Unemployment Rate Rises

The economy produced 89,000 more jobs in January, although an influx of job-seekers actually pushed the unemployment rate up to 6.2 per cent, from 6.1 per cent in December. Statistics Canada said booming British Columbia and Alberta produced 56,000 more jobs between them, powering national employment growth. A record 63.4 per cent of working-age Canadians held jobs last month. The statistics agency said the new positions were split equally between full-time and part-time work. Since last October, almost two-thirds of employment increases have been in part-time jobs. Most of the new jobs were in the private sector. Manufacturing jobs, which had been disappearing in recent months, were unchanged in January, as gains in Alberta and Manitoba offset losses in Ontario. The January job increases came in information and recreation, professional and scientific services, hotels and restaurants and natural resources.

British Columbia's 32,000 more jobs came mostly in the service sector, including the skiing industry, where favourable snow conditions had people swarming to the slopes. Alberta's 24,000 new jobs were mostly full-time. The province's unemployment rate was unchanged, however, at 3.3 per cent because of an influx of job-seekers. The province produced 10,000 more jobs in areas such as performing arts, recreation and gambling, as well as 6,000 in manufacturing and 5,000 in natural resources. Ontario's jobless rate rose to 6.4 per cent last month from 6.1 per cent in December as more people went looking for work. While Quebec produced 15,000 jobs, it, too, saw a rise in the overall rate - to 7.7 per cent - as more people sought jobs. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick also recorded modest job gains.

Here's what happened provincially (previous month in brackets):
- Newfoundland 15.4 (13.8)
- Prince Edward Island 10.7 (12.4)
- Nova Scotia 7.8 (7.3)
- New Brunswick 8.1 (8.5)
- Quebec 7.7 (7.5)
- Ontario 6.4 (6.1)
- Manitoba 4.6 (4.1)
- Saskatchewan 4.1 (4.0)
- Alberta 3.3 (3.3)
- British Columbia 4.3 (5.2)

Statistics Canada also released seasonally adjusted, three-month moving average unemployment rates for major cities but cautions the figures may fluctuate widely because they are based on small statistical samples. (Previous month in brackets.)
-St. John's, N.L. 7.7 (7.5)
-Halifax 4.4 (4.6)
-Saint John, N.B. 5.9 (5.6)
-Saguenay, Que. 9.4 (8.9)
-Quebec 5.8 (6.0)
-Trois-Rivieres, Que. 5.3 (4.9))
-Sherbrooke, Que. 7.4 (7.5)
-Montreal 7.5 (7.6)
-Gatineau, Que. 6.3 (6.3)
-Ottawa 5.6 (5.5)
-Kingston, Ont. 5.1 (5.2)
-Toronto 6.6 (6.6)
-Hamilton 6.4 (6.1)
-Kitchener, Ont. 5.7 (5.4)
-London, Ont. 6.1 (6.2)
-Oshawa, Ont. 6.5 (6.7)
-St. Catharines-Niagara, Ont. 6.3 (6.3)
-Sudbury, Ont. 5.9 (6.2)
-Thunder Bay, Ont. 6.6 (6.7)
-Windsor, Ont. 9.7 (9.0)
-Winnipeg 5.1 (4.8)
-Regina 4.3 (4.4)
-Saskatoon 3.4 (3.3)
-Calgary 2.6 (2.6)
-Edmonton 3.8 (3.7)
-Abbotsford, B.C. 4.2 (4.4)
-Vancouver 4.8 (4.7)
-Victoria 3.2 (3.6)

A quick look at January unemployment (previous month in brackets):
Unemployment rate: 6.2 per cent (6.1)
Number unemployed: 1,096,500 (1,075,300)
Number working:16,729,300 (16,640,400)
Youth (15-24 years) unemployment: 11.7 per cent (11.2)
Men (25 plus) unemployment: 5.3 per cent (5.3)
Women (25 plus) unemployment: 4.9 per cent (5.9)

