www.fraserinstitute.ca/admin/books/files/immigration-2ndEdition.pdf
The important progress Canada has made in becoming a more tolerant and welcoming country to people from all over the world will be placed at risk if we fail to bring immigration levels and priorities in line with our economic and demographic needs and absorptive capacity.Immigration and Diversity: Research, Policy and Practice in an Era of Globalization
http://www.pcerii.metropolis.net/student.htm
Domain reports by CERIS graduate students of the 6th National Metropolis Conference, Edmonton, March 21-24, 2003The Protection of Refugees and Forced Migrants: A Cross-Sector Research Agenda
http://www.yorku.ca/crs/Research/refugeeresearchreport.pdf
Around the world, large numbers of refugees, forced migrants and internally displaced people live in poverty under the threat of violence without basic human rights such as freedom of movement and opportunities for education and employment. 11.3 million people are living in segregated settlements or refugee camps and 7.3 million of them have been there for 10 years or more. A further 23.6 million are internally displaced in their own countries... In Canada, the studies of refugees and forced migrants have been scattered across the country much like the subjects of their focus. The cluster proposes a systematic and dedicated space for the sustained interactive engagement of three sectors: Canadian and international researchers working on issues of forced migration, NGO partners who support refugee settlement and advocate for the interests of refugees, and, policy makers responsible for the development and implementation of public policies related to refugee settlement and forced migration.Canada’s Regionalization Challenge: Big geography, small population
http://pcerii.metropolis.net/events/events_content/GenevaPaper.pdf
The great realities overshadowing any significant Canadian regionalization strategies are the internal competitive environment for immigrants (implicit today, but likely more overt in future), the mobility rights of Canadians, and the largely unrecognized reality of the lack of committed resources, both overseas for processing and in Canada for settlement.Immigrants in demand: Staying or leaving?
http://atwork.settlement.org/sys/atwork_library_detail.asp?doc_id=1003644
The high demand for workers in information technology, physicians and health care managers and trades occupations through the 1990s suggests that new immigrants intending to work in these occupations should have fared well in Canada. However, growing evidence indicates that even some highly skilled workers are facing employment barriers, which may increase their likelihood of emigrating. Despite positive Canadian experiences, those with strong marketable skills and who meet the criteria of immigrant selection of other countries may be enticed to return to their country of origin or to go to other countries. General findings: Emigration was highest for immigrant physicians and health care managers and IT workers; Immigrants from the United States were most likely to emigrate; Economic immigrants were most likely to emigrate; In-demand immigrants who found work quickly were more likely to emigrate; Emigration of IT workers and physicians and health care managers were lower for those with stable earnings.Immigrants Need Not Apply - Canada barring highly skilled immigrants from practicing professions and trades
http://www.maytree.com/htmlfiles/publications_inna.html
The refugee and immigrant series was launched by the Caledon Institute of Social Policy in partnership with The Maytree Foundation’s Refugee and Immigrant Program. The purpose of the series is to highlight the problems and policy issues that affect refugees and immigrants to Canada and to propose practical solutions to these problems.Is our immigration policy the best one for Canada?
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20051212.wxsmart12/BNStory/specialDecision2006/
Ottawa must act quickly, or more immigrants will simply give up on Canada and go to a country that allows them to have full membership in the club, not just guest privileges… While politicians issue ever more urgent warnings about the need for immigrant labour, we are in fact failing to make use of the vast pool of imported human capital already here… The current selection model, with its emphasis on education and language, disqualifies carpenters and bricklayers from coming to Canada. Globe and Mail, 2005.Who Should Get In? Rethinking Immigration Priorities - 2001
http://www.maytree.com/HTMLFiles/WhoShouldGetInHalifaxProgram.htm
Key questions of the forum: Do we see immigration as being primarily about filling short-term labour market gaps, or long-term economic strategies? Is it about reunifying families or supplying enough young workers to the labour pool? Or is immigration first of all about building a vibrant, diverse, healthy society? Are we looking for only the wealthiest, best educated and most skilled, or for anyone who truly wants to adopt this country as their home and has the skills and the ability to land on their feet? Where do our humanitarian commitments fit into the scheme, and should they be subject to quotas? What are our priorities as a nation, and what role does immigration play in meeting those priorities?Canada: Policy Changes and Integration Challenges in an Increasingly Diverse Society
http://www.migrationinformation.org/Profiles/display.cfm?ID=348
Today's apparent mismatch between the skill and education levels of economic class migrants and labor market performance is a concern that highlights both integration challenges in a post-industrial economy and a cleavage between immigration policy intent and outcomes.The Immigration Advantage: How Multiculturalism Helps Canada Compete
http://www.ceocouncil.ca/en/view/?document_id=384&type_id=3
I don’t think we fully appreciate the value that our immigrants represent… Evolution of global companies, from “corporate colonialism” and “cheap-hands” production… in this model, any job and any function can be handled anywhere that it makes business sense to do so… Because Canadians grow up in a multicultural society, we seem to travel well and flourish in managing others around the world. Canada maintains its traditional open door, but we are not doing well enough at persuading more people to walk through it… Canada cannot develop a strategy for attracting, keeping and developing people solely through the departments of Citizenship and Immigration and of Canadian Heritage. The departments of Finance, Industry, Foreign Affairs, International Trade, Health, Environment, Social Development, Human Resources and Skills Development, Infrastructure and Communities, all have to be part of the solution, along with provincial and municipal governments. - Canadian Council of Chief Executives, 2005Immigration and Canadian Nation-Building in the Transition to a Knowledge Economy
http://www.utoronto.ca/ethnicstudies/Reitz_June2002.pdf
From Confederation in 1867 to today, nation-building has been a theme underlying Canadian immigration. Historically, immigration to Canada was sought to expand the population, boost the economy, and develop society... Canada’s perceived need for high levels of immigration will continue, but its success in integrating these immigrants is becoming more difficult, creating increased strain on the economy and society. This raises significant issues and dilemmas which are likely to become more salient and produce important policy changes in the future.Immigrant Settlement and Social Inclusion in Canada
http://www.laidlawfdn.org/files/children/richmond.pdf
The Economic Status of Newcomers in Canada; Other Groups of Newcomers; Immigrant and Refugee Children and Youth; Settlement Services and the NGO Sector; Urban Issues and Newcomer Settlement; The Social Inclusion Perspective; Social Inclusion and Canada’s Official Multiculturalism; Policy Perspectives within a Social Inclusion Perspective.Migrant Workers: Best Practices Regarding Integration and Citizenship
