Migration | May 2008

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Post-Graduation Work Permit Program

Canadian Prime Minister Defends Immigration Policy Changes

Speaking to an audience at the Canada-India Foundation gala on April 18, Prime Minister Stephen Harper defended his government's proposed immigration policy changes against criticism from ethnic communities. 

Using overhead slides and statistics, Harper mounted an all-out business presentation to sell his proposal to limit the number of immigration applications that Canada accepts for processing. 

The prime minister said the immigration system is in a crisis and his government is prepared to face elections if the immigration bill is defeated.

The reforms are the only way to "get skilled workers into the country earlier, help families get reunited sooner, provide the Canadian economy with the human capital it needs."

Below are excerpts from his speech:

As we all know, Canada needs immigrants.

We also know that our immigration process has been working less and less well.

Frankly, this is becoming a crisis. And, if we do not fix this, the long-term performance of our economy will be affected.

That is why our government is proceeding with some essential reforms to our immigration system to deal in particular with a burgeoning processing backlog.

First, on immigration generally, I want to be clear: This government favours an aggressive immigration policy.

We are bringing in more immigrants than any previous government.
 
The Mulroney government had higher average immigration levels than the Trudeau government. The Chrétien-Martin government had higher levels still.

Since we were elected, actual immigration across categories has risen yet again including, I might add, 56,000 new immigrants from India alone.

This masks, however, the growing crisis in application processing.

In 1993, there were fewer than 100,000 applications in the backlog. By the year 2000, this had grown to 500,000.

Our government has taken administrative measures to decrease processing times from between 20 and 40 percent.

Nevertheless, the backlog level continues to rise and has now passed 900,000.

In the process, of course, wait times for applications processing have risen. The average wait is now six years.

Canada already has the dubious distinction of having the largest immigration backlog in the world.

Without the government's changes, the backlog will explode to one and a half million in the next five years.

Wait times will rise to 10 years.

On the other hand, with the modest changes introduced in our budget, the lower line shows that the backlog will actually start to shrink.

This will have very positive impacts across groups, but particularly in the skilled worker category, where we currently find 600,000 of the backlogged applications.

In the next five years, Canada's labour force growth, without enhanced immigration, will simply cease.

The baby boomers will be retiring in massive numbers and the echo generation will have already finished entering the labour force.

In fact, the least understood economic challenge in Canada - and many other western countries in the generation to come - will be potential widespread labour shortage.

We are beginning to see this now, particularly in some trades and in Western Canada, but it may be only the tip of the iceberg if we don't get our act together.

In the last 50 years our labour force grew by 200%, but in the next half a century it is only predicted to grow by 11%.

So once again my point: not only is the backlog a source of great irritation for those patiently waiting their turn, it will hold back Canada's economic growth.

Many skilled immigrants are already passing on Canada and moving instead to countries like Australia and New Zealand where the wait is measured in months.

Many of those waiting have the skills, education, and work experience needed by the Canadian economy right now.

Ladies and gentlemen, we know there are political risks in this, but our government is determined to take action to get people flowing through the system and into Canada!

Last month, we tabled amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act aimed at reducing the application backlog and shortening wait times for newcomers.

If passed, this legislation will make Canada's immigration system much more responsive and flexible.

Simply put, these reforms will get skilled workers into the country earlier, will help families get reunited sooner, and will provide the Canadian economy with the human capital it needs to maximize its enormous potential.

I'm proud to say that already, under our government's watch, processing times have decreased between 20 and 40 percent.

And, of course, Canada will continue to be enriched culturally by newcomers from all corners of the earth.

Post-Graduation Work Permit Program
Changes to work permits for international students, making Canada more attractive for skilled individuals

The Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, announced in Vancouver on April 21, changes to work permits for international students who graduate from eligible programs at certain Canadian post-secondary institutions, making it easier to attract foreign students to Canada.

Effective immediately, and for the first time, these international students would be able to obtain an open work permit under the Post-Graduation Work Permit Program, with no restrictions on the type of employment and no requirement for a job offer. In addition, the duration of the work permit has been extended to three years across the country. Previously, the program only allowed international students to work for one or two years, depending on location.

"The Government of Canada wants more foreign students to choose Canada and we want to help them succeed," said Minister Finley. "Open and longer work permits provide international students with more opportunities for Canadian work experience and skills development. This will, in turn, help make Canada a destination of choice, and help us keep international students already studying in Canada."

The increased flexibility offered by the expanded program will benefit graduates and employers alike as the program will help international students get important work experience while responding to Canada's labour market needs. Canada will benefit in the long run as the professional experience gained will help graduates meet the requirements to stay permanently in Canada.

"As we move toward the implementation of the Canadian Experience Class, these changes will help create a pool of individuals who, with work experience, will find it easier to apply to immigrate to Canada," added Minister Finley. "Our ability to retain international graduates with Canadian qualifications, work experience and familiarity with Canadian society, will help increase our competitiveness and benefit Canada as a whole."

The Post-Graduation Work Permit Program allows students who have graduated from an eligible program at a post-secondary institution to gain valuable Canadian work experience. Preliminary 2007 data indicate that 63,673 international students came to Canada that year, representing a 4.6 percent increase over the previous year.