Services that help immigrants learn English, find work and adapt to their new country are getting a $10-million federal boost over the next three years.

The money will help provide more language training at the Halifax Immigrant Learning Centre, where one of the programs helps immigrants who can’t read or write even in their own language, executive director Gerry Mills said.

“That’s a real challenge,” she said Friday. “People, often women, of course, they haven’t had the opportunity to go to school in their home country, but what they’ve been able to do is develop other skills that compensate for that.”

The learning centre will receive almost $1.6 million in new money. The Metropolitan Immigrant Settlement Association will receive almost $3.2 million, the YMCA gets $2.9 million, the Halifax regional school board gets $2.6 million and the Federation acadienne de la Nouvelle-Ecosse receives $34,000.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay, Nova Scotia’s lone cabinet minister, announced the money in Halifax on behalf of Citizenship and Immigration Minister Diane Finley.

Mr. MacKay said the more than $10.3 million will benefit an estimated 3,000 immigrants.

“This is very much about furthering all efforts to make new immigrants coming to our shores feel that they are very much welcome and very much a part of our society,” Mr. MacKay said.

The federal government had announced last year more than $121 million over three years for settlement services for provinces other than Ontario and Quebec, which get money under separate agreements.

Claudette Legault, executive director of the immigrant settlement association, said the multi-year commitment is a big help.

“It’s quite exciting,” she said. “It’s a very positive sign because it also corresponds with the provincial government being more interested in investing, so all of those things are kind of coming together.”

Leonard Preyra, the provincial NDP’s immigration critic, was at the news conference and said language training is important, but he’d also like to see Ottawa make it easier for skilled workers to have their credentials recognized in Canada.

Article by David Jackson, Provincial Reporter for The Chronicle Herald.
Link: http://thechronicleherald.ca/Metro/1064727.html

For nearly 30 years, refugees from the world’s most troubled corners have been making their way to Creston, a tiny town tucked away in rural B.C.

But it’s not for the stunning mountain views or pretty orchards that people have come from as far away as Vietnam, Iraq and Sierra Leone. Rather, it’s the people of Creston who draw them here year after year.

“They’re the kindest people I have ever met,” says 48-year-old Ljubica Mujic, who owes her second chance at life to the townsfolk.

View the full article on Canada.com

Ottawa, June 26, 2008 — The Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, announced today that the Department is enhancing the services offered by its visa office in Beirut, Lebanon. Effective immediately, permanent resident applicants from Lebanon can choose to be interviewed by immigration officers in Beirut.

“Citizens of Lebanon deserve to have their visa interviews conducted in their own country,” said Minister Finley. “We are upgrading our services at the visa office in Beirut in order to make it easier for people to complete their application process.”

Until now, permanent resident applicants were required to travel to Damascus, Syria, for an interview since immigrant applications from Lebanon are processed by the visa office in Damascus. The only exception applied to family class applicants who had the choice of being interviewed in either Beirut or Damascus. In such cases, immigration officers would travel from Damascus to Beirut to conduct the interviews.

This new change means that applicants requiring interviews will now have a choice between Beirut, Lebanon and Damascus, Syria.

The Government of Canada is continuously looking at ways to improve services to applicants.

For further information (media only), please contact:

Tim Vail
Press Secretary
Minister’s Office
Citizenship and Immigration Canada 
613-954-1064

Karen Shadd
Media Relations Spokesperson
Communications Branch
Citizenship and Immigration Canada 
613-952-1650

View the original news release here: 

http://news.gc.ca/web/view/en/index.jsp?articleid=407569&categoryid=16 

Adults in Canada have a clear idea of the issues their immigration system should address, according to a poll by Angus Reid Strategies. 83 per cent of respondents believe it is important to attract high-skilled workers who want to immigrate to Canada, while 81 per cent feel the same way about entrepreneurs and investors who can start a business in Canada.

View the poll results here:
http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/view/31058/canadians_review_immigration_systems_priorities/

Charlottetown, June 13, 2008 – The Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, and the Honourable Allan Campbell, Minister of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Rural Development for Prince Edward Island, on behalf of P.E.I.’s Minister of Innovation and Advanced Learning, today announced the new Agreement for Canada‑Prince Edward Island Co‑operation on Immigration.

The new agreement will make it easier for the province to attract more skilled international workers, to process those applications more quickly and to strengthen its Francophone community.

