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NOTES FOR AN ADDRESS BY
THE HONOURABLE MONTE SOLBERG
MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP
AND IMMIGRATION

THE CONTRIBUTION OF IMMIGRATION
TO CANADA’S PROSPERITY
THE CANADIAN BAR ASSOCIATION’S
NATIONAL CITIZENSHIP AND
IMMIGRATION LAW CONFERENCE

Québec City, Québec
May 6, 2006

Check against delivery

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The Contribution of Immigration to Canada’s Prosperity

Bonjour à vous tous et toutes.

Good afternoon, and thank you for your warm reception.

I was delighted to accept the invitation from Robin to join you today. Immigration practitioners are important partners in our immigration system. It’s appropriate that one of my early appearances be with you.

Thank you for the input, feedback and ideas you have shared over the years with Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

Before I do anything else, I want to dispel a rumour.

Now, some of you may have heard that the CIC processing centre in Vegreville is moving to Medicine Hat. I want to assure you, that is not true. I asked, but the Prime Minister wouldn’t let me.

Thank you again for inviting me. I know you have a demanding agenda. Immigration issues are often complicated and they are constantly evolving. I also know that you consider these issues while sharing memories of the former president of your association, who died three weeks ago. I offer my sincere condolences to all of you who knew Madam Justice Cecilia Johnstone. She left a record of advocacy for human rights that speaks eloquently of your efforts to ensure justice for all.

The National Citizenship and Immigration Law Conference is an opportunity to network, bring forward ideas, and to promote your important philosophy of career-long learning.

And, what better place could be found for a national dialogue on immigration than Québec City, one of my favourite cities. Québec City will hold its 400th anniversary celebrations two years from now. Incredibly, somehow those brave immigrants managed to get here without CIC or without immigration lawyers. Will wonders never cease?

C’est aussi l’occasion pour un partenariat renouvelé entre votre association et le ministère que je dirige.

Since becoming Minister, I’ve been deeply touched and have learned a great deal from the many stories I have heard of the efforts newcomers have made to build new lives for themselves here in Canada. Some of these stories are unique. Others share much in common with those of my family and perhaps the families of some of you here this afternoon.

And there are certainly many more stories. As a matter of fact, I am proud to announce that in 2005, Canada welcomed more than 260,000 newcomers. Going forward, we need to ensure that Canada continues to be a destination of choice!

But it’s not just about numbers. I have heard your criticisms. I have heard your ideas. I know that changes need to be made. We are starting to make those changes. Our new government has been in office scarcely more than 100 days, but allow me to outline what we have done so far.

Foreign Students

Recently, I announced that foreign students in our universities and colleges will be allowed to compete for off-campus jobs on a level-playing field with their Canadian peers. We estimate that 100,000 students will benefit from this initiative, in all parts of Canada.

The off-campus program will increase Canada’s attractiveness as a destination for students. It will also allow foreign students to gain valuable Canadian experience that will benefit both them and us, should they decide to apply for permanent residence. Even if they decide not to stay in Canada, the experience will make them ambassadors of Canadian businesses and technology, Canadian culture and Canadian society.

The Off-Campus Work Permit Program pilot project worked well in trials in Manitoba, in New Brunswick and here in Quebec.

We believe it will soon show results for Canada as a whole. This complements the provision which allows foreign students to stay in Canada and work in their field of study for a period of time after they graduate.

Grâce à ces mesures, j’espère que plus d’étudiants étrangers vont choisir le Canada pour faire leurs études.

Right of Permanent Residence Fee

Let me turn to another of our immigration priorities. The new government and Prime Minister Harper wanted to make it clear that Canada values immigrants. The Right of Permanent Residence fee of $975 per person was imposed in 1995. It was a burden for many immigrants. We have not forgotten what family life costs, so we promised this fee would be cut in half.

In the week’s budget, we made good on that commitment and reduced it from $975 to $490, effective immediately, and frankly, I couldn’t be more proud.

