Immigration and Settlement

The Government of Canada is proposing to reduce the maximum age of dependants in the Immigration and Refuge Protection Regulations from under 22 years of age to under 19 years of age;

1. The Department of Citizenship and Immigration has outlined forthcoming changes to Canada’s Refugee Resettlement Program that use both protection and immigration criteria and, among other changes, call for a limiting of the numbers of refugees resettled who have high needs for services and support to achieve integration; furthermore these changes will unfairly disadvantage women refugees, the elderly and other vulnerable groups;
2. The changes include criteria for selection based on Canada’s foreign or economic interests and ministerial interests;
3. Recent changes to Canada’s Immigration Program will ensure that more immigrants will arrive with skills and expertise that will reduce the needs for settlement and integration services and supports;

1. The CCR’s 2003 resolution calls on its members to sensitize themselves on the issues facing First Nations communities and explore ways of having meaningful dialogue with these communities;
2. The CCR needs to further this position by taking concrete action to strengthen relationships with indigenous communities;
3. The CCR also must incorporate awareness of the history and present realities of indigenous peoples in our activities and our work;

The federal government announced reductions to the Interim Federal Health Program in April 2012 and these changes are slated to come into effect on June 30th, 2012.

1. The live-in caregiver program currently requires workers to live in the employer’s home;
2. Living in the employer’s home creates a greater possibility for sexual and labour exploitation;
3. The program does not allow family members to accompany the worker until they fulfill their required hours, thereby leading to family separation for a minimum period of 2 years;

1. The government is introducing multiple entry visas of up to 10 years to allow parents and grandparents to visit family here as a way to address long family separations caused by processing delays;
2. The visitors are required to purchase medical insurance in order to qualify for the visa;
3. Canada imposes visa requirements only on some countries, mostly in the global south and those with a majority racialized population;
4. Racialized Canadians are over-represented among those who would be most affected;

1. Family  reunification is a central objective of Canada's immigration programs
2. The CCR has called on the government to eliminate barriers to family reunification;
3. Extended families including parents and grandparents are important to social and economic wellbeing of families, including those of refugees and immigrants;
4. The sponsorship of parents and grandparents have had a lower overall priority in family reunification applications for the last few years;
5. The moratorium on these applications will close the door to some of these family members;

1. Canadians, many private and public stakeholders and governments agree that Canada needs immigrants to sustain its current prosperity;
2. Canada has received immigrants in excess of 1% of the population in several previous years and has become stronger as a result;
3. Immigration has strengthened Canada's multicultural and multifaith fabric;
4. Canada is attempting to fill its demographic needs through temporary rather than permanent immigration;

1. The international community issued a call for action following the World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) held in 2001 in Durban, South Africa and the Government of Canada presented Canada’s Action Plan Against Racism in 2005;
2. Examples of concerns include significant delays in the processing of cases in Sub Saharan African countries. Applicants face some of the longest waiting times and one of the highest rate of refusals, and the total quota of refugees accepted from the region is far lower than the extent of need identified by the UNHCR and NGOs. The recent announcement of a quota system for Quebec will reduce only the number of arrivals from Africa;
3. This is clear evidence of systemic racism experienced by individuals of African origin across all categories of refugee protection and immigration.

1. The government of Canada is proposing to introduce a specified period of conditional permanent residence for some sponsored spouses and partners;
2. Making permanent residence for the sponsored partner conditional puts all the power into the hands of sponsor, who may use the precarity of the partner’s status as a tool for manipulation;
3. The proposed conditional permanent residency would represent a major step backwards in Canadian immigration policy, increase inequalities in relationships between spouses, and put women in particular at heightened risk of violence and exploitation;