Canada’s immigration law racist: Report

by Jesse Rosenfeld

Canada’s immigration policies are racist, concludes the final report of the Peoples’ Commission on Immigration Security Measures, released last week at a community centre in east Montreal. The first of its kind in Canada, the Commission – a popular inquiry into the practices and effects of immigration, security, and detention policy – took testimony last April from people who have faced Canadian immigration security measures, their friends and families, academics, experts, and non-governmental organizations. “The image of Canada as a tolerant and inclusive nation is challenged by the experience of many communities in Canada,” the concluding report reads. “The often-painful stories told at the Public Hearings of the Commission confirmed that many who have arrived in this country seeking peace and security have [been] met instead with persecution and insecurity.” The 102-page final report brings attention to the use of security certificates and the detention of people without immigration status for reasons of “national security.” It holds that Canada’s immigration, security, and detention policies violate basic human rights. Under a security certificate, a non-citizen can be held in prison indefinitely without charge and deported after a trial in which the accused never sees the allegations.

Arguing that the post 9/11 political climate has been “one of constantly manufactured crisis,” the report cites the “targeting of Arabs, Muslims and Iranians” as tied to a “larger framework of national security that tends to generalize the perception of these groups as ‘dangerous.’” “Racism affects all the institutions that are dealing with our social services. All those government agencies, policing agencies and school boards…are informed by that racist approach,” said Commissioner Sarita Ahooja, one of nine commissioners, all of whom came from – or had worked with – the immigrant communities addressed in the report. The report includes testimony about racial profiling, harassment, and threats by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). The Commission provides recommendations for both government and popular action. Some main recommendations center on the closure of what it termed “Guantanamo North” after the infamous American detention center in Cuba, and which includes Security Certificates, differential immigration law, and the Kingston Immigration Holding Center. In one of its central recommendations, the report calls for the abolition of judicial procedures that grant different rights to citizens, permanent residents, and non-citizens.

“There is no justification for offering second- or third-class justice to people based on their status in the country,” said Jared Will, also a Commissioner. “If there are accusations to be made, if there are concerns to be raised, then everybody should be entitled to the same standard of justice.” Will and Ahooja both pointed to the report’s uniqueness in addressing the human cost of Canada’s current policies of immigration detention, since they compiled testimony from those directly affected. “We heard testimony from a number of individuals who talked about the effect of indefinite detention upon themselves, their psyche, and their emotional state…. As a result of that testimony – as well as testimony from doctors and NGO-sector people – [there was] a recommendation that detention never be indefinite,” said Will. “Government commissions and Royal commissions tend to look at policy, legal analysis, and statistics. But what they tend to gloss over is that all of those statistics are human lives and people’s experiences,” he continued. Will added that it took courage for people to come forward and testify at the Commission because the RCMP and CSIS threaten to deny immigration status to people with whom they need to cooperate. The report also ties issues of immigration and national security measures the struggles of indigenous people in Canada for sovereignty and self-determination. “We can’t talk about immigration security without asking whose security we’re talking about…. You have to deal with indigenous sovereignty and the history of genocide that is the foundation of Canada,” said Will. “There is a very obvious link. You can’t talk about border control and immigration security without looking at which nation is being protected and what that means,” he continued. A draft of the report was submitted to the Supreme Court hearing on the constitutionality of Security Certificates, which is not yet concluded.

Give immigrants fair shake: Chow

by Carrie Brunet

A centralized information portal that will give potential immigrants all the information they need to succeed once they have arrived in Canada is a no-brainer, said MP Olivia Chow (Trinity-Spadina), who put forward a proposal last week on recognizing the credentials of foreign-trained individuals. "It's one tragic story after another," said Chow, who has worked with local agencies such as University Settlement House and Access Alliance, during her previous position as city councillor. "Immigrants feel they have been lied to." The immigration process which assesses individuals on criteria such as training and work experience creates an expectation that such training will be accepted here in Canada, said Chow. "This isn't rocket science," said Chow. "We need to create bridging programs and mentorship programs from existing successful models." For instance, the Toronto Regional Immigrant Employment Council already has existing mentorship programs with major employers like the TTC, the city of Toronto, Ontario Power Generation and others. Unemployment or underemployment leads to "family breakdown and depression," said Chow.