http://www.iom.int/documents/officialtxt/en/timothy%5Fowen.pdf
Organizations which provide services that meet more than one settlement need tend to be more successful as settlement agencies. This has been called a holistic service model, or simply one that responds to the multiple needs of an immigrant family. Organizations which need to refer their clients from one service provider to another, at different locations in a city, risk losing them.Obstacles to Reform of Immigration Policy
Immigration and the Welfare State in Canada: Growing Conflicts, Constructive Solutions
http://www.fraserinstitute.ca/admin/books/files/Immigration.pdf
Groups in Canadian society that benefit from immigration: 1. Bureaucrats who enjoy income and prestige that are greater the higher are the levels of immigration and their responsibilities for granting visas and related work in Ottawa and foreign embassies. 2. The entire, so-called “immigration industry” that consists of lawyers (often paid out of legal aid funds provided by the government), and political appointees to quasi-judicial boards that deal with refugee claims and similar issues, whose incomes and careers prosper more, the larger is the number of immigrants they serve. 3. Non-governmental agencies (NGOs), often considered part of the immigration industry, receive public funding to assist in settling immigrants, and providing language and other services. They, too, have a vested interest in maintaining large and growing levels of immigration. 4. Industries that depend heavily on the employment of low-skilled workers favour high levels of immigration...The Problem: Immigration and the Welfare State; Causes of Poor Average Economic Record; Towards a New Immigrant Selection System; Immigrant Earnings and Demographics; Comparison of Australian and Canadian Immigration Policies.Enhancing the Contribution of Migration Research to Policy-Making
http://www.iom.int/en/PDF_Files/GMRA/Canada/canada_e.pdf
Canada’s Immigration Research Framework: Canada’s migration research strategy is designed to be responsive to government requirements. This means that the strategy: Is defined based on government mandate and policy; Sets out the questions to be answered or addressed; (What is the impact of immigration on the labour market, on the economy, on our institutions? What do immigrants contribute and what is the cost to Canadians? What is the impact on those who are already resident in Canada? The “right” level of immigration is often viewed in the context of a country’s "absorptive capacity". But what is absorptive capacity? How is it defined? Is there a “right” level of immigration - a precise annual number?); Identifies the tools needed to answer the questions; Sets priorities based on perceived impact and/or urgency. Three basic elements: Research, Data development, Keeping ahead of emerging issues. - Consultative Meeting for Governments, Geneva 2004.Retention and Integration of Immigrants in Newfoundland and Labrador – Are We Ready?
http://www.hrle.gov.nl.ca/hrle/immigration/pdf/ImmigrationStudyFinal.pdf
What works in regionalization strategies? A number of studies have identified the actions that provinces and communities outside the major centres need to take to attract and retain more immigrants. This section documents the approaches in other provinces and what they have learned.Comings and Goings of Immigrants in Atlantic Canada
http://www.smu.ca/academic/sobey/workplacereview/april2005/ComingGoingsImmigrants.pdf
In most areas in Canada, immigration has been a main contributor to offsetting declining populations. However, Atlantic Canada has not been as successful at attracting and retaining immigrants. The following are … potential solutions for the future, presented by leading experts in this area.Improving Immigration - A Policy Approach for Western Canada
http://www.cwf.ca/abcalcwf/doc.nsf/(Publications)/01F84C1F29
D6851287256FCD002CD95B/$file/Improving%20Immigration.pdf
In spite of this potential, the immigration experience is flawed and immigrants are not able to achieve their potential. While a complete fix may elude current policy instruments, improving the immigrant experience and deriving more societal benefit for the West is within the scope of policy change. The following recommendations gathered from our consultations and research suggest that much can be done to make the region more welcoming to immigrants and, perhaps more importantly, to allow for the economic and non-economic potential of immigrants to be more fully realized. Many current immigrant struggles in the West (e.g., skill recognition, processing delays, employer prejudices, negative public attitudes, lack of affordable housing, insufficient language training) represent concerns that can be eased through direction from governments, employers, professional associations and community agencies.Ethnic Minorities In Canada: A Governance Perspective
http://www.iog.ca/publications/ethnic.pdf
Two of the conference workshops were animated by representatives of ethnic minorities. Much of their experiences appeared to resonate with Aboriginal audiences. Based on these presentations, the Institute concluded that there was a rich, untapped vein of experience that many groups, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, might profitably mine so as to inform the development of their own strategies for community development and eventual governance in urban settings… Many ethnic minorities have chosen not to rely solely on governments to deal with many of the challenges confronting them. Rather, they have developed a rich array of organizations to define their own goals and strategies, mobilize resources and provide critical services to their members. How they have gone about this and some of the results they have achieved are the principal focus of this studyHorizons
http://policyresearch.gc.ca
The Policy Research Initiative (PRI) produces Horizons as a liaison publication for the federal government policy research community. The primary objective of the PRI is to deepen, collect, and integrate research on crosscutting issues that are highly relevant to the Government of Canada’s mediumterm policy agenda. Horizons highlights the work of policy researchers from across federal departments, and from external experts, on issues that relate closely to PRI horizontal research projects and activities.Immigration Policy, Assimilation of Immigrants, and Natives’ Sentiments Towards Immigrants: Evidence from 12 OECD Countries
http://www.ccis-ucsd.org/PUBLICATIONS/wrkg33.pdf
Natives in countries that receive predominantly refugee migrants are relatively more concerned with immigration’s impact on social issues such as crime than on the employment effects. Natives in countries with mostly economic migrants are relatively more concerned about loosing jobs to immigrants. However, the results also suggest that natives may view immigration more favorably if immigrants are selected according to the needs of the labor markets. Possible benefits of such a policy are that it may moderate social tensions in regards to migration and contribute to a better economic performance of the respective countries. - Center for Comparative Immigration StudiesTowards a more balanced geographic distribution of immigrants
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/research-stats/geographic.pdf
Many new immigrants demonstrate a strong preference for a particular destination. In the first few years after arrival they tend to be quick to move, mainly to the large metropolitan centres with a large immigrant population. Immigrants will settle permanently in a region and the population of a region will increase if the regional economy expands and generates more jobs... As an inflow of immigrants to a region cannot be expected by itself to generate a sufficient number of jobs for the new arrivals, it will induce an outflow of people, unless employment growth occurs for other reasons. The new immigrants themselves are rather likely to move to other parts of the country where there are more job opportunities.
