Is Canada's Immigration System Ideal?

Even if illegal immigration isn't included in that chart, estimates for illegal immigrants in the US put the number around 3-4% of the population - not enough to get America above Canada (even if we assume Canada has no illegal immigrants).

Personally, speaking a a Canadian lawyer who articled in immigration law...the system is less than ideal. It may be better than others, but there are a lot of issues with it, ranging from monstrous bureaucratic delays (far in excess of their own claimed delays), significant barriers especially for young international couples (seriously, if you as a Canadian haven't managed to build a stable career - and we all know how impossible that is for young people -, you might as well kiss your foreign-born spouse goodbye. Or immigrate to their country.). Arbitrary skepticism and bias on the part of immigration authorities (if you don't have the photographs depicting a stereotypical love story, you are immediately suspected of sham marriage and likely to be turned down), immigration official who are more interested in backing each other than in delivering fair decisions (I've seen cases that went to the Federal Court three or four times - each time after a separate ruling from the immigration commission - before the Federal Court just got sick of the immigration commission's sheananigans and told them to accept the freaking application already), a strong "guilty until proven innocent beyond reasonable doubt" mentality (seriously, I've seen some flimsy pretext for doubts used to reject refugee and immigration application)...

No. The system is decidedly not ideal.

 

What do Canadians think of their country's immigration system? Are there any reports as such about this topic?

 

Basically, without it, most of us wouldn't be here.

Fast-forward to now, and you get everything from "accept nobody" to "accept everybody except terrorists". "Terrorists" currently defined by the right-wing as anyone who is Muslim (and thanks to the shenanigans of Trudeau's latest international trip, some would also include Sikhs).

 

Thanks for your response!

I respectfully ask this: Do you think the Canadian immigration system is harsher in practice than perceived by the general Canadian population?

 

I honestly couldn't say, since I was born here and the most recent immigration that happened in my family (dad's family; I don't count my mother's side) was nearly a century ago.

There have been articles on CBC.ca about immigration snafus regarding paperwork (the applicant is married to a Canadian, has children with her Canadian husband, wants citizenship, sends in every bit of required paperwork, the application is sent back for some flimsy reason including the claim that part of the paperwork is missing when it's clearly there...) and it must be so incredibly frustrating for these people.

 

Nope, it does. It is foreign born population based on census and survey data. Population statistics, not administrative datasets, and adjusted for undercount.

 

In my experience through my family and through friends immigrating here, it's no more harsh than any other bureaucratic hellscape process. Which is to say that it's awfully particular, especially if your case goes by someone's desk that doesn't like you or is a stickler for random details. If you've been on welfare for health reasons or involved in government disputes, it's about equal to that level of perpetual despair.

The stakes of course differ between different people. For some, immigration delays or obstacles aren't a big deal. For many, it can potentially ruin their life. The more at stake, the harsher the system feels.

 

https://www.migrationpolicy.org/pro...immigrants-australia-canada-and-united-states

2006 If you can find something more recent, feel free to post it.

Australia's foreign born population:
UK: 24%
New Zealand: 9%
China: 5%
Italy: 5%
Vietnam: 4%

Canada's foreign born population:
UK: 9%
China: 8%
India: 7%
Philippines: 5%
Italy: 5%

USA foreign born population:
Mexico: 29%
India: 4%
Philippines: 4%
China: 4%
Vietnam: 3%

 

"Greater Quebec."

 

I have no idea what that is supposed to mean. Quebec is a province of Canada. Period.

 

What's the point of quoting the top 5 countries of origin that comprise each country's foreign born population? That omits over 50% of the foreign-born people in each country, and a compositional breakdown within the foreign-born population also obscures the very different levels of migration involved (ie, the foreign born population in Canada and Australia is like twice as proportionately large as the USA).

I'm not sure the claim that "the USA has proportionally far fewer migrants than Canada" should be a controversial one, it's a fairly basic statistical point.

At any rate, in terms of recent figures, here's the largest components of each country's foreign born population presented as a share of the total population:

2016 Census Australia (every country of birth forming over 0.5% of the population):

Australia 66.7% (or 73.3% if you include all the "not stated" as Australian born)
Country of Birth Not stated 6.9%
England 3.9%
Born elsewhere 2.8%
New Zealand 2.2%
China 2.2%
India 1.9%
Philippines 1.0%
Vietnam 0.9%
Italy 0.7%
South Africa 0.7%
Malaysia 0.6%
Scotland 0.5%

Remainder: 11.7%

2016 Census Bureau USA (every country of birth over 0.3% of the population, this source doesn't give any "not stated" component)

USA 86.5%
Mexico 3.6%
India 0.8%
China 0.7%
Philippines 0.6%
El Salvador 0.4%
Vietnam 0.4%
Cuba 0.4%
Dominican Republic 0.3%
South Korea 0.3%

Remainder: 6.0%

And 2016 Census Canada (over 0.5%, also not clear if there's a "not stated" share or how it's treated)

Canada 76.1%
China 2.2%
India 2.1%
Philippines 1.8%
United Kingdom 1.5%
United States 1.0%
Italy 0.7%
Hong Kong 0.6%
Pakistan 0.6%
Viet Nam 0.5%
Germany 0.5%
Iran 0.5%

Remainder: 11.8%

(Also a fun fact: there's 86k Americans and 43k Canadians in Australia, 783k Canadians and 93k Australians in the USA, and 338k Americans and 31k Australians in Canada)

 

Traitorfish, don't drag my province (and nation - sorry Valka) into your argument with Valka over the name of our country (hers and mine, I mean. Not yours.).

 

From my POV I see immigration as an integral part of what Canada is about. So I think it's important as a Canadian citizen to be educated about the subject of immigration, refugees, etc. And even if Canada wasn't such a country, immigration happens everywhere, and you can probably expect some degree of refugees to almost any western country every year.. so do it right, and hold your government accountable to figure out a proper way forward

 

Pfft, for now.

 

Seriously, wtf are you even talking about? @Evie has requested that you drop this. She and I have our own ongoing disagreements that we will probably never reconcile, but we do try to remain civil about it.

 

What do you expect from a bearded fish who wears a hat

 

Canada opens doors to Irish while other countries close theirs
Australia, New Zealand and US are tightening immigration. Canada is doing the opposite
Mon, Feb 12, 2018, 11:23 Updated: Mon, Feb 12, 2018, 13:47
Hugo O’Doherty


‘Irish citizens are in a particularly privileged position when it comes to planning a move to Canada.’ Photograph: iStock/Getty Images

https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and...-while-other-countries-close-theirs-1.3389284

 

Kellie Leitch is a disgusting racist, and I'm relieved that most of the Reformacons didn't vote for her. She was (and probably still is) a Trump groupie and harbored some serious delusions about what she would do "when I become Prime Minister."

 

Fair enough.