By Wilson Bailon
Vancouver, July 1 – As the country marks Canada Day today, Filipino-Canadians join the rest of the country in celebrating the multicultural mosaic that is both the cultural hallmark and economic strength of this nation of 34 million people.
During the past 20 years, Canada has slowly transformed itself from a largely European settlement into a montage of nationalities, prompted by the pragmatic demand to address the population shortfall and the requirements of the economy.
During the past two decades, Canada has taken in around 200,000 immigrants each year. Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney projects that by 2016, 100 per cent of Canada’s labor growth will have to come from outside the country.
In the next two decades, the foreign-born population is expected to grow four times faster than the rest of the population, according to government statistics. It could reach between 9.8 and 12.5 million people by 2031, comprising 25 to 29 per cent of the Canadian population.
By 2013, the so-called visible minorities (those who come from “non-white” countries of Asia, Africa and South America) will become the majority in two major Canadian cities: 63 % in Metro Toronto and 59 % in Metro Vancouver.
There are about half a million Filipino immigrants in Canada, most of them living in the big cities of Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa and Montreal.
China, India, the Philippines and Hong Kong have consistently been the top sources of immigrants to this country in the past two decades.
In 2008, the Philippines outpaced China and India as the top source country for permanent residents and foreign workers, combined. That year, 69,893 Filipinos — 24,887 permanent residents and 45,006 temporary workers — entered Canada.
The trend is seen to continue in the foreseeable future as Canada reshapes its immigration policy to put a premium on quality skilled workers over other entrants. Thus, in 2008, Canadian policy-makers decided to fast-track the entry of so-called economic-class immigrants with skills needed to sustain and grow the economy. The aim is to attract highly-skilled newcomers to man the computers, build skyscrapers, and care for an aging populace.
This aggressive immigration policy has greatly enhanced the chances of Filipino immigrant applicants.
Under revised regulations governing the Federal Skilled Worker Program, only those who belong to one of the 29 in-demand occupations identified by the government are eligible to apply for permanent residence.
This bold move ss designed to accomplish three things. First, the new policy enables Canada to filter only those applicants with skills that meet the manpower demands of the economy.
Second, it minimizes the number of unemployed overqualified university graduates. In the past, anyone who met the required number of points in the selection grid could enter Canada, regardless of their occupations, which gave rise to the phenomenon of PhD graduates driving taxicabs.
Lastly, it addresses the huge backlog of immigrant applications which used to require enormous bureaucratic funding and long processing time. Lengthy waits for an immigrant visa — stretching up to seven or eight years in many overseas posts– has become a thing of the past.
Today, skilled worker applications are being prioritized and processed in about seven months. (While the government continues to trumpet its avowed goal of family reunification, applications by Canadian citizens and permanent residents to sponsor close relatives are taking a longer time.)
Among the 29 in-demand occupations are nurses, pharmacists, physicians, architects, dentists, restaurant and food service managers, chefs, cooks, electricians, plumbers, heavy equipment mechanics and social workers.
But that is only the first hurdle. Applicants are also assessed based on a set of criteria which include work experience, education, age, proficiency in English or French, and adaptability.
Under this selection process, immigrants from the Philippines have more than a fair chance of qualifying compared to applicants from other countries. For one, the country has an oversupply of skilled workers in many of the listed occupations. Filipinos also score high in English language proficiency.
Immigrants from China and India have also benefited from this government move which prioritizes highly skilled people over close relatives of Canadian citizens and permanent residents. According to recent government statistics, the Philippines has become the leading source of skilled workers (including temporary workers) in the past few years, followed by China and India.
Incidentally, these three Asian countries, by the sheer number of their immigrants in the country, also have the highest number of sponsored family relatives. Under Canadian immigration laws, citizens and permanent residents may sponsor their spouses, dependent children, parents and grandparents to join them here.
Skilled workers who do not fall under any of the 29 in-demand occupations may still enter Canada and eventually become permanent residents by going through the longer route of becoming a temporary worker first.
Temporary foreign workers are constantly needed to fill certain job vacancies in different Canadian provinces, ranging from caregivers or nannies and fast food attendants to power lines installers and hotel housekeeping staff.
But many of these jobs are classified as low-skilled and workers in this category are not eligible to apply for permanent residence. Only two kinds of temporary workers are eligible: those who have job offers for a full-time position in a managerial, professional or technical capacity for an indeterminate period, and live-in caregivers with at least two-year work experience here.
(The writer is a Certified Canadian Immigration Consultant. For inquiries about immigrating to Canada, send e-mail to wgb.westbound@gmail.com.)