Chow's proposal to the government includes seven recommendations. They include: a clear and accessible Internet portal and toll-free hotline where potential immigrants could gather information about assessment criteria, educational institutions, licensing bodies and mentorship and bridging programs; a public campaign regarding the recognition of foreign credentials and the local labour market; permanent training and mentorship programs, derived from current pilot projects; a database for information sharing between the licensing and educational institutions and the federal government; clear information dissemination between the federal and provincial governments on accreditation and licensing; a cohesive national plan that recognizes credentials from coast to coast setting a clear standard; special programs to expedite professionals in sectors facing labour shortages. The report issued by Chow also recommend targeting those countries that are the top 10 feeder countries for Canada as listed by Citizen and Immigration Canada: China, India, the Philippines, Pakistan, United States, South Korea, Iran, Romania, United Kingdom, and Sri Lanka. "There is a lot being done at the grassroots level, but the agencies are underfunded," said Chow. "The government needs to do more. It's fragmented." She suggested a system that would let new immigrants hit the ground running once they come to Canada. "The application process is long," said Chow. "Let's give them the information they need so they can begin the certification process before they arrive." Moreover, Canada stands to benefit financially by making sure its citizens are maximizing their potential, said Chow, pointing to a study by the Conference Board of Canada which states that immigrants could earn an extra $5 billion in salaries which would be pumped into the economy if they were working in positions that reflected their experience. "(New immigrants) are seeing their own self-worth slipping through their hands," said Chow. "They are given promises, but not given the details."

More immigrants than jobs

by Martin Collacott, National Post

In recent years, newcomers to Canada have brought with them a greater level of education, on average, than previous immigrant cohorts. Yet according to Statistics Canada figures released on Jan. 30, their economic performance remains far below that of the Canadian-born population. Why are today's highly qualified immigrants doing so poorly? The answer is obvious: We simply don't need the services ofmany of the skilled people coming to Canada. The jobs they hoped to find here do not exist. According to the latest data presented by Statistics Canada, during their first year here, newcomers are, on average, 3.5 times more likely than native-born Canadians to fall into the low-income category. While their situation improves somewhat after the first year in Canada, a disproportionate share (2.5 times the share for those born in Canada) remain in a "chronic" state of low income. Canadians may find this hard to understand given all we hear about the shortage of skilled labour in Canada. Yet immigration is an effective means of dealing with labour shortages only in rare cases.

Alan Green, emeritus professor of economics at Queen's University and one of Canada's most distinguished specialists on the economics of immigration, has pointed out that while Canada did not have the educational infrastructure in place to meet all of our skilled-labour needs back in the 1960s, when we launched programs to attract skilled immigrants to Canada, these educational facilities now exist. We should, therefore, be able to meet our skills needs from within Canada's existing population. This does not mean that we don't experience shortages of skilled workers from time to time in some areas, particularly where there is rapid economic expansion - as in the case of the Alberta oil sands. In these cases, however, normal market forces will kick in as wages rise and more Canadians are encouraged to acquire the training necessary to enter the field in question. What is unfortunate about the current situation is that tens of thousands of well-educated and experienced newcomers are being enticed to come to Canada in the expectation that they can improve their lot, when in fact many of them have little chance of finding employment in their fields of specialization. Nor are existing Canadians benefiting from this situation.

Cities such as Toronto and Vancouver are being burdened with increasing levels of congestion and pressure on their health and educational infrastructure. While governments and immigration advocates continue to tell us about the economic benefits we get from the high influx of newcomers, some recent analyses tell a different story. In a September, 2005 study, for example, former economics professor Herbert Grubel calculated that, given the poor economic performance of immigrants in recent decades, the cost to Canadian taxpayers amounted to tens of billions of dollars per year. Our high immigration levels may have a negative economic impact in other ways as well. Canada's failure to keep pace with countries such as the United States in productivity growth could be linked to the ease with which immigration has made it possible for Canadian employers to substitute cheap labour for investments in capital and new technology.

Landing that elusive job in B.C.

