Unit 7 : An immigrant population - the new trends

(Grant Head)

Canada has a long tradition of welcoming immigrants into the country. Its early immigrants where mainly people of French and British origin. In fact their decedents and make up more than two thirds [1] of Canada's present population. Other early immigrant groups came from Ireland, Scotland, Germany and from other European countries. More recently they have come from the developing world.

But why are they still coming? For the past four years, the United Nations has rated Canada the top country in the world for overall quality of life. This, its multicultural society [2] and the fact that there are two official languages (English and French), make Canada the top choice for many migrants. It was approximately 200,000 years ago, that the first Aboriginal people migrated to North America, followed by the European explorers [3] in the 16^th century. Canada also has accepted unique immigrant groups over time which were not always welcomed in all countries of the world. Examples of such early immigrant groups, who have nevertheless adjusted well to Canadian society, despite having a unique ethnic and religious background, are the Jews [4] and Mennonites [5]. These and many other unique cultural groups have in large part contributed to Canada's successful multicultural society. Today, there are almost 200,000 people coming into each year from more than 200 countries.

Immigrants have helped to build Canada, They and many others kept the population increasing in the early days of Canadian immigration. The number of people coming into Canada has fluctuated over the years though. In 1985 there was a low of only 84,000 immigrants whereas in the 1990s, there are on average, 200,00 immigrants per year. The highest number occurred in 1913 when there were 400,870 immigrants. In 1998 alone that amount was less than half [6] that, 174,100. From 1993 to 1998 there has been a decrease of approximately 40,000 in the number of immigrants. The largest decrease is in the number of immigrants from Asia. In 1994, 42.6% of all the immigrants to Canada came from Hong Kong, the Philippines, India and China. In the same year there was only one person from each of Bhutan, Mongolia, Tibet and Reunion. The number of people coming to Canada from Africa and Europe have increase in the last six years. From 1993 to 1996, the numbers decreased and then slightly increased in 1997, and between 1996 and 1998 the number of immigrants dropped by more than 30,000.

Immigration to the Canadian provinces is not evenly distributed. Ontario receives more than half of the total number of immigrants (54.6%), followed by British Columbia, Quebec and Alberta. The territories and provinces who get the fewest number of immigrants are the Yukon (0.03%), North West Territories (0.03%), Prince Edward Island (0.06% and Newfoundland (0.2%). The provinces do not only receive immigrants from other countries but from other provinces as well. From 1997 to 1998, Ontario and Alberta were the only two provinces that had a positive net interprovincial migration. Quebec had the highest net interprovincial emigration [8], losing 17,454 people. Newfoundland and Manitoba followed.

While immigration to the country's provinces is not evenly spread out, neither is immigration to individual central metropolitan areas (CMA's). Central and western Canada receive the largest number of immigrants with Toronto getting the most. There are currently close to 2 million immigrants living in Toronto. Vancouver gets the next largest group, many of whom are of Chinese background [9] followed by Montreal, Calgary, Ottawa-Hull and Edmonton. Trois Rivieres Quebec receives the fewest number of immigrants followed by Chicoutimi, Saint John, St. John's and Sherbrooke. Overall, Eastern Canada receives the lowest number of immigrants.

There are many different types of immigrants that come to Canada and all come for different reasons. Economic immigrants include skilled workers and business people. Skilled workers are those who have skills that enable them to participate in the Canadian labour market. Business immigrants include entrepreneurs who want to come to Canada to start up their own business (and must do so within 2 years of arriving), and investors, who must invest a minimum of $400,000 once they arrive in the country. Another class of immigrants are those who have family members living in Canada. Canadian citizens can sponsor a family member and have them come live in the country as long as they promise to support them and any dependants for ten years and help them settle in Canada. Refugees are the last type of immigrant. These are people who come to Canada seeking a "safe haven". They are usually faced with a fear of persecution in their own country or another based on their race, religion, nationality etc. By applying for refugee status into Canada, they hope to leave that behind them and find a safe place to live.

All immigrants must go through an application process [11] before they are allowed to settle in Canada. Depending on the type of immigrant they are, (economic, family or refugee), there will be a different set of requirements to meet. Everyone becoming a permanent resident of the country must pay a right - of - landing fee. In the late 1990's it was about $1000. This is Canada's attempt to attract more economic immigrants like the skilled workers and the business people. By the year 2,000, more than half of the immigrants to Canada will be of this type. Citizenship and immigration welcome new immigrants [12] especially those fluent in English and French, those who possess a higher education, and those with several years of professional experience. Points are calculated on these criteria as well as the age of the applicant, their occupation, whether or not they have relatives in the Canada and their ability to successfully establish themselves in the country. Many applicants whose occupation does not fall on the General Occupations List [13] will not be considered for entrance into the country. This list contains all the occupations for which there is labour market demand in Canada. Other factors considered include the health of the applicant, whether they will be a risk to Canadian society and the ability of the applicant to prove they have the minimum amount of funds necessary to establish themselves in the country. Interviews may be conducted to verify the job listed on the application, the language skills of the applicant, criminal/security issues, and to explore business skills and intentions.

Canada is a very large country with desirable economic and geographic characteristics. Many people apply each year to get into the country although not all that apply will gain entrance into Canada. To accommodate the growing number of people who wish to move to Canada, the Canadian federal government has increased the number of people allowed into the country each year. In 1995 the aim was to receive between 190,000 and 215,000 immigrants. However, in 1996 they increased the number to between 195,000 and 225,000 allowing 10,000 more people the chance to move to Canada.