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With permission from The Globe and
Mail, Globemedia.
Immigration rules eased
By ALLISON DUNFIELD
Globe and Mail Update
Thursday, Sep. 18, 2003
Immigration Minister Denis Coderre announced Thursday that he is
loosening up the selection process for thousands of applicants caught in
limbo when the government changed immigration rules last year.
Mr. Coderre said he would allow the old rules to apply to a backlog of
about 100,000 immigration applicants. They will now be allowed to apply to
Canada under the old set of rules that place fewer barriers to entry.
"An important objective of the IRPA (Immigration and Refugee Protection
Act) was to create a system that is flexible," the minister said. "Today's
changes to the IRPA reflect this flexibility."
A more restrictive immigration law that became effective in the spring of
2002 had required those backlogged applicants to qualify under the new rules
— even though they had originally applied before those rules came into
force.
Mr. Coderre came under fire from immigration lawyers and a federal court
judge, who said the grandfathering of the restrictive rules was unfair.
"The court has suggested that more is required of the government. I have
listened to that message."
At a press conference to announce the changes in Ottawa, Mr. Coderre
said: "We have to find a way to be fair, we have to find a way to be
efficient, we have to find a way to save taxpayers money.
"And I believe that when there's a will there's a way. This is my way
that I propose today."
Mr. Coderre also said he would lower the bar on a point system to allow
people into the country that some immigration lawyers had said was too high.
Instead of being required to score at least 75 points, immigrants will
now need only 67.
He said while the pass marks are to be changed, applicants will still
need to meet the basic requirements of language levels, education and
experience.
"However, we realized that some people felt that the assessment chart did
not meet our goals because it wasn't flexible enough. They felt that the new
system was slower than was anticipated."
Mr. Coderre emphasized that immigration is an continuing issue and that
his department would continue to evaluate how the system is working.
"The bottom line is to have a balanced approach between fairness and at
the same time to keep all those goals that we want to reach," he said.
Kevin MacTavish, a Toronto immigration lawyer who has worked exclusively
on immigration cases for a decade, told globeandmail.com Thursday that he
welcomes the changes.
"I'm grateful that the minister made this decision," Mr. MacTavish said.
Under the 2002 law, he said, about half of his clients no longer
qualified.
"The pass of 75 was way too high," he said.
He provided a fictitious example of a man with a PhD from Harvard with
several years of experience. Under the 2002 law, if the man was unmarried
and had no connection to Canada, he would not qualify, Mr. MacTavish said,
calling the rules "unnecessarily harsh."
Although the Immigration department's easing of restrictions will put
more people back into the system, Mr. MacTavish noted that now, thousands
more applicants will need to be processed.
He said the government will need to either process applications more
effectively or hire more employees.
Mr. Coderre noted that the changes are also being made to address the
fact that Canada is still facing a serious shortage of skilled workers for
the next five years.
"It's important that we're not losing any opportunities."
Canada currently allows between 220,000 and 245,000 people to immigrate
each year. New targets are expected in about a month.
With reports from Canadian Press
With permission from
The Globe and Mail, Globemedia. |
"Canada must be a just society...and Our dreams for this beautiful
country will never die" Rt. Hon. Pierre Elliott Trudeau
1919-2000