The World Economy: What Canadians Need to Know
http://www.ciia.org/fpc96.htm
Politics and Globalization: Democracy; Silent Surrend? The Multinational Challenge; Human Capital; Immigration and Labour; Industrial Struggle and Industrial Strategy; Trade: Managed, Free, or Other; Money in Motion: International Financial Institutions. - National Foreign Policy Conference, 1996Canada’s economic growth in review
http://www.statcan.ca/english/ads/11-010-XPB/pdf/apr05.pdf
Household wealth jumped 5%, buoyed by the strength in both housing and stock markets. Households continued to go further into debt to finance the housing boom. Households owed $900 billion last year (2004), although net worth hit $4.4 trillion.State Policies to Enhance the New Economy: A Comparative Analysis
http://www.policyalternatives.ca/documents/Manitoba_Pubs/2005/State_Policies.pdf
Conceptualizing the New Economy: National Systems of Innovation, Clusters, The Role of the State in Innovations Systems Theory and Clusters. New Economy Policies in Comparative Perspective
Method. A Four-Part Framework. Conclusion: A Developmental Alternative.Immigration, Entrepreneurship and the Venture Start-Up Process
The Five Sectors: How They Operate - Advisory Council on Science and Technology, Part III http://acst-ccst.gc.ca/skills/finalrep_html/p3_e.html#f3
http://web.uvic.ca/~hschuetz/immigstartup6.pdf
Our examination of the earnings outcomes among immigrants to the United States and comparison to those to Australia and Canada leads us to conclude that self-selection among immigrant entrepreneurs based on other market factors, such as market size and tax policy, are likely more important than immigration policy. Self employed immigrants to the United States out-performed immigrants to Canada and Australia in terms of earnings outcomes relative to natives. These differences in the relative earnings outcomes among male immigrants between the United States and the other two countries were substantial, despite the fact that immigrants to the United States were not formally screened based on skills.
Canada's under-performing economy kept unemployment high through much of the 1990s. This situation meant that first-time job seekers had to wait in line as employers turned first to experienced, older workers to fill job vacancies. This contrasts with the U. S. experience, where economic performance has been robust and the line-ups for jobs are much shorter or even non-existent.The Output Gap between Canada and the US: The Role of Productivity 1994-2002
http://www.statcan.ca/english/ads/11-010-XPB/pdf/jan05.pdf
The primary reason for differences in the late 1990s between Canada and the United States in GDP per capita was not a difference in labour productivity; rather it was the difference in hours worked per capita. And the progress that has been made since the mid 1990s in closing the Canada/US GDP per capita gap came not from improvements in productivity, but from improvements in the hours worked per capita in Canada relative to the United States. The latter was because of a relatively faster increase in the number of jobs and employment in Canada.
Long-run Cycles in Business Investment
http://www.statcan.ca/english/ads/11-010-XPB/pdf/sep05.pdf
Recent data has shown much of the post-2000 slowdown in labour productivity was due to the slack in business investment. When the capital stock starts to rise rapidly, labour productivity should begin to improve.
Four Decades of Creative Destruction: Renewing Canada’s Manufacturing Base from 1961-1999
http://www.statcan.ca/english/ads/11-010-XPB/oct04.pdf
This paper investigates how long a population of business establishments takes to renew itself. Does it occur over a decade, or a much longer period? It presents measures of the extent of renewal in Canada’s manufacturing sector over a four decade period (1961-1999)—a period that roughly represents the productive lifetime of a worker. We measure the extent to which plants that were present in 1961 are renewed forty years later... In Canada’s case it has involved a general east to west movement in economic activity.Information Technology Workers
http://www.statcan.ca/english/ads/11-010-XPB/pdf/sep03.pdf
Over 387,000 people worked in occupations related to information technology in 2001. This number represented almost 3% of all employed Canadians in 2001, and 40% of those employed in natural and applied sciences and related occupations.... In 2001, proportionately more immigrants worked in IT occupations (32%) than in all occupations (20%), and even more than in the natural and applied sciences and related occupations (27%). Immigrants made up nearly half of software engineers, 40% of computer engineers, and more than one-third of computer programmers. Furthermore, their representation in every IT occupation was above their overall average (20%). Nearly half the immigrants working in IT occupations came in the 1990s (49%)—31% in the second half of the decade, a period coinciding with the hightechnology boom. For example, more than 6 in 10 immigrants employed as software engineers arrived in Canada between 1996 and 2001. These figures suggest that the 1997 policy to facilitate the entry of immigrants into Canada to work in this field did indeed have the desired effect.
