CANADA: OVERVIEW

In 1992, the United Nation ranked Canada as the number one country in the world to reside in and since then its position is intact. Canada’s achievements in terms of the quality of life are outstanding – its standard of living, national per capita income, life expectancy, quality of education, crime rate, employment and cost of living index.

What followed all this was the emerging interest in Canada as a haven for immigrants. Canada has done its bit by welcoming them with open arms. It has been a very sought after place for immigration especially amongst the Asian population because of its proximity to the United States of America. From 1995 up till 1998, Canada had admitted approximately 2,15,000 immigrants every year in accordance the existing immigration policy. On a per capita basis this level of immigration ranks amongst the highest in the world.

Unlike the United States, Canada does not have a quota system based on nationality or occupation. Anyone can immigrate to Canada under the point system in the Independent category. The occupation and qualification of a person plays a vital role in the immigration process. The points are scored for age, occupation language (English and French), qualification and the ability to comply with funds requirements.

People from other parts of the world are allowed to immigrate into Canada provided they meet the requirements set by the Immigration Canada. Admission to Canada is governed by Canadian Immigration Act and regulations, a complex set of rules which are subject to interpretation by the visa officers, who by laws are the only persons authorised to issue visas to persons who wish to live and/ or work in Canada. Immigration rules and regulations also require an individual to make a choice out of the three main categories – Independent, Business and Family class – to apply for immigration.

Independent Class: In order to select independent immigrants, Canada has created a new selection criteria to identify occupations in which selected immigrant workers are admitted to Canada, a number of specific occupations requiring higher skills have been selected and persons with these skills may immigrate provided they meet the selection criteria set by Canadian immigration. This selection criteria is uniform for all prospective immigrants wishing to immigrate to Canada from all over the world. Human Resource Development, Canada comes up with a list of these occupations in demand upon completion of thorough research of the job market in Canada. At present, there are over 1,200 such occupations open to prospective immigrants in which qualified and experienced people can immigrate to Canada with their families. Qualified and experienced people in these occupations are selected on the basis of the prevalent rules and regulations governed by Immigration Canada.

Business Class: The major objective of the business immigration is to promote and facilitate the immigration of experienced business people from abroad, who will make a positive people from abroad, who will make a positive benevolence to Canada’s economic development. They may accomplish this by applying their risk capital and know how to Canadian business ventures, which will not only create jobs for Canadians but also benefit Canadian economy. The business immigration encompasses three types of applicants:

The Entrepreneurs;
The Self Employed Persons; and
The Investors.

Family Class: This class has being formulated mainly to facilitate the reunion of Canadian Citizens and Landed Immigrants. Regulations allow a person who is a Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident of Canada, residing in Canada to sponsor for immigration the following persons:

Spouse;
Dependent children;
Parents, Grandparents;
Brothers, sisters, nephews, grandchildren who are orphans, unmarried and under the age 19 years;
Children under 19 they plan to adopt; and
Other relatives – if they do not have one of the relatives listed above or any relatives who are Canadian Citizen or Permanent Residents, they may sponsor one other relative.

Canada welcomes only those professionals whose occupations are in demand, there by indicating that there are sufficient openings in those fields. At present, the employment rate is 92 per cent and is gradually on the rise. On an average it takes about 2-3 months to get a placement in one’s related field. The time prior to getting a job is utilised in getting Social Insurance Number (SIN), Health Card and in completion of other formalities. New immigrants, therefore, must have some settlement funds for their use before they start earning. One must also be adaptable and flexible as to take up a job in lower rank initially, since most Indian degrees/diplomas are not at par with Canadian degrees, after a certain exposure and experience, immigrants get good jobs and excel in their fields.

Canadian Citizenship:

The Federal Court has ruled that residence in Canada for citizenship purpose is not strictly limited to actual physical presence. The concept of residence is rather the degree to which an applicant for citizenship settles into, maintains or centralises his/her mode of living there for the required three years (cumulative period), within the four years preceding the date of application. In other words, a person must demonstrate of having established a home in Canada and while outside, maintaining sufficient ties and connections with Canada, to suggest continuity of residence.

General Immigration Requirements:

Persons seeking to enter Canada as Permanent Residents must be in a good health and be of a good character. In certain circumstances, it is impossible to seek special permission to enter Canada, however the process can be lengthy and usually requires assistance of experts. Persons applying for permanent residence should not with hold relevant information from visa officers as it may seriously affect their application for permanent residence in Canada.

Fee Charged by Canadian Immigration Authorities:

There are two types of fee charged by Canadian Immigration Authorities:

Visa Processing fee; and
Right of Landing fee.

Visa Processing fee in Independent class and Family class cases per adult (above 19 years) is Cdn $500. Visa processing fee in Business Class for the Principal Applicant is Cdn $1000. Visa processing for minors (below 19) is Cdn $100. Right of Landing fee of Cdn $975 is applicable in all the categories to applicants over 19 years.

Visa processing fees is payable to the Immigration authorities in the form of bank draft at the time of filing the case. There is an option of paying the Right of Landing fee at the time of landing in Canada, at any time of submission of the application, Right of Landing fee is refundable in the event of an applicant being unsuccessful if paid up front, whereas Visa processing fee is non-refundable.