Canadian rules and regulations make it very difficult for foreign-trained professionals to become accredited here. Polly Nahar was a professional engineer with 14 years experience before emigrating to Canada in 2002 with husband Syed and son Arka, now 11. She worked at menial jobs while struggling to get accredited and build a new life. When Polly Nahar arrived in Canada in the summer of 2002, she knew she would have to prove her professional expertise, and that it might take some time to find a good job. But the woman who had been a professional engineer in her native Bangladesh, who completed a master's degree at one of the former Soviet Union's best technical schools and who had worked as a civil engineer for 14 years, had no idea how hard her landing here was going to be. After a year of fruitless searching, and more than 100 applications for engineering-related jobs, Nahar's savings were spent, and she was forced to take menial jobs just to keep her family housed. "I had some idea there would be trouble, but I didn't know it would last so long," said Nahar, who took another three years to find her professional feet.

It is a familiar story in immigrant circles in Canada, where government regulations and powerful professional associations combine to make it very difficult for foreign-trained professionals to become accredited here. "From my own experience and sufferings, I can say one thing: We need a little bit of support to have a platform under our feet," Nahar told a packed seminar of skilled immigrants and government accreditation officials in Vancouver last week. After a year of applying for jobs that never materialized, Nahar was forced to apply for income assistance. Her case manager at Employment Insurance sent her to S.U.C.C.E.S.S., the Lower Mainland's largest immigrant assistance agency, for help with job leads and contacts. S.U.C.C.E.S.S. found her a mentor, a professor of civil engineering at the University of B.C., who in turn helped focus her job search. The slow-turning wheels of Russian bureaucracy took three years to produce documents in support of her Soviet education. During that time, she was diligently attending seminars, workshops and professional mixers. She learned to work her new contacts - something she had not even imagined in Bangladesh - checking back with people who had shown interest, sending fresh resumes. She found training money to improve her computer-aided design skills, and selected a school that offered a work-study program. It was a way, she thought, she could get her foot inside the door of an engineering practice. A contact she had been cultivating for more than a year finally came through with an interim job. At night, she continued her computer design courses. In October 2006, she completed a diploma course as a construction technician, and shortly afterward she found an engineering job in civil mining, in the Vancouver office of AMEC, one of the world's largest engineering firms. She is now working on the development of a gold and copper mine. According to the provincial Ministry of Economic Development, immigration will account for 100 per cent of B.C.'s net labour force growth by the end of the decade. "Many immigrants to B.C. possess skills in occupations where there are shortages, but face language barriers, difficulty getting their credentials recognized, lack of Canadian work experience, and challenges navigating an unfamiliar job market," according to printed material supplied by the ministry.

Immigrants no better off now, StatsCan reports

The financial situation of new immigrants showed no improvement after the turn of the millennium although they have more education and skilled qualifications than a decade ago, Statistics Canada reports. The report examines the economic welfare of immigrant families and individuals and assesses their financial situation since 2000, the extent of so-called "chronic" low income, and the impact of changes in education and skill classes on their economic well-being since 1993. In 2002, low-income rates among immigrants during their first full year in Canada were 3.5 times higher than those of Canadian-born citizens. Two years later, the low-income rates were 3.2 times higher. In this study, low income is defined as family income below 50 per cent of median income of the total population, adjusted for family size. Statistics Canada says the low-income rates were higher than at any time during the 1990s, when they were around three times higher than rates for Canadian-born people. "The increase in low income was concentrated among immigrants who had just recently entered the country, that is, they had been here only one or two years," StatsCan says. "This suggests they had more problems adjusting over the short-term during the years since 2000." One likely explanation may have been the slump in the technology sector after 2000, Statistics Canada says. The proportion of recent immigrants in information technology and engineering occupations rose dramatically over the 1990s. In 1993, the immigration-selection system was modified to attract more highly educated newcomers and those in the "skilled" classes. As a result, the proportion of new immigrants aged 15 and older with university degrees rose from 17 per cent in 1992 to 45 per cent in 2004.