The Impact of Self-employment on Productivity growth in Canada and the US
http://www.statcan.ca/english/ads/11-010-XPB/aug03.pdf
The importance of the self-employed for productivity originates in its rapid growth. From 1990 to 1998, over half (55%) of our total net job growth of 8.1% (1,056,000 jobs) came from self-employment. The self-employed run different types of businesses. Some generate a large amount of GDP, have employees and use capital in the production process. Others generate little in the way of GDP, hire no employees and use no capital except for perhaps a computer and a room in their house. The impact of the growth of self-employment depends on its distribution across these various types of businesses... The increase in the self-employed in the 1990s was driven by those who have no employees. This group earned substantially less than both the other self-employed and paid workers. The growth in self-employment in this low productivity segment during the early 1990s was an important factor contributing to the stagnation of our overall productivity.Realizing Canada’s prosperity potential
http://www.competeprosper.ca/public/dav05.pdf
Canada is becoming the home for many highly educated immigrants. We observed, however, that a large number are underemployed or even unemployed. The result is that we are forgoing their potential to contribute more to our economic well being. Some programs are successfully integrating immigrants into Canadian professions and employment, but more needs to be done... Although Canada’s economy compares well against the rest of the world... against the United States, we have a large and persistent prosperity gap. In 1981, Canada trailed the United States by only $1,800 in per capita GDP,1 but the gap rose dramatically until 1997 and stood at $7,200 in 2003... Our managers have lower educational attainment overall and in business specifically; only 31 % of our managers possess a university degree versus 50 % of US managers. If the link between education and innovation can be drawn, it is quite apparent why we are less productive and prosperous in Canada.Great Expectations: Corporate Social Responsibility and the Future of Canada
http://www.carleton.ca/duc/newsreleases/jul_dec_2003/macdonald03-text.html
Canada is a medium sized economy on the world stage. Let's not handicap ourselves further by competing as individual provinces or economic sectors but rather leverage the combined power of a cohesive country.The Economic Component of the Canadian Immigration Program
http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/domino/reports.nsf/html/0003ce.html
We noted serious deficiencies in the management and delivery of the economic component of the Canadian Immigration Program, whose purpose is to recruit highly qualified individuals who can readily contribute to our economy and adapt to our society. These deficiencies seriously limit Canada's ability to maximize the economic and social benefits that immigration affords, and to protect the integrity of its Immigration Program. - Report of the Auditor General of CanadaSubmission to the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration
www.ccnc.ca/newsReleases/CCNC-Submission-on-Settlement-Programs-Feb-2003.doc
No matter what province immigrants or refugees choose to settle and work in, two-thirds of their personal income tax is paid to the federal government.Analysis of Socioeconomic and Demographic Profiles of Immigrants in Nova Scotia
http://www.atlantic.metropolis.net/index_e.html
Immigrants arrive with more education than that possessed by the resident nonimmigrant population… Our findings indicate that retention rates have shrunk from about 64 % during 1981-1986 to only 37 % during 1996-2001… One of the myths … is that immigrants are drain on public purse as they tend to consume a lot more public transfers than resident population…and that immigrants pay much lower taxes than the amount of public transfers they consume. The finding that immigrants are young at the time of arrival should be used to debunk these myths. Much of the public transfers are age- related (such as Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security payments) and immigrants do not become eligible for others such as Employment Insurance for a long time after arrival into the country. Likewise, immigrants do not demand such public services as health care for a long time after arrival. However, they start to pay taxes, such as the sales tax, soon after arrival.Income Security Programs: Survival-of-the-Fittest Employment Policy
http://www.caledoninst.org/Publications/PDF/1-894159-94-2.pdf
The availability of a skilled, trained pool of labour represents one of the key foundations that support the economic structure. The findings of this study are of concern because they show clearly that the human resources foundation so vital to sustain healthy economic clusters is very shaky indeed… This report presents key barriers that both individuals and community organizations face with respect to various laws, policies and programs. But the findings move beyond the barriers embedded in the rules within individual programs… The problems are due both to general context and specific content… The unemployed are basically on their own. They may or may not be eligible for financial assistance to offset the costs of training. Those who do qualify for some assistance often find the amounts inadequate to meet market rates for training… A haphazard, uncoordinated patchwork quilt will not create the kind of targeted, high-quality skills required in a rapidly evolving knowledge economy.The Economic Goals of Canada’s Immigration Policy: Past and Present
http://qed.econ.queensu.ca/pub/cpp/dec1999/Greens.pdf
Our conclusion is that immigration policy should now be seen primarily as a cultural, social and humanitarian policy rather than an economic one. This does not mean, however, that all economic concerns should be abandoned. Immigration should be selected to minimize negative impacts on the least well off. In this regard, government plans to move away from targeting specific occupations and toward selecting broad skills seem appropriate. Also, immigration should likely be cut back in poor labour force times rather than being kept at high levels in the hopes of realizing economic benefits for which there is little supporting evidence.
Immigration and Social Cohesion
http://policyresearch.gc.ca/page.asp?pagenm=v5n2_art_05
Immigration and Integration, Education and Youth Integration, Political Participation, Gender and Immigration, The Manitoba Advantage, Immigration Law, Recent Immigrants in the Labour MarketThe Visible Minority Population in Canada: A Review of Numbers, Growth and Labour Force Issues
http://www.canpopsoc.org/journal/CSPv33n2p241.pdf
The characteristics of the visible minority population and labour force are examined including those employed by firms under the Legislated Employment Equity Program and the Federal Contractors Program. The future growth of the visible minority labour force and the socio-economic impact of the findings are discussed along with their implications. Canadian Studies in Population, 2006Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada – A portrait of Early Settlement Experiences
http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/Collection/Statcan/89-614-XIE/89-614-XIE2005001.pdf
Moving to a new country is challenging. Although many new immigrants encountered difficulties, it appears problems finding employment was the biggest hurdle. Lack of recognition of foreign qualifications and/or work experience, financial problems and language barriers were the most serious problems reported. 2005Immigration Ontario
http://www.strongontario.ca/english/dollars/immigration.asp
Ontario welcomes 57 % of all immigrants to Canada, but we get only 34 % of the federal funding. Newcomers to Ontario deserve the same support from the federal government as they would receive in any other province... The federal government invests $3,806 in an immigrant who lands in Quebec, but only $819 in one who lands in Ontario... With populations ageing and skills shortages growing, countries around the globe are in a race to attract the best and brightest the world has to offer. We want to make Ontario the place to be. It's time to narrow the gap in immigration settlement funding... Making Progress On Immigration: Ontario received a commitment to increase federal support per immigrant in Ontario from $819 to $3,400, plus an additional $40 million per year for language training.Recent Immigrants in the Vancouver Metropolitan Area
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/research-stats/1996-vancouver.pdf
A comparative portrait based on the 1996 Census.Families, restructuring and the Canadian welfare state
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3683/is_199907/ai_n8834667