Education:

Canada is also known for its educational institutions. People from all over the world including India, seek admission into Canadian colleges and universities. Education within Canada itself is compulsory for children aged between 6 to 16. Education is almost free for children going to the public schools with a nominal education tax payable as part of rent or property tax.

In private schools, fees are payable with other charges. The level of instruction in Quebec is primarily French : English is the first language in other parts of the country. In some places, instruction is offered in both the languages. The Canadian universities are influenced by the English, French and the German educational institutions and are held in high esteem. There are 170 technical and vocational institutes in Canada offering a wide range of courses.

Employment Opportunities:

Employment is not very difficult to procure in Canada, as it has a vast and varied corporate base and some of the top US multinationals and other internationally known companies along with locally owned Canadian companies are based here. The major manufacturing industries are automobiles, oil and gas, paper, timber, food processing, chemical, computer software and hardware, construction, forest products, packing material and dairy products.

Canada has better employment opportunities for skilled people. The Canadian employer prefers to personally meet and interview the prospective employee before employing him. In some provinces of Canada like Quebec, knowledge of French is an added advantage while seeking a job. The job market is very competitive and a Canada based work experience will be extremely helpful. A resident visa to Canada is very essential to find a job easily.

Apart from this, one needs to have a Canadian certificate to work at one’s trade or profession and may have to pass a test or work as a trainee to qualify for the same. Canada ensures that the workforce enjoys a certain level of security; the Ministry of Labour constitutes labour laws to protect the Canadian workers and employers. As a resident one may join a labour union in Canada, wages, hours and condition of work are negotiated by the labour unions.

Getting a job is reasonably difficult even for new immigrants. Normally for a new immigrant it takes between four to six months to get a good job.

However one must draw satisfaction from the fact that the professional Indians who have immigrated to Canada are doing extremely well for themselves.

Immigration and You:

No Alien at common law has any right to enter a country except by leave of the Government of that country. At common law, the status of aliens is derived from the Crown. It is purely discretionary status. The Supreme Court of Canada through its judicial pronouncement in 1991 reiterated this position of an Alien at common law. Immigration to Canada is the creation of the Immigration Act R.S.C. 1985 “the Act” and the regulations made thereunder. Hence, this is the body of law governing aliens rights to enter and remain in Canada and the circumstances under which they may, or must, be required to leave Canada.

In 1999-2000, Canada plans to welcome between 200,000 to 225,000 people as permanent immigrants to Canada. The primal objective of Canada is to ensure that the people seeking admission and membership in Canadian society contribute to its social and economic interests while protecting the safety and health of Canadians. Hence, the underlying premise is “deriving maximum benefit from the global movement of people".

India has a large pool of highly skilled, educated, entrepreneurial and English speaking population who may fulfill the requirements of law for immigrating to Canada. Under the Immigration Act and Regulations, a visa officer determines whether a person seeking admission to Canada as a permanent resident will be granted entry or landing in Canada. This principle holds true for whether a person seeking admission to Canada is for a temporary purpose i.e. visiting work or study. These decisions are discretionary and hence, are required by law to be exercised with procedural fairness, reasonably and not arbitrarily. The Government of Canada is committed to introduce greater transparency and consistency in the use of discretionary powers.

Despite excellent business relations between India and Canada, the flow of both the Portfolio and the direct investment is not what it should be. Encouraging exploratory visits to Canada for exploring business environment and potential for Indian business persons shall be an important step towards alleviating the problem of applicants seeking temporary or permanent entry into Canada.

Canadian High Commission, Visa Section, New Delhi (CHC) is perhaps the busiest overseas immigration processing centre of Canada. Since 1996, India is among the top five source countries for skilled worker immigration. India also ranks at the top as far as the family class immigration is concerned. The high turnover of applicants gives heavy work load to the human resource available at the CHC. However this should not deter the front line management at the CHC to represent in true Canadian spirit of people oriented public service. This change of perception shall go a long way in addressing the grievances and inspire greater confidence with applicants approaching the CHC. The improving of time frame for processing applications for permanent residence is another issue faced by applicants with the CHC. Further, a quick window disposal of applicants seeking temporary entry into Canada shall also go a long way in improving time frames presently taken at the CHC.

The lack of awareness among the applicant for visa, whether permanent or temporary, leaves scope for prospective applicants to be exploited at the hands of the unscrupulous consultants and agents. The policy statement of the Canadian Government is to eliminate the so called “middle person” in the process except those qualified under law. Far too often the fly by night consultants and agents have left their clients penniless. The Canadian Government plans to protect the prospective applicants from dishonest consultants. As a deterrent to those misrepresenting or committing fraud in the application process, the new legislation proposes to increase penalties, including a new offence for a representative who assist clients in submitting fraudulent application. These and other initiatives are welcome steps to protect the integrity of the immigration program.

Any person who is eligible to apply for permanent residence in Canada must be both physically and mentally equipped for the challenges of establishing in a new home and work environment in Canada.

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