AIMS & OBJECTIVES

The primary objective of the Centre for Immigration Policy Reform/Centre pour une Réforme des Politiques d'Immigration is to advocate for changes to Canada's immigration policies. Specific objectives are described below.

1. Immigration intake should be based on Canada’s economic benefit.

Background: Immigration levels and selection standards should be related to our economic needs as they were in the past. It makes no sense to maintain high levels of immigration when large numbers of Canadians are unemployed.

Better selection standards should be developed to ensure that those who come here are needed and have a reasonable chance of success in the labour market.
 


2. Immigration should be used only to complement the existing workforce in Canada and not to provide a quick source of cheap labour that discourages Canadians from entering the job market.

Background: Research shows that Canada now has the educational infrastructure in place to meet all of our labour needs except in rare cases. Priority should be placed on utilizing the skills and potential of people already in the country before resorting to bringing in more people from abroad.


3. Temporary foreign worker programs should be limited in scope and duration.

Background: Employers understandably welcome temporary foreign workers as a source of relatively inexpensive labour. Such programs, however, tend to keep down wages and discourage Canadians from acquiring training and entering the job market. The most successful programs of this nature are those involving relatively short work periods, such as the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program. Other countries have found longer-duration temporary worker schemes to be problematic in that many participants come with the intention of staying permanently and often remain illegally after their contracts have expired.
 


4. To the extent we need immigration, greater priority should be given to applicants who can contribute to the economy rather than to sponsorship of extended family members.

Background: For political reasons priority has been given to the processing of applications of relatives rather than to applicants who contribute to the economy. Such relatives are not required to have any occupational skills or ability in either of our official languages. We should adopt policies similar to those in effect in Australia where the sponsorship of extended family members without qualifications has been kept to reasonable proportions.
 


5. Greater effort should be made to ensure that immigrants to Canada are willing and able to integrate fully into the Canadian economy and society within a reasonable timeframe.

Background: Immigration policies of questionable value, including maintenance of high levels of intake during periods of recession, have resulted in the economic performance of recent newcomers falling well below that of earlier immigrants and the Canadian-born.

This, combined with the arrival of large numbers of sponsored family class members and refugees who are often limited in their official language skills, has resulted in the development of increasingly numerous and large ethnic districts in our larger cities. This slows down the process of integration into Canadian society and it is in the interests of both Canadians and the newcomers themselves to put in place policies that provide for the swift and effective integration of future immigrants.


6. We should continue to welcome immigrants of all racial, ethnic and religious backgrounds but make it clear that newcomers are expected to have an unequivocal commitment to basic Canadian values and exclusive loyalty to Canada.

Background: Canada is one of the most generous and inclusive countries in the world when it comes to welcoming immigrants. We should not, however, be reticent about stating what we require from them in terms of a commitment to basic Canadian values such as rule of law, gender equality and separation of church and state.
 
While some may retain the citizenship of their previous nationality, we should demand that, if we accept them as citizens, their allegiance will be strictly to Canada.
 


7. Canada should continue to assist refugees but should make changes to its refugee determination system to prevent large-scale abuse.

Background: Canadians support the resettlement of reasonable numbers of genuine refugees but are concerned about the use of the system by large numbers of persons whom no other country would regard as refugees or would allow to make claims. Many are by international standards asylum shoppers who reached other countries where they could have sought refuge but chose to move on to Canada because of our more generous package of benefits.
 
There is also concern over the fact that those refugees whose claims are refused are often able to remain on our soil for years and even decades because of the range of appeals and reviews that can be used to delay their removal.
 


8. Greater effort and resources must be applied to the prevention of immigration-related fraud and abuse of our programs in general.

Background: While most immigrants are honest and come to Canada to build a better life for themselves and their families, there have been significant incidences of criminals, terrorists and their supporters entering the country as well as the use of bogus marriages to gain permanent residence in Canada. There must be more thorough screening to prevent the entry of undesirables into Canada as well as more stringent rules and penalties to discourage immigration-related marriage fraud.

Because of the high volume, the majority of immigrants are not seen by visa officers and receive no counseling about what is expected of them in terms of accepting Canadian core values. Nor in many cases does the officer have the chance to verify the applicant's identity or other relevant information. All prospective migrants, especially those coming from non-democratic countries, should be interviewed by a visa officer.