Canadian immigrant families are paying the price of a contradictory set of public expectations. On the one hand, they are seen as an important part of the solution to the demographic problems of an aging welfare state. They are often scapegoated as burdens upon this same welfare state. As a result, immigrants are being asked to contribute more and to expect less from Canadian society... Increasing emphasis on the sponsorship requirements of family class migration also has the effect of intensifying women's dependency within the family... Devolving settlement services to the provinces may well result in cutbacks to essential resources such as language training. The imposition of "head taxes" on arrival has also shifted a growing share of the costs of adjustment to Canada upon individuals and families, rather than upon Canadian society as a whole. In this way immigrants, like other Canadians, have suffered from the restructuring, downsizing and privatizing of social services over the past decade in a way that is often lost sight of in writing on social policy reform.Low Birthrates, Unfunded Pensions & Immigration
http://www.saag.org/papers10/paper970.html
Birthrates are below the replacement rate of slightly above two….Excess populations keen on immigrating are to be found mainly in Asian, African and South American countries…an analysis on a country and/ or strategy basis. - South Asia Analysis GroupBest Settlement Practices: Settlement Services for Refugees and Immigrants in Canada
http://www.nocrimetime.net/edition%207/9.htm
Immigrant youth face many challenges upon arrival in a new country. They often leave difficult situations in their homelands and are separated from relatives and friends. As well, their families often face economic hurdles and cannot afford extracurricular activities such as sports and summer camps. - Innovative programs for youth from the Yukon to Prince Edward Island… “The children may need to participate in extracurricular activities to meet new friends, increase their self-esteem and gain a sense of community belonging and safety". Canadian Council for Refugees, 1998 - Retrieved from No Crime TimeThe Migration of the American Dream – to Canada
http://www.corporateknights.ca/content/page.asp?name=american_dream_canada
The American Dream created a culture of inclusiveness—everyone who wanted to work hard and follow the dream was allowed, and many did, bringing to the United States a diversity of talent and ideas and making it the world’s richest nation in a very short period of time. However, following 9/11, the Americans engaged in an even greater destruction: the demise of the American Dream. The terrorist act of 9/11 resulted in the United States taking a protectionist stance on immigration... This increased scrutiny means that many graduate students and entrepreneurs, especially groups such as Muslims, South Asians, and Arabs are no longer going to the US. This is important for Canada - we need to capitalize on this change in the flow pattern of skilled tradespeople and knowledge workers. In previous years these motivated immigrants would use Canada as a stepping-stone to the larger US job market. With an aging population and an economy that is currently very dependent on commodity exports, and given the low birth rate (currently near 10 per 1000 people), Canada sorely needs these new immigrants otherwise the downward trends in the size of our labour force will continue.The Public Policy Challenge: Women in Non-Standard Jobs
http://www.swc-cfc.gc.ca/pubs/pubspr/0662334809/200303_0662334809_3_e.html
Women in non-standard work; Recent developments in non-standard employment; Documenting non-standard work in Canada; The policy challenge of contingent work; Responding to the challenge - Status of Women Canada, 2003Beyond the State-bounded Immigrant Incorporation Regime – Transnational Migrant Communities: Their Potential Contribution to Canada’s Leadership Role and Influence in a Globalized World
http://www.nsi-ins.ca/english/pdf/transmigration_document_july_22.pdf
As an alternative to the settler conception of immigrant communities that implies a location bounded geographical area that is circumscribed by an immigrant-host state relationship, these new types of immigrant communities are transnational migrant communities with transnational (across political border) dimensions. These communities comprise low skill and high skill immigrants who share common interests and homeland references... Contrary to the assumptions of settler models, these immigrants do not sever ties with their homelands. Instead, they construct networked organizational systems of relationships with homeland counterparts and actively use these networks to consolidate economic business, political, and social ties with families, firms, organizations, institutions and national governments in their homelands.Immigrants who leave Canada - 1980 to 2000
http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/060301/d060301b.htm
Significant proportion of working age immigrants leave, about 6 out of 10 of those who leave do so within the first year of arrival. Admitted in the business and skilled worker classes - about 4 in 10 of the newcomers who arrived in either of these classes left within 10 years after arrival. - Those in the assisted relative class had a lower departure rate (around 3 in 10). - Refugee claimants had the lowest out-migration rates (about 2 in 10). - Newcomers from the United States and those from Hong Kong had the highest likelihood of leaving Canada, with about half of them leaving within 10 years after arrival. Newcomers from Europe or the Caribbean, in contrast, were about half as likely to leave. The Daily, 2006
Return and Onward Migration among Working Age Men
http://www.statcan.ca/english/research/11F0019MIE/11F0019MIE2006273.pdf
The business class group has a particularly short stay—almost 45% less than the family class. The skilled worker class also has a substantially shorter stay—around 26% less. This is consistent with the notion of a global labour market since these groups would be most likely to experience mobility induced by changing relative labour market conditions in various countries. This would not be the case for the refugee class and, in fact, the refugee class has stays that are 29% longer. The longest stays occur for refugees and the “other” group which includes, importantly, the backlog clearance group. The out-migration rates are higher for those who arrive during recessionary periods. Immigrants who arrived in 1990, were about 50 % more likely to leave than those who arrived in 1986, controlling for other characteristics.Recognizing the Importance of International Students to Canada in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act
http://www.aucc.ca/_pdf/english/reports/2001/c11_03_02_e.pdf
Our research shows that Canada’s main international competitors -- the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and France -- have an overall government-wide approach to international student recruitment and, consequently, that the importance of this goal is reflected in the policies of their respective immigration departments… Canada is the only country we studied not to have adopted a government-wide approach to international education or international student recruitment.Official Languages and Immigration: Obstacles and Opportunities for Immigrants and Communities
http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/200/301/ocol-clo/official_languages_and_imm-ef/obstacle_e.htm
The dual purpose of this study is to produce an enhanced awareness and sensitivity to immigrant realities in minority communities while providing concrete proposals as to what governments and communities should do to attract and retain more immigrants.
Immigrants Urgently Needed: A Wide Demographic Gap: Immigrants in Francophone Minority Communities. New Source Countries: Who Counts as a Francophone? The Commissioner Intervenes: More Points for Bilingual Immigrants. Shaping the Future of Linguistic Duality: Setting Concrete Targets...Closing the Gap Between Immigrants and Communities: Understanding the Phases and Dimensions of Immigration. The Selection Phase: Great Expectations. The Settlement Phase: Credentials and Canadian Experience. The Adaptation Phase: Planning for the Future. The Contribution Phase: Integration in Both Directions...Roads to Success: Monitoring Immigrant Retention. Provincial Nominee Programs. Regionalization. Qualification Recognition. Outlook.Competing for Immigrants
http://www.parl.gc.ca/InfoComDoc/37/1/CIMM/Studies/Reports/CIMMRP4-e.htm
Report by Canadian Parliament's Standing Committee on Citizenhip and Immigration. Discusses problems with immigrant, worker, and student processing at overseas posts, and suggests improvements.Articles by Allan Thompson
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/
Render&c=Page&cid=991479973472&ce=Columnist&colid=977424215855
Toronto Star columnist frequently writing on immigration topics and answering readers' questions.