Furthermore, the share of newcomers with skilled qualifications increased from 29 per cent to 51 per cent. The rapid increase throughout the 1990s in the share of arriving immigrants who were highly-educated and in the skilled economic class might have been expected to lower the chance of entering low-income, and increase the likelihood of leaving. "This is because the more highly educated and "economic class" immigrants traditionally did better in the labour market," the government agency says. However, government researchers found the large increase in educated newcomers and a policy shift toward favouring skilled-class immigrants had only small impacts on their income levels. "Overall, the large rise in educational attainment of entering immigrants and the shift to the skilled class immigrant had only a very small effect on poverty outcomes as measured by the probability of entry, exit and chronic rates," Statistics Canada said. In addition, the small advantage that the university-educated newcomers had over the high-school educated in the early 1990s had largely disappeared by 2000, as the number of highly educated immigrants rose. Data for this study came from a database that combines the Longitudinal Administrative Database (LAD) and the Longitudinal Immigration Database (IMDB), and allows comparisons of known immigrants and other Canadians. As a result, this study created a "comparison group" consisting of the Canadian-born, plus the immigrants who had been in Canada for more than 10 years. The report compares results for recent immigrants to those of individuals in the comparison group of the same age.

Immigrant Incomes Stagnant

by Bill Kaufmann

Despite being more skilled and educated, immigrants are no better off financially than they were in the early 1990s, says a Statistics Canada report. That means far more immigrants are low-income earners than Canadian-born people - low-income rates were 3.2 times greater for immigrants in 2004, compared to 3.5 times two years earlier. In the 1990s, immigrant low-income rates were never higher than triple Canadian-born residents, states the report, which found 18.5% of immigrants during their first four years in the country were in the low-income bracket from 1992 to 2000. The demand for trades positions has left many more highly educated newcomers without work, said Fariborz Birjandian, executive director of the Calgary Catholic Immigration Society. "They're integrated but not at the level of their education," said Birjandian. "We are losing quite a bit, about $4 to $5 billion a year in not utilizing the skills they bring to Canada." He said the situation undermines the widespread belief immigrants are coddled and given unfair advantages once they arrive. "It costs $40,000 to $50,000 for them to come here and that's a fortune for them," he said. Birjandian added most recent immigrants come from countries culturally distant from Canada, which slows their integration.

Highly skilled Immigrants struggling with Low Incomes

The recent study released by Statistics Canada is a grim reminder about the growing prosperity gap between new immigrants and Canadian-born people. NDP Immigration Critic Bill Siksay (Burnaby-Douglas) called the report a reality check for the government and is urging the Conservatives to review the current immigration policies, especially the selection process of skilled applicants to reflect Canada’s labour needs. “We are breaking a promise to new Canadians when we cannot provide them with secure employment, steady income and a stable quality of life,” said Siksay. “Immigrants are hardworking new Canadians who are trying to provide for their families. We must not turn our backs on them.” Statistics Canada reported that “the economic situation of new immigrants to Canada showed no improvement after the turn of the millennium – despite the fact that they had a much higher level of education and many more were in the skilled immigrant class than a decade earlier.”

Siksay said the report highlights the need to ensure skilled and educated immigrants get quick access to jobs that match their skills. It is also important that foreign credentials are recognized since many new immigrants are entering Canada with professional degrees and specialized skills. The immigrant population of Canada is hard working and care about the issues the NDP stands for such as health care, the environment, and the quality of life for their children. The NDP has made many strides on issues specific to immigrants such as the continued call for the full elimination of landing fees and fees for refugees. They have fought for an apology and compensation for Chinese regarding the head tax and to bring forth reforms in immigration such as the ‘Once in a Lifetime Bill’, allowing Canadians to make a once in a lifetime sponsorship of a relative to Canada.

