Abstract
Humanitarianism, multiculturalism, and openness to immigration are considered trademark features of Canada’s national identity. While this mythology informs the direction of immigration policy, other factors such as economic imperatives and divided public opinion on immigration create opposite pressures for a more selective approach prioritizing Canada’s interests over humanitarian needs of others. In light of projected need to increase annual newcomer intake from 250,000 to over 400,000 by 2030, issues of immigration policy are likely to enter the forefront of public debates and Canada will have to make some challenging decisions about the way it balances its economic and humanitarian objectives.
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Notes
- 1.
Inadmissibility refers to grounds which prevent an applicant’s temporary or permanent admission to Canada. They include: security, criminality, serious criminality, organized criminality, international and human rights violations, misrepresentation, health, finances, inadmissible family member, non-compliance with immigration legislation, and cessation of refugee protection.
- 2.
The federal government consults with the provinces (other than Quebec), but retains the final say over funding decisions. In Alberta, however, the federal and provincial governments jointly decide what settlement projects will be funded.
- 3.
For example, over the past years, approximately 30 percent of respondents tended to agree that immigrants take jobs from Canadians and 60 to 70 percent worried that immigrants were not adopting Canadian values (Environics 2015, 2010, 2006; Soroka and Roberton 2010). EKOS (2014) and CBC (2014) polls showed that Canadians had mixed feelings about immigration and the EKOS poll suggested that the opposition to immigration has increased.
- 4.
The 41,000 does not include seasonal agricultural workers, but is comprised of all other workers in lower-skilled occupations.
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Baglay, S. (2017). Is Canada a Model for Compassionate Migration Policy?. In: Bender, S., Arrocha, W. (eds) Compassionate Migration and Regional Policy in the Americas. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-55074-3_15
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