Canadian Immigration News

The Government of Canada has announced it will not participate in the events to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the Durban Declaration and Program of Action (DDPA) in September 2011. Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said, “Our government has lost faith in the Durban process. We will not be part of this event, which commemorates an agenda that promotes racism rather than combats it.”

It may be very important for newcomers to Canada to manage their finances well. Understanding how banking and finance works in Canada will be a big advantage to potential new Canadian permanent residents. Many new Canadian permanent residents have difficulty accessing credit, which is very often needed to buy a car or a home.

The Government of Canada is investing more than $220,000 to support the Newcomers Services program at the YMCA in Sudbury, Ontario. This funding, made available through Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s (CIC’s) Settlement Program. The YMCA will provide one-on-one support, career counselling, and referrals to community services for newcomers in Sudbury.

The second annual conference of the Inter-parliamentary Coalition for Combating Antisemitism (ICCA) opened yesterday in Ottawa, Canada. The Government of Canada is supporting the conference, which is bringing together representatives from more than 45 countries.

Saskatchewan's unemployment rate for October was just 5.7%, lower than the national unemployment rate, which is currently at 7.9%. Saskatchewan’s economy continues to fuel job creation—the number of job postings in Saskatchewan is higher now than at any other time during the past two years.

The Government of Canada will keep Canada's immigration levels the same next year, for 2011. The government says its goal is to take in between 240,000 and 265,000 new permanent residents next year—the same target as for 2009 and 2010. Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says, "Canada's post-recession economy demands a high level of legal immigration to keep our workforce strong.”

The Government of Canada has extended the Iraqi refugee program for an additional two years. Between 2011 and 2013, the Iraqi refugee program will allow an additional 8,600 refugees to resettle in Canada. This extension was announced on Saturday by Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney.

This week is Canada's Citizenship Week 2010. It is a time for Canadians to reflect on what it means to be Canadian, and on the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. In 2009 alone, more than 155,000 newcomers to Canada became Canadian citizens, embracing the Canadian values of democracy, freedom, human rights and the rule of law.

The Canadian province of Saskatchewan recorded the highest employment numbers ever for the month of September. Overall, there 6,300 more jobs in the province compared to one year ago. "People are coming to Saskatchewan because they are confident in our economy and that prospects here are very good," said Rob Norris, Minster of Advanced Education, Employment and Immigration.

The government of Canada is considering ways to prevent migrant smuggling because of the arrival in August this year of a ship with almost 500 Sri Lankan asylum seekers on board; however, the Canadian refugee determination process was designed to deal with people seeking asylum by landing on Canada's shores, fleeing for their lives.