Canadian government unveils revamped guide and Internet settlement tool for new immigrants

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

http://www.scribd.com/doc/133478203/Welcome-guide-for-new-Immigrants-to-Canada

http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/04/01/welcome-to-canada-new-guide-for-immigrants-highlights-the-queen-the-military-and-acceptable-marriages/

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/honour-killings-marriage-fraud-new-topics-in-revamped-immigration-guide-1.1221059

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/releases/2013/2013-04-02.asp?utm_source=media-centre-email&utm_medium=email-eng&utm_campaign=generic

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2013/03/01/kelly-mcparland-jason-kenneys-quiet-revolution-is-remaking-canada/

http://opinion.financialpost.com/2013/03/05/unwelcome-to-canada-were-setting-immigration-records-but-its-nothing-to-trumpet/

http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/03/20/sometimes-marriage-is-a-scam-ottawa-launches-fresh-ad-campaign-targeting-immigration-fraud/

Canadian economy logs best job-creation month since recession

     Following months of stagnant or falling employment, Canada's economy just logged its biggest surge in jobs since before the last recession — adding 82,300 workers to the labour force in March 2012—or six times more than the previous seven months combined.  This unexpectedly strong employment report last week from Statistics Canada overturned a few prior months of modest employment reversals and was our biggest monthly jump since September 2008, just before the global recession.  The new jobs were broadly spread through multiple industries and even included modest gains in manufacturing and construction, two industries that have suffered recent set-backs.
     Bank of Montreal deputy chief economist Douglas Porter warned Canadians not to expect the same dramatic job gains going forward, noting that the unusually warm weather last month might have pushed forward some seasonal work.  The public sector's March gain of 21,000 workers also seems unusual, when both the federal and Ontario governments introduced budgets last week with spending restraints on the numbers or wages of public servants.  Yet Porter affirmed that the March employment gain "really does show that the job market has broken out of its funk."
     Still more good news:  the Bank of Canada’s quarterly survey of senior management from 100 representative firms, conducted over four weeks in February and March, found that business optimism in Canada is rising sharply, bringing better expectations for sales, hiring, and investment.

http://www.680news.com/news/national/article/348568--economy-has-best-job-creation-month-since-recession-adds-82-300-workers

http://www.680news.com/business/article/349644--optimism-grows-among-canadian-firms-expectations-for-hiring-positive