Yesterday
Canada’s federal government unveiled “Welcome to Canada”, a revised 146-page guide for new
immigrants.
Compiled from academic
research and consultation with immigration experts and new immigrants, the
booklet is aimed at helping newcomers integrate and succeed in the Canadian
economy and society as soon as possible. It provides basic practical information on such topics as Canada’s
education system, justice system, laws, and labour market. The new guide is available on line
(either via download or as an e-book) and through settlement service providers
(who often greet immigrants on arrival at the airport.)
Changes since the last guide (released in 2011) include descriptions of marriage fraud (marrying
Canadian citizens or permanent residents only to gain entry into Canada) and
human smuggling as criminal activities (against both of which crimes the
federal government has recently launched crackdowns.) Like the previous guide, the current guide also condemns such usually misogynistic practices as polygamy, spousal abuse, forced
marriage, honour killings, and genital mutilation.
In addition,
Minister Kenney announced the “Living in Canada Tool”, a new interactive Internet application
that lets recently arrived newcomers produce a semi-customized settlement
plan with tips, next steps, and links based on user responses to an initial
questionnaire. Users can also locate immigrant services on a map and then
supposedly bring along their settlement plan when they visit to receive
additional, personalized support.
The “Living in
Canada Tool” is the
federal government’s second Internet immigration application. The first was a tool for on-line
assessment and application, called “Come to Canada Wizard”.
These
latest initiatives have been launched under Canada’s current Conservative
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, whose other achievements have included: eliminating a backlog of 280,000 applicants, decreasing health-care coverage
for refugee claimants, freezing applications from grandparents and parents
seeking to join children in Canada, cracking down on immigration consultants,
tightening language requirements for newcomers, introducing harsh penalties for
people who lie on immigration forms, and revamping citizenship documents to
increase emphasis on Canadian culture and expectations. Minister Kenney’s supporters credit him
with changing Canada’s international status from a country with wide-open doors
that asks few questions to a country that welcomes newcomers but has also
raised its entry requirements and views citizenship as a privilege to be
earned.
““To help
newcomers integrate, the Government has tripled settlement funding since
2005-06 and remains committed to ensuring the distribution of settlement
funding is fair, that immigrants receive the same level of service, regardless
of where they choose to settle,”” said Minister Kenney in Citizenship and
Immigration Canada’s official news release