Settlement and social inclusion
Immigrant Settlement and Social Inclusion in Canada
http://www.laidlawfdn.org/files/children/richmond.pdf
Recently there has been much discussion and debate with the goal of refining the concept of social inclusion, both inside and out- side the dialogue promoted by the Laidlaw Foundation, and it is well beyond the scope of this paper to adequately address all the issues that have been raised. We are working in this paper with a more practical focus, which is to test the potential of social inclusion as a policy framework against what we know of the reality of immigrant and refugee settlement in Canada today.Progressive Thinking for a Global Age
http://fpc.org.uk/articles/146
Address about Canada's integration policies and programs. - Managing Migration Conference, 2002Discussion Paper: Maximizing Settlement Policy to Facilitate Fuller Integration of Immigrants
http://integration-net.cic.gc.ca/inet/english/vsi-isb/conference2/working-travail/p01-04.htm
This paper discusses policy initiatives to maximize settlement in Canada. Canada’s Innovation Strategy proposes certain ways in which immigration policy can make it easier to integrate immigrants by recognizing their skills and training in the Canadian labour market. Such a streamlined national framework would overcome jurisdictional and institutional barriers, and create an environment more conducive to integration. - National Settlement Conference, 2003Towards Prosperity: a national and provincial perspective on the need to utilize immigrant skills
http://www.htab.ca/publications/Towards%20Prosperity.pdf
Today’s solutions for better integrating immigrant skills into the workforce stress comprehensiveness. Central is the notion that collaboration among various players is needed in order to achieve significant and sustainable results. As the barriers to utilizing immigrant skills are multi-faceted and multi-jurisdictional, so too must be the solutions. There are many stakeholders—various levels of government, professional regulators and associations, academic institutions, credential assessors, business and labour leaders, community-based services and immigrants themselves. Credible solutions will find ways to bring these groups together and encourage commitment for each to do their part.An Integrated Analysis of Immigration and Globalization
http://newsocialist.org/newsite/index.php?id=42
It would seem that state policies and the structure of the economy are functioning to knowingly seek out immigrants that will not be able to get jobs that they are legitimately educated and experienced to do, and who will also not be seeking under-funded language or university services. It is clear, then, that immigrants are forced to play the role of “cheap labour”, and that is what they were really allowed in to do. As such, because of the deeply internationalized structure of capitalism, and the racist and imperialist migration flows from South to North, more and more immigrants are experiencing a marked shift in class position when they arrive. Book Review: Globalization, immigration and settlementA New Way of Thinking? Towards a Vision of Social Inclusion
http://www.ccsd.ca/subsites/inclusion/
Social Inclusion in Context: From experiences of exclusion to a vision of inclusion; The foundation of a national policy agenda; The foundation of civic and community life. Social Inclusion in Action: Transforming public policies and institutional practices - Community Services; Community Participation. Public education and recreation. Conference, 2001A Review of the Literature on Aspects of Ethno-Racial Access, Utilization and Delivery of Social Services
http://www.ceris.metropolis.net/Virtual%20Library/other/reitz1/reitz1.html#Table%20of%20Contents
This review of nearly 400 publications from Canada, the US, Britain and Australia has identified a large number of studies supporting the conclusion that very often, recent immigrant groups experience low rates of utilization of many important social and health services, despite evidence of significant need. The barriers most often identified include those related to language, lack of information about services, cultural patterns of help-seeking, lack of cultural sensitivity by service providers, financial barriers, and lack of service availability.Settlement Services
http://www.criaw-icref.ca/factSheets/Immigrant_fact_sheet_e.htm
The current patchwork of services is a nightmare for immigrants and refugees who attempt to access them.… It is a separate, parallel, and marginalized sector of publicly-funded social services... Women form 80% of the labour force in these agencies, 75% are immigrants and 70% are racial minorities. Most of these workers work in low-paid insecure jobs, and are expected to volunteer their time during periods in which funding has not yet been received. Management tends to be almost all white.Best Settlement Practices
http://www.web.net/~ccr/bpfina1.htm
“Overview of settlement services and in particular of the elements that are generally agreed to make for successful settlement programs... Detailed account of the context in which settlement services are offered… The document is more particularly intended for those in the wider community wishing to understand settlement services. Those outside Canada, who are interested in the Canadian experience of newcomer integration will, we hope, also find this overview informative.” Canadian Council for Refugees, February 1998Social Inclusion as Policy: Challenges and Opportunities
http://policyresearch.gc.ca/page.asp?pagenm=v7n2_art_13
The social inclusion work we want to develop must combine theory and practice. As well, it must exhibit three essential features: It must deal with the structural roots of exclusion, be rooted in community (self-) organization and mobilization, and be transformative. It must lead to real, applied policy changes transforming the structures that promote exclusion and limit inclusion... We need to appreciate fully the social and economic impact of rapid demographic and economic changes in Canada. Immigrants – those born outside of Canada – form a growing percentage of the population in our major urban centres, and are increasingly from non-European countries. There is an increasing degree of coincidence therefore between “newcomer” and “visible minority” status, precisely at a time when these newcomers face systemic barriers to the recognition of internationally acquired education and skills. The alarming process of the racialization of poverty in Canada is, in fact, a product of these trends.
Perspective on Social Inclusion
http://www.ccsd.ca/events/inclusion/papers/gilbert.pdf
In 2000, the Foundation adopted Social Inclusion as a new strategic and conceptual focus for its Children’s Agenda Program. The program seeks: To re-frame the debate about poverty, vulnerability and the well-being of children in order to highlight the social dimensions of poverty; To link poverty and economic vulnerability with other sources of exclusion such as racism, disability, rejection of difference and historic oppression; To find common ground in the struggle for solidarity among those who have been marginalized and alter the more conventional concern about bringing the "outsider" in, leading to an examination of into what the marginalized and vulnerable are being included.
