Public statement

Introduction

Canadians have recently had their attention drawn to serious problems with the Temporary Foreign Workers Program. It is useful to look at these issues in the broader context.

From permanent to temporary

Over the past decade, Canada’s immigration program has shifted significantly from permanent to temporary immigration. In 2008, for the first time, the numbers of Temporary Foreign Workers in Canada exceeded the number of Permanent Residents admitted. Since then the number of Temporary Foreign Workers has continued to grow.

This International Migrants Day (December 18), the Canadian Council for Refugees (CCR) reflects on the hundreds of thousands of migrant workers in Canada, and what has changed for them in 2013. In May 2013, the CCR published a series of report cards evaluating each provincial government as well as the federal government for their level of protections and services for migrant workers.

December 10^th celebrates international human rights and the inherent dignity and equal rights of all members of the human family. Refugees are part of the human family and entitled to the same rights.

8 July 2013

The Canadian Council for Refugees welcomes the announcement by the federal government of a commitment to resettle some Syrian refugees.

The Canadian Council for Refugees welcomes the recent decision by the BC Supreme Court striking down a section of the immigration legislation, on the grounds that it criminalizes humanitarian acts to protect refugees.

Bill C-31 was sent back to the House of Commons on 14 May 2012, after being revised by the Standing Committee on Citizenship andImmigration. For the revised text of the bill, see: http://bit.ly/KHrumi. To read the 13 amendments passed, see: http://bit.ly/JOXMML.

The Canadian Council for Refugees was taken aback by Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s surprise announcement on Tuesday April 12 that the devolution agreements that allowed the provinces of Manitoba and British Columbia to manage their own immigration settlement programs would be terminated.

This letter was sent to Minister Jason Kenney with the Canadian Council for Refugees' views on the current and future directions of the Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program.

17 August 2010

Following the arrival of close to 500 Tamil refugee claimants on the West Coast aboard the MV Sun Sea, the Canadian Council for Refugees welcomes their processing by the authorities in accordance with Canadian and international law. Canada is bound by its international obligations not to send any refugees back to persecution. The story of each claimant must therefore be heard and examined on an individual basis.