Ponder the following questions:

Why haven’t we seen a drop in unemployment rates for certain groups of job-seekers – recent graduates, new immigrants, aboriginals, the unemployed?

Why aren’t wages increasing, even in high demand occupations?

Why don’t people move from one part of the country to another for a job?

The answer to all of these questions, at least in part, can be found in Canada’s increased reliance on temporary foreign workers. This is especially the case when it comes to workers in lower-wage jobs.

Over 330,000 foreign workers were admitted to Canada in 2011 and this is more than double the number that were admitted just six years ago. The majority of these foreign workers filled low-wage positions.

Consider that more than 20% of net new jobs created in Canada since 2007 have gone to temporary foreign workers, while during the same period the jobless rate for low-skilled workers went from 8.3% to 10.5%. What’s more, it’s hard to argue with the program’s many critics who claim that foreign workers depress wages.

So why does the government persist with bringing in ever-larger numbers of workers from abroad? The knee-jerk response is that the Conservatives lie down with big business and the latter prefers its workforce to be vulnerable and compliant. Maybe that’s the case, but I suspect there is more at play here.

The vast majority of voters are unhappy, to say the least, with the idea of foreign workers competing with locals for Canadian jobs. The decision-makers in Ottawa are anything but dumb and are acutely aware of voters’ feelings. Turning off the tap on foreign workers is simple enough, but then what? Do we let workers’ wages rise to the point where the people in Canada agree to be hired?

What happens, for example, to the price of a cup of coffee at Tim Horton’s when we replace the low salaries of foreign worker counter attendants with the higher salaries demanded by Canadian workers? Voters having to pay more in their everyday lives are voters who look for a change. This is not lost on the powers-that-be.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada is patting itself on the back these days for having reduced the backlog of permanent resident applications by forty percent since its high water mark in 2008.

When it comes to the processing of citizenship applications, however, the same government department is far less effusive with self-praise. And with good reason. Not that long ago, a routine citizenship application would move through the system in about one year. Today, the average processing time on a run-of-the-mill application is 23 months – even longer in some parts of the country. Keep in mind, the option to apply only arrives after three years of permanent residency status.

Worse still is the plight of anyone whose case is not routine. About twenty percent of applicants fall into this category and they are required to complete a ‘residence questionnaire’ to demonstrate that they have actually been residing in Canada. Supporting documents such as pay stubs, tax returns and airline tickets must be submitted as evidence of time spent in Canada. Fair enough, I suppose, if there is a suspicion of misrepresentation. After all, people have been known to scam the system and pretend to have resided in Canada when in fact they have not.

The problem is not in vetting citizenship applications, but rather in the time it is taking to complete the verification. The processing time for these more complicated applications is approximately five years from the date of initial submission, which makes it about nine years from the time the individual first landed in Canada.

No surprise that these would-be Canadians are angry and frustrated. Who wouldn’t be if they had worked, paid taxes and did all the things that Canadian citizens are expected to do but yet are not afforded the full rights and benefits of Canadian citizenship? If the government is truly committed to creating a ‘faster, more flexible’ immigration system, this undertaking should not cease once newcomers settle in Canada.

When it comes to Canadian immigration, actually quite a bit is in a name, especially if the name is “Murphy” or “Sharma”.

Canada has become a magnet for young unemployed and underemployed workers from Ireland. The Murphys of the world and their countrymen have seen a dramatic rise in their fortunes when it comes to Canadian immigration. They are among the beneficiaries of Canada’s International Experience Class (IEC) of immigration. Under the program, Irish citizens below the age of 36, can come and work in Canada for up to two years, without a prearranged job. After one year of skilled work in Canada, they can apply for a Canadian permanent resident visa.

What was once the domain of backpackers looking for a working holiday has become an easy pathway to Canadian citizenship for down-on-their-luck Irish engineers, lawyers, and tradespersons. There is no doubting the popularity of the IEC visa program. This year’s allotment of 6350 free passes was scooped up in a couple of days. But despair not Irish readers, next year our Immigration Minister plans to raise the quota to 10,000, which will mark a 100% increase from 2011.