Foreign Credentials Recognition

But I think that we must now go one step further and explore how to ensure newcomers to Canada can fully contribute to our communities and our economy. That includes skilled immigrants who have already obtained their certificates or degrees from other countries. This is a pressing issue for many of your clients — the recognition of foreign credentials.

It is not right that a foreign-trained doctor should spend years charting a course through a maze of rules and regulations before he or she can find any work at all in the medical field, despite a growing shortage of nurses, doctors and medical professionals of all kinds. The same applies in dozens of other fields. Not using their expertise is a terrible waste for our country and a personal tragedy for thousands of immigrants. Pressure is growing to fix the problem, so the question is how do we do it?

Better recognition of foreign credentials was part of the government’s election platform. Right now, the government is committed to taking action that will address the issue, as you heard in the budget speech last Tuesday.

Today, I met with the Quebec Immigration Minister Lise Thériault and she explained to me how Quebec has taken important steps to address this, perhaps more than other provinces. I am inspired by their leadership and I look forward to seeing the results of their initiatives.

Together with my colleague Diane Finley, the Minister of Human Resources and Social Development, I am committed to working closely with a broad cross-section of partners, including the CBA, to improve the lives of immigrants and, in turn, our prospects for prosperity.

Settlement Funding and Canada-Ontario Agreement

Our budget also highlights another way we are helping newcomers establish successfully in Canada . The government is allocating an additional $307 million in settlement funding over the next two years. This will give newcomers access to a whole network of people and services who are there to help them succeed.

This funding will allow us to deliver on our commitments to fund the Canada-Ontario Agreement, as well as providing new funding for other provinces and territories outside of Quebec to address integration challenges faced by newcomers.

Le Premier ministre Harper s’est engagé à adresser ce dossier. Il l’a fait.

Labour Market Responsiveness

Canada enjoys a very prosperous economy. It is one of the reasons newcomers choose Canada to make their new life. One of the challenges we face today is to make our economy even stronger. We need to encourage innovation and improve productivity to ensure our future growth. Human capital or, as they say at Tim Horton’s, people, are a critical ingredient of that equation. Canadian employers have to be able to use their employees’ full range of skills, and hire the additional skilled workers needed for success.

One of the risks to that prosperity is a growing concern that Canadian firms cannot fill the vacant jobs in the key sectors in every part of the country.

Production lines, research labs, truck depots and medical centres are short-staffed, to cite a few examples. Our government is determined to take steps to address this issue. I believe that immigration can make an important contribution to addressing those labour market needs. But it needs to do so in a way that is more responsive to employers.

The Temporary Foreign Worker Program can be part of the solution. The CBA is well acquainted with this program. Through this program, employees have hired 95,000 temporary workers last year, to cover a wide range of jobs from seasonal agricultural workers to people with highly specialized training.

My department and I are working closely with our colleagues from the Department of Human Resources and Social Development to make the program more flexible and responsive, but we can’t do it alone. And we also welcome your advice and suggestions.

In addition to those who come to work here temporarily, thousands of skilled workers have chosen to permanently immigrate to Canada from all around the world. The newcomers have enhanced Canada ’s strength and prosperity. They have taken positions in Canadian companies, provided Canadians with jobs, scientific breakthroughs, enhanced our diversity and have just flat out made our country a much more interesting place.

Nous devons nous assurer que notre système de migration permanente est bien adapté aux besoins futurs des employeurs canadiens. I would welcome your input and ideas about how we can make this happen.

Conclusion

The time is right for us to take action. The commodity boom means that our economy is producing record numbers of jobs — and we can’t fill those jobs. A vast array of foreign workers want the chance to show that they can do these jobs. I think that presents an opportunity.

But immigration is more than an economic imperative. Newcomers to Canada help make communities more vibrant, our society more diverse and our country richer and stronger for their contribution.

Immigrants ensure that Canada remains prosperous, but they also make Canadian culture and society more vital and outward looking.

Working together with all levels of government — and corporate, professional and community partners — we can revitalize our immigration system, strengthen our economy and enrich our society.

Pour moi, votre association est un partenaire clé dans ce projet important. I see your association as a key partner in that important immigration project.

Merci. Thank you.