Week Ten Notes: Immigration and Immigrants

  • Stateless persons: does not have citizenship or nationally from any country

  • evacuees: people temporaily moved for saftey reasons: wil return home when safe

Rules and protocols of canadas immigration system:

  • tries to balance family, econmic, and humanitarian needs in immigration

  • the system aims to treat everyone fairly and and without bias.

  • looks at both short- term and long-term labour needs

  • used to be first come first serve

  • now federal , proviancal and private organzations are working together

  • protects health and saftey

Historical Exclusionary Practices

  • strict limiations on people coming from east asia, particualry, china and japen

  • canada created a “white mans” country where only people from western eurpoe were wanted

  • asian and black people were at the bottom of the hierechary and were seen as unable to fit in

  • who was allowed to immigrate to canada was based on racsim, perfereince for certain cultures, and econmic needs

  • caanda tried to meet labor needs without seeming too racist and maintainting a “white mans” image

Immigration Challenges in Canada

  1. Reliance on cheap labor.

  2. immigrants were sent away when no longer needed.

  3. Immigrants forced into domestic or low-paid work.

Types of Immigration Status

  • Permanent Residency: Long-term stay in Canada.

  • Temporary Status: Short-term stay in Canada.

Work Permits: Specific job and employer, temporary stay.

Permanent residency categories:

Chain migration: one person immigrates first and gets permanenet residency and then they sponser (support them financially) other people (family members)

Vistor visa: allows stays up to 2 years at a time

processing time: 6-30 months before getting an answer on your application

Refugee-Class immigration:( humanitartaion protection)

  • canada (govermnent) chooses refugees from UN camps who have a good chance of settling sucessfually.

  • Refugees make a claim to stay in canada by explaining why its unsafe for them to return home

  • if their claim is approved, they cannot be removed from caanda if it would put them in danger

Independent Class immigration:

: Point system: used to decide if someone can immigrate to canada . given points based on job expereince, age, lanauge skills, and education

immigrant investor program: to get a visa through this program, you need to have 1.6 million (earned legally). you then need to invest it in canada for 5 years. in exchane you get a visa to live and work in Canada

  • you can buy your way in if you meet the investment requriments

    tempory forgein workers

  • the system is growing, with more countries using it to hire temporary workers

  • most workers enter canada through the internationl moblity program

  • work permits are given for a specfic job with a specfic employer and are limited in time

    • you can only stay in canada while you are working for that employer

    • if your contract ends, you have to leave canada unless you get a new permit

Benefits and Costs of Migration

Benefits:

  • Creates jobs, stimulates markets, better education, helps aging population, leads to higher tax contributions, fill labor gaps, improve canadas postion in global econmy
    Costs:

  • unfair immigration rules, poltical manipulation, exploitation, crime issues urban clustering of immigrants.

Immigrant Experiences

  • General feelings of satisfaction but concerns over double standards and racism.

  • racism can be both open (overt) and hidden (covert)

  • immigrants tend to live in areas with others from the ssme cultursl background

  • immigrants often struggle with high living costs