Labour Market Policies for Social Inclusion
http://www.ccsd.ca/events/inclusion/proceedings/labour.htm
Social inclusion in terms of four factors: individual development, participation in society, equality of “life chances,” and real equality of opportunity... Precarious work is a growing concern and is defined as a high combined risk of unemployment and low pay... A federal minimum wage would be a step towards a national minimum wage and serve as a benchmark. There should also be some right to training for workers in precarious jobs.Toward Maximizing the Talents of Visible Minorities
http://www.conferenceboard.ca/MTVM/608-04MaxTalentsBooklet.pdf
Maximizing the Talents of Visible Minorities: Concerns and Opportunities; How Are We Doing? Report Card on Performance in Maximizing the Talents of Visible Minorities; Moving Beyond Words to Action; Checklist: How Well Are You Doing? Beyond the Organization’s Boundaries…Performance and Potential 2004 –05: How Can Canada Prosper in Tomorrow’s World?
http://infocentre.cucbc.com/pdf/P&P2004-05.pdf
A new deal for immigrants is needed to ensure that they, and the Canadian society as a whole, realize the full benefits of their contribution... Our inability to integrate the skills and experiences of immigrants into our workplaces is a fundamental challenge. Solving it will likely require a combination of government policy and employer action... The lack of an effective holistic system is a major impediment to meeting our goals for settling and integrating immigrants in our economy and society. Despite the importance of immigrants, Canada’s immigration processes and activities do not adequately meet the economic and social needs of the country, its organizations and communities, and the immigrants themselves. Citation from report of the Conference Board of Canada.More Federal Funding for Immigrant Services is Good News - But It Will Only Be Effective if Spent On Core Settlement and Language Services
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/February2005/24/c8361.html?view=print
Simon Fraser University Releases a New Inter-Provincial Report Card on Language and Settlement Services for Immigrants in Canada: A System in Crisis. Overall, the report card finds Canada suffers from an inconsistent patchwork of resources from region to region. Unequal levels of service have implications on where new immigrants choose to live, their unemployment levels and earning ability. No province ranked higher than an overall 'C'.Fulfilling the Promise: Integrating Immigrant Skills into the Canadian Economy
http://www.maytree.com/PDF_Files/FulfillingPromise.pdf
To achieve its vision, Maytree proposes that solutions be designed as part of an overall system instead of the current ad hoc approach. Jurisdictional roles: Federal government, Provincial governments, Municipal governments, Employers, Colleges and universities, Academic credential assessment services, Regulators In licensed professions, Community-based immigrant settlement agencies, Professional associations, Immigrant professional associations. 2002Submission to the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration with respect to Settlement Programs
http://www.ccnc.ca/entryContent/604e5c2e083331db.doc
We recommend that the federal government commit to a significant increase in sustaining operational and core funding for settlement and integration programs; We endorse OCASI’s recommendations regarding the need for dialogue and collaboration among federal departments and the three levels of governments to address gaps and inconsistencies in the provision of settlement and integration programs; We recommend that CIC take a more innovative and consultative approach toward settlement and integration service delivery providing frontline agencies with greater flexibility in organizing programs that will meet the specific needs of immigrants and refugees, and allowing diversity in programming; We therefore support the recommendation of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance that federal funding for language instruction services be increased to accommodate innovative models of delivery that will meet the diverse needs of immigrants and refugees. We also recommend that the eligibility for language instruction services be expanded to include naturalized citizens and refugee claimants.Immigration and Rural Canada: Research and Practice, 2005
http://www.crrf.ca/news/RDIreport.pdf
Objectives: To identify and clarify the pertinent issues surrounding rural immigration policy, research and practice; To inform participants of the existing policy and opportunities surrounding rural immigration within the framework of “the present rural reality”; To connect the perspectives of research, policy and application by engaging interests, opinion and expertise from broad fields; To provide an opportunity for networking, facilitating future follow up on the theme; To mobilize people and ideas towards a national rural immigration agenda; To promote active participation and contribution.CIC Advancing Strategic Research
http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/est-pre/20052006/CI-CI/CI-CIr5602_e.asp#IV_annex3
Objective and timely research is a prerequisite to making informed decisions for policy action and program development. The continued use of research findings will support a better understanding of the linkages between immigrant selection and integration into Canadian society and of broader issues relating to Canadian demographics, labour market requirements and social cohesion. In particular, this research is expected to provide insight into the ability of immigrants to speak one of the official languages, the situation of immigrants living in poverty and the dynamics of integration. Much of this activity will support the development of the new immigration framework for Canada and immigrant labour market integration. CIC's departmental research activities are supported by a combined salary/non-salary base budget of just over $2 million.B.C. fails immigrant report card
http://www.sfu.ca/mediapr/sfu_news/archives/sfunews03240519.html
A report card on immigrant languages and settlement services across Canada gives B.C. a failing grade and suggests that the province’s immigration language system is in crisis. The report card’s findings should be seen as a starting point in the bid to enhance immigrant and refugee settlement and integration.
The Opportunity and Challenge of Diversity: A Role for Social Capital?