Dream fades for many Immigrants

by Glenn Kauth

Despite Fort McMurray’s famed labour shortages, immigrants to the region struggle just as much as newcomers elsewhere to earn a decent income, says the co-ordinator of a local settlement agency. “That is something that is Canada-wide,” said the YMCA’s Myra MacKay, reacting to a new Statistics Canada report showing immigrants were more likely to earn low incomes in 2004 than at any time during the 1990s. While Fort McMurray continues its economic boom, MacKay said many of the immigrants she sees aren’t cashing in. “What we’re seeing here in Fort McMurray is the idea that you’re going to have the dream job,” she said, noting she regularly has clients show up in her office who declare, “I just drove in today” from Toronto without securing a job or housing first. Often, MacKay added, it’s the new immigrant who was underemployed in Toronto who comes here to break out of the cycle of working a survival job. However, without Canadian experience and with limited language skills, they’ll still struggle to get the professional job they did back in their home country. Fort McMurray, MacKay said, is “saturated with foreign-trained professionals.” And, of course, once they get here they quickly realize they have to take any job to get by. “They’re becoming the working poor because they have to meet the basic needs of their family. Their hope for the future basically becomes their children.”

That means, MacKay said, that a lot of immigrants trained in professions like engineering and teaching are cleaning houses, working as labourers and retail jobs or driving taxis.MacKay’s comments echo the Statistics Canada study, which puts the probability of new immigrants experiencing poverty at between 34 and 46 per cent, depending on the year they arrived. The study covered the years 1992 to 2004. The higher poverty levels continued throughout those years despite the fact that changes to immigration rules in 1993 meant more and more highly-skilled and well-educated people began coming to Canada. While MacKay, whose agency is often a first point of contact for immigrants arriving in Fort McMurray, estimated about 60 per cent of her clients are underunemployed. Sandra Bessey sees a rosier picture at Keyano College’s English for Skilled Immigrants program. “We have had a very high percentage (of students) that have a type of job with their training,” she said. “In other words, if they were an engineer in Egypt, then they become an engineer in Fort McMurray.” She, too, has students working at places like Wal-Mart and Tim Hortons, but because they’re getting language and communication skills training at the same time, they have an easier transition to their professions. Once they get their English up to speed and their education credentials assessed, many companies will often accept their work at Wal-Mart as Canadian experience, Bessey said. As a result, about 80 per cent of the 30 students she sees a year get a job related to their field within six months. The issue, said MacKay, is preparation. Those immigrants who do their research about job requirements and the cost of living before they come to Fort McMurray, tend to do better. any, though, have unrealistic expectations. “They’ve been led to believe that the job is just waiting for them to walk into,” said MacKay.

Canada’s failure to recognize the credentials is harming the economy

Today, a seven point plan to speed up the recognition of credentials and employment experience of immigrants was announced by NDP Deputy Immigration Critic Olivia Chow (Trinity-Spadina). The proposal came from many years of consultation and working with immigrant-serving agencies and new Canadians. “Hardworking immigrant families are desperate for meaningful jobs, and after many years of empty promises, repeat announcements and hot air, there is no time to waste. The promised funding should be delivered and the Agency for Assessment and Recognition of Credentials should be set up immediately,” said Chow. The proposal includes an agency with an internet portal and a toll free line which would act as a one-stop shop where new and potential immigrants could access information on assessment criteria, information on education and licensing bodies and recognition processes. This information and pre-assessment should be made available at orientation sessions at international visa offices so potential immigrants can get assessment and accreditation prior to their arrival to Canada. The agency should be integrated with Service Canada so there is help available in different regions across Canada.

Other recommendations include coordinating information and processes with various professional bodies and provincial accreditation offices so there is a uniform recognition process throughout the country; and reciprocity agreements with other countries should be set up so immigrants arrive in Canada ready to work. “Funding earmarked for consultation towards the creation of the Canadian Agency for the Assessment and Recognition of Credentials should be used to set up this agency immediately, instead of conducting more ‘talks’,” said Chow. She noted many excellent bridging, mentorship programs that help immigrants find meaningful jobs can not be expanded when the promised $205 million of federal money is no where to be found. “Canada’s failure to recognize the credentials of qualified, skilled and professional foreign-trained immigrants in the workforce is harming the economy and immigrants alike, limiting the contribution and earning potential of immigrants contributes to unacceptable levels of poverty,” said Chow. Chow sent her detailed, concrete proposal to Citizenship & Immigration Minister Diane Finley, Human Resources Minister Monte Solberg and Minister for Multiculturalism Jason Kenney. The proposal is available online at www.oliviachow.ca