Contrast the foregoing with the likely Canadian immigration experience of someone named “Sharma”. For one thing, there is no program that allows citizens of India to come work in Canada without an arranged job offer from a Canadian employer. Even with a genuine offer of employment, it is hit or miss as to whether Canadian visa officers will issue a work permit. As likely as not, the work permit application will be refused because it is felt that the applicant will not leave Canada when the visa expires, on the grounds of “insufficient ties to the home country” and “poor prospects for employment in the home country”.

In essence, it is much easier to come work and then immigrate to Canada, without a job offer, from Ireland than it is to come work and then immigrate to Canada, with a job offer, from India. It does seem to smack of unequal treatment. Why would our officials think that an unemployed Irish national without an arranged job offer in Canada is more likely to leave Canada when his/her visa expires than the employed citizen of India with a job waiting in Canada?

On a related matter, it strikes me as quite unfair to put out the welcome mat for thousands of Europe’s “poor and huddled masses” while at the same time terminating the permanent resident applications of almost 300,000 individuals from Asia and Africa, who followed the rules and waited patiently, year after year, for a chance to come to Canada.

Earlier this month, the Federal Court heard arguments in a number of joined cases against the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration in relation to the government’s plan to terminate almost 98,000 Skilled Worker permanent resident applications. Including dependents, some 280,000 people will be affected by the court’s decision.

The lawyers who appeared before Justice Rennie on behalf of the applicants were my co-counsel Mario Bellissimo as well as Lorne Waldman, Rocco Galati, Matthew Jeffery and Lawrence Wong. I commend all of them for their demeanor and persuasive presentations.

Each lawyer attacked the government’s position on separate grounds but with the common goal of striking down the legislation that permits the Immigration Minister to toss out the applications before assessing them. Bear in mind that some applicants have been waiting in line for more than seven years.

Mr. Bellissimo’s main argument, put forth on behalf of our clients, is that the enabling legislation, subsection 87.4 (I) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) violates subsection 15 (I) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the Charter).

It is submitted that the manner in which Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) processes applications for permanent residence leads to discrimination on the basis of an applicant’s national origin, an enumerated ground under subsection 15 (I) of the Charter. This is so because applicants may only submit their application to specified visa offices for processing, depending upon either their country of legal residence or their country of citizenship.

Processing times at different visa offices vary greatly and as a result an individual’s national origin will determine the rate at which his or her application is processed. CIC prioritizes certain visa offices – and thus certain nationalities – over others and therefore termination of applications at this stage will disproportionately affect those applicants who submitted to visa offices not prioritized by CIC. Consequently, it is argued that subsection 87.4 (I) is contrary to the Charter and should be struck down as having no force or effect.

To support his position, Mr. Bellissimo relied upon statistics which indicate that visa offices in the Americas and Europe managed to process approximately 90% of their backlogged applications while visa offices in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia only processed about 40% of their backlogged inventory.

To be fair, it should be noted that the Immigration Minister, through counsel, has responded to all of the arguments raised by the applicants and has asserted the right of Parliament to pass legislation it deems proper in the circumstances.

Now we await Justice Rennie’s decision. Even that may not bring this saga to an end, as the losing side will have the opportunity to appeal.

It is a trite, but true, saying that the measure of a society lies in its treatment of its weakest and most helpless citizens. By this standard Canada comes up quite small, particularly when you consider the treatment accorded to one young and extremely vulnerable Canadian citizen.

Sabreena Shabdeen is in a precarious position through no fault of her own. She is a 17 year-old with significant autism and resides with her parents in Paterson, New Jersey. Her parents have an appointment with US immigration authorities in the coming days and face the prospect of being deported to Sri Lanka, their country of nationality. They have decided that, given the circumstances, Sabreena would be better off if she were to return to Canada, the country of her birth.

Canadian authorities are aware of all the relevant facts and, while they don’t deny Sabreena’s right to live in Canada, have done precious little to assist her.

Ontario Youth Services advised that there was nothing they could do until Sabreena makes her way into the province. How she gets there is not their problem.