http://policyresearch.gc.ca/page.asp?pagenm=sc_confschd
Policy Research Initiative conducts research in support of the Government of Canada's medium term agenda. Its core mandate is to advance research on emerging horizontal issues, and to ensure the effective transfer of acquired knowledge to policy-makers. - The PRI currently has five horizontal research projects: Population Aging and Life-course Flexibility, New Approaches for Addressing Poverty and Exclusion, Social Capital as a Public Policy Tool, North American Linkages, and Sustainable Development.A Literature Review of Child - Parent/Caregiver Attachment Theory and Cross-cultural Practices Influencing Attachment
http://www.attachmentacrosscultures.org/research/index.html#1
Summary and critique of current research and knowledge on parent-child attachment practices - particularly within the context of ethno-cultural communities and in regards to the impact that migration may have on the practices used by women /families within these communities... Our growing awareness that women immigrants were likely to experience cultural disruption and even rejection of the familiar child-rearing practices that reinforced their roles in child development.A Review of the Literature on Aspects of Ethno-Racial Access, Utilization and Delivery of Social Services
http://www.ceris.metropolis.net/Virtual%20Library/other/reitz1/reitz1.html#Table%20of%20Contents
This review of nearly 400 publications from Canada, the US, Britain and Australia has identified a large number of studies supporting the conclusion that very often, recent immigrant groups experience low rates of utilization of many important social and health services, despite evidence of significant need. The barriers most often identified include those related to language, lack of information about services, cultural patterns of help-seeking, lack of cultural sensitivity by service providers, financial barriers, and lack of service availability.Relationship between Immigration and Education in Canada
http://www.atkinsonfoundation.ca/files/Duffy_web.pdf
Public Education and the New Canadian … Are we in danger of creating an underclass in which children in need of the most help are left to languish? … Newcomers losing ground… Boards should make immigrant students priority… Little research is being done into their unique needs… ESL instruction must be a required course for would-be teachers and principals in immigrant destination provinces. - Atkinson Fellowship in Public Policy, 2003The National Reference Group on Visible Minorities
http://www.vsi-isbc.ca/eng/about/vis_min_research.cfm
Detailed overview of issues with recommendations for improvement. Systemic and Structural Barriers, Organizational/Human Resource Capacity, Mainstreaming visible minority communities/issues in Canadian society, Gender, Youth, Labour Market, Information Technology, Public Perception / Media Image, Immigration/Refugee issues, Civil Rights. Voluntary Sector Initiative, Final Report, 2001Immigration / Diversity and Homelessness
http://www.homelessness.gc.ca/research/toolkit/docs/immigrationhomelessness_e.pdf
Slowly but surely, a persistent, disturbing correlation between poverty and race and between poverty and immigration is taking hold in Canada. A few important signs of this trend follow: High poverty rate of recent immigrants (27%, i.e., twice that of the rest of the population, 1998); Poverty among recent immigrants has increased from 24% in 1980 to 35.8% in 2000; Annual incomes one-third lower than those of other Canadians; Large proportion (46.9%) of recent immigrants in the increase in inequality of Canadian incomes between 1990 and 1995, when recent immigrants represented only 2.7% of the total population; Their low level of wealth (the average wealth of immigrant families arriving between 1986 and 1999 was $46,000 less than that of Canadian-born families. By comparison, the average wealth of the cohort arriving before 1976 was $87,000 more than that of Canadian-born families).Immigrant Population Demographic Profile, Education, Employment, Income, Poverty and Social Transfers, Housing, etc.An Exploratory Overview of the Assets of Immigrant and Visible Minority Communities in Ottawa
http://www.spcottawa.on.ca/Documents/Reports/Mosaic%20Asset%20Overview%20Final.PDF
Too often immigrant and visible minority communities are absent at decision-making tables, or their issues are raised in a token manner. Some participants were frustrated with the fact that numerous consultations and studies have identified similar issues, but have not led to significant change… Improved information sharing, including better access to data and policy information, would assist individual groups to advocate on issues which are of particular concern to them. Finally, improved opportunities for networking along with increased community development support would assist groups in coming together on issues which they define are of common concern... Some participants identified they were interested in getting more involved in advocacy activities... The suggestions ranged from basic civic education to specific skill building... and getting your message out to the broader community. Some identified the need for greater access to data in order to verify their concerns. 2004Corporate Social Responsibility and the Future of Canada
http://www.carleton.ca/duc/newsreleases/jul_dec_2003/macdonald03-text.html
The future I envisage for Canada is a future of flexible, innovative, competent people who embrace our collective social responsibility and set, and work hard to achieve, audacious goals. When all the elements of a society work diligently to excel, we will be assured of the preservation and enhancement of our quality of life.Social Risks for Newcomers to Canada
http://www.law-lib.utoronto.ca/investing/reports/rp11.pdf
This paper examines social risks to newcomers to Canada as these have evolved over the past three decades in Ontario and other jurisdictions, and it assesses existing institutional arrangements and policies to address those risks. The purpose is to identify priorities and challenges likely to be significant in Ontario over the next 10 to 15 years. Attention is given to differences in experiences of specific racial minorities, and of immigrant men and women. The assessment of policy considers relations within and across levels of government.The Immigration to Canada Study
http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~agreve/currentpapers.html
This paper analyzes how dual-career couples from the People's Republic of China (PRC) organize care for their children prior to and following immigration to Canada. Using the concepts of social capital and life course, we examine the problems Chinese immigrant women face in rebuilding their professional careers due to loss of social capital. In the PRC, childcare is provided by a dense web of formal institutional and informal arrangements, with the family playing an important role. After immigrating, most need to rebuild their careers and develop social capital to help them combine child care and career rebuilding. - Abstract.Conversation Series - Metropolis
http://www.canada.metropolis.net/research-policy/index_e.htm
Developed from our efforts to improve the management of the profound changes wrought by migration and growing diversity. This series of small and highly focused conference workshops intends to advance the policy process by increasing the power of our debates and our discussions on current immigration challenges. The series provides settings in which senior policy makers and leading researchers can speak candidly, engage one another, explore situations or problems, challenge assumptions and utilize each others’ expertise... Topics addressed include managing the pressures of immigration on social services; managing the public’s acceptance of immigrants and persons of diverse ethnic origins; determining the impact of immigration on social cohesion, on education, on national or local job markets, on housing and neighbourhood development, on trade, on local development, on crime, and so on.What do we know and where do we go? Building a Social Inclusion Research Agenda
http://www.ccsd.ca/events/inclusion/agenda-e.pdf
With the recent signing of the historic Accord between the Government of Canada and the Voluntary Sector, it is fitting that this conference is being co-hosted by a government department, Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) and the voluntary sector organization, Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD)... Focus on an array of important social issues, such as the experience of visible minority and immigrant populations, the concerns of Aboriginal communities, social determinants of health, and the ever-present issues of material well-being and labour market policies. - Ottawa, 2003Reducing Child Poverty to Increase Productivity: A Human Capital Strategy - 2005
http://www.campaign2000.ca/res/briefs/ReducingChildPovertyToIncreaseProductiivity.pdf
Getting a job is not necessarily a pathway out of poverty. One-third of all jobs are contract, temporary, part-time or self employed… Low wages are part of the reason why children remain poor, despite the fact that their parents are working… Developing Human Capital through a Social Investment Plan: Increase the National Child Benefit…Establish a federal minimum wage of $10/hour… Accelerate federal funding for regulated early learning and child care… Commit to a national housing and homelessness strategy… Increase funding for post secondary education and tie the increases to provincial commitments to freeze and lower tuition fees.