“The Government of Canada believes in immigration and the signing of today’s new agreement means Prince Edward Island has an immigration agreement that is tailored to the province’s unique needs and priorities,” said Minister Finley. “The focus of the Prince Edward Island agreement is the removal of limits in the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP), collaboration on overseas marketing initiatives, and the targeted use of the PNP to attract and retain Francophone immigrants. This will ensure that the province is able to select the number of immigrants it needs to meet labour market demands and build a stronger economy.”

“We are very pleased to renew this immigration agreement with the federal government,” said Mr. Campbell. “It gives the province the authority we need to attract new immigrants who will meet gaps in our labour market and help boost our declining population.”

The agreement, which sets out the roles and responsibilities in immigration matters, replaces a previous agreement signed in 2001. It includes several new provisions aimed at keeping pace with Prince Edward Island’s changing economic, social and demographic needs. Specifically, the new agreement means:

• Prince Edward Island will be able to address particular social, demographic, economic development and labour market needs.
• Prince Edward Island will be able to nominate more immigrants possessing the skills needed in the province, for quicker processing by the Government of Canada.
• Prince Edward Island and Canada will work together to share information and to develop and implement strategies to better integrate immigrants into the labour market. This includes improving the process for the recognition of foreign credentials.
• Canada and Prince Edward Island will enhance their cooperation in overseas immigration marketing initiatives, including bringing temporary foreign workers and students to the province.
• There will be increased encouragement for the recruitment and retention of Francophone immigrants through the Provincial Nominee Program.

The agreement formalizes and builds on the existing collaborative relationship between Canada and Prince Edward Island on immigration matters, including the delivery of settlement and integration services. It also recognizes the importance of involving community stakeholders, including service providers, municipalities and the private sector, in welcoming newcomers.

Attracting more immigrants to Prince Edward Island will help maintain population levels in the province’s communities and will provide skilled workers who can meet the labour market needs of P.E.I. businesses.

For an electronic copy of the agreement signed today, please visit www.cic.gc.ca or www.gov.pe.ca/immigration.

For further information (media only), please contact:

Tim Vail
Press Secretary
Minister’s Office
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
613-954-1064

Jon Stone
Director, Communications – Atlantic Region
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
902-426-1419

Government of Prince Edward Island
Kim Devine
Director, Communications
Innovation and Advanced Learning
902-620-3774

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Source: http://cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/releases/2008/2008-06-13b.asp

The organization that oversees immigration consultants is toothless and should be dismantled, replaced by a statutory body empowered to go after unscrupulous advisers who prey on vulnerable migrants, urges a report tabled in the House of Commons yesterday.

The report by the standing committee on citizenship and immigration, following three months of cross-country consultation hearings examining issues facing Canada’s immigration system, found the current regulatory model is full of glaring loopholes that allows anyone to call themselves an immigration consultant and to operate with little or no scrutiny.

The introduction of an “Immigration Consultants Society Act” to govern such professionals is a key recommendation by the all-party committee. It proposes a new regulatory body be set up to run like a provincial law society and have the power to pursue and punish non-members who pass themselves off as consultants. The committee, however, says the federal government must assist in re-establishing the new body and remain involved until it is off the ground.

The committee’s report – to be followed by two others on temporary foreign workers and Iraqi refugee resettlement – comes a year after a Star investigation found serious flaws with the 4-year-old Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants (CSIC), the current organization set up in 2004 to protect would-be immigrants, sponsoring families and refugees who place their trust and money in the hands of consultants.

“The committee believes that problems at CSIC are attributable to more than just growing pains,” said the 30-page report. “Fundamentally, the Society has not been given the tools it needs to succeed as a regulator … (and) has no power to sanction immigration consultants who are not members of the Society.”

The report also lashed out at the mismanagement of the regulator’s board, which has drawn numerous complaints from its roughly 1,000 members for its lack of transparency, accountability and democracy.

Janet Dench, of the Canadian Council for Refugees, said the report reflects the advocacy community’s feelings toward consultants.

“We have seen immigrants and refugees being exploited and abused for so many years, the question is whether there is a will for the government to make things happen and better look after migrants’ interests,” she said. CSIC could not be reached for comment.

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This article was written by Nicholas Keung, Jim Rankin – Staff Reporters for TheStar.com (Link)