The Department of Foreign Affairs, tasked with assisting Canadians in distress abroad, was just as dismissive. They suggested Sabreena apply for a Sri Lankan passport.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) refused to allow Sabreena’s parents permission to enter Canada temporarily for the purpose of participating in Sabreena’s psychological assessment and the establishment of a Life Plan by an accredited Ontario health service provider. They did this even though the health service provider advised that it was essential that the parents participate in the process because Sabreena, for the most part, does not communicate in a meaningful way.

CIC’s decision to refuse entry to Sabreena’s parents is based, in part, on the belief that they will not leave Canada at the end of their temporary stay. In the past, they had made an unsuccessful asylum claim in Canada. CIC’s decision is, in my opinion, a red herring because there are enforcement provisions in the law that would allow CIC to remove Sabreena’s parents, if they fall out of status.

The decision to refuse entry is now being challenged in the Federal Court, but is not likely to be heard and decided for a number of months.

Sabreena’s case underlines the challenges faced by Canadians with disabilities. As if life itself isn’t tough enough.

You can read more about this story in a recent Globe and Mail article.

Time is no friend of Vilma Serrano. The middle-aged Toronto woman suffers from end-stage kidney disease and is in dire need of a kidney transplant. The problem is that there are more than 3,000 such people in Canada, and the wait for a kidney from a deceased donor can stretch to 10 years. Vilma has only been on the waiting list since 2009.

The alternative to prayer, patience, and dialysis is to locate a live donor, who is a suitable match and willing to part with one of his or her renal organs. Needless to say, these kinds of people don’t grow on trees, especially if they are not a close relative of the recipient.

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Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has introduced a new regulation, which it hopes will deter people from scamming their way into Canada and at the same time benefit the victims of marriage fraud.

The new regulation applies to spouses or common-law partners, who, at the time they submit a sponsorship application, have been in a relationship of less than two years and have no children in common.

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I was quite fortunate growing up. Not only did I come of age in one of the most peaceful countries in the world, but I got to spend considerable time during my early years with my grandparents, all of whom lived long lives. It is difficult to put into words how it feels as a youngster to be on the receiving end of a grandparent’s warm touch and smile. It may be hard to explain, but everyone who has experienced it knows how special it is.

In the last few weeks I have come across more than one newspaper article, which told of the disappointment felt by a Canadian family upon learning that a beloved grandparent, living abroad, could not attend a special family event because Canadian visa officers refused a request for a visitor visa. In one case, a grandmother living in a Middle Eastern country was denied the opportunity of attending her granddaughter’s wedding in Montreal.

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This well-known proverb concludes with the words “is worth two in the bush” and it means that it is preferable to have a small but certain advantage than the mere potential of a greater one.

I’ll tell you how this ties in with Canadian immigration.

During the course of the last few years and especially more recently, the Canadian government has become much more selective in whom it permits to submit an application for permanent residence under the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) program. In the not so distant past, if you were between the ages of 18 and 49, had a decent education, fairly good English language skills and a few years of skilled work experience, you could try your luck by submitting an FSW application. The end result was that there were way more applications in queue than there were visas to be issued. This led to processing delays of 8 or 9 years at Canadian visa offices in some countries.

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Back in 2004, it took Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) 4.5 years, on average, to process an application for permanent residence under the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) category. By 2008, there were more than 600,000 FSW applicants and their dependents in the system awaiting a decision.

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This Canada Day, as we celebrate our good fortune, we should all take a moment to give thanks to Mohammad Asif. This 35-year old Afghan risked his life by working for our troops in Kandahar for three years. In recognition of his good service, Mohammad and his family were resettled in Canada as government – sponsored refugees last year.

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The intention of this blog is to add my voice to the large chorus of critics of Bill C-38, otherwise known as the omnibus budget bill, now before Parliament. The legislation in question is a 425-page document that contains all sorts of non-budgetary measures including significant changes to the Old Age Security system, Employment Insurance rules, the environmental assessment process and immigration.

Of particular interest to the readers of this blog, is that in its present form Bill C-38 would give the Minister of Immigration the authority to summarily get rid of some 280,000 Federal Skilled Worker applications that have been stuck in line for more than four years. Make no mistake about it, the Immigration Minister intends to quickly flex his newfound muscles.

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