Does immigration really hurt Canada?

Read these and email us your opinion. We’ll publish them here.

By Centre for Immigration Policy Reform –

According to The Centre for Immigration Policy Reform, these are facts about immigration? Do you think they’re accurate? Send us your opinions and we’ll publish them below: Email us

Did you know?

1. Immigration increases the size of Canada’s population and economy but does not improve Canadians’ standard of living.

2.  It is estimated that recent immigrants receive billions of dollars a year more in benefits than they pay in taxes.

3. Only 17% of immigrants admitted each year are fully assessed on the basis of their employment and language skills.

4. While the average age of Canadians is increasing and the proportion of seniors will almost double in the next few decades, immigration will do very little to offset this trend despite the widely held belief that it will do so.

5.  There are more than 100,000 parents and grandparents of immigrants who have met requirements and are waiting to enter Canada. They will receive the benefits of our public health care system without having contributed to costs by paying income tax.

6. Most of the quarter of a million people who immigrate to Canada every year are not interviewed by a visa officer to determine if they are well-suited to integrate into Canadian society and its economy.

7. Far more Canadians want immigration levels lowered rather than increased. Despite this, and the lack of economic or demographic benefits to Canadians, we maintain the highest per capita intake in the world.

8. In terms of Canadians’ attitude towards a multicultural mosaic, a 2007 survey indicated that 18% thought that it is reasonable to accommodate religious and cultural minorities while 53% thought immigrants should adapt fully to Canadian culture.

9. The number of visible minority neighbourhoods in Canada’s three largest cities increased from six in 1981 to 254 in 2001.

10. Canada’s acceptance rate for refugee claimants is three times the average of other countries, suggesting that two-thirds of those accepted would probably not be considered genuine refugees by other countries.

11. In 2003 Canada accepted 76% of refugee claims by Sri Lankans while Britain accepted 2% and Germany 4%. That year Canada accepted 1,749 refugee claims by Sri Lankans while all the other countries together accepted only 1,160.

12. Canada, uniquely among nations, allows nationals of many democratic countries with good human rights records to make refugee claims in Canada on the basis that they fear persecution in their homelands.

13.  As cities have increased in population, largely because of international immigration, urban expansion has devoured a large amount of Canada’s best, Class 1,  agricultural land, consuming 7,400 kilometers between 1971 and 2001 and occupying 7%  of the total during this period.

YOUR OPINIONS:

From Elwood & Mlada morris.em@shaw.ca

Canada needs an Immigration reform! Really, really badly! Acceptance of immigrants is disorganized and has many loopholes, that are being abused. The immigration must be selective and reduce a tax burden on Canadian citizens.

From wendall_carlighnsher@yahoo.com

1. May be true. Cannot confirm.

2. A total myth. Absolutely false.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_impact_of_immigration_to_Canada

3. Again, false. By doing simple math, around 60,000 “principal” applicants are chosen within the FSW and Provincial Nominee classes. These classes have very strict mandatory education, work, language and adaptability criteria that have to be met. 60,000 of 250,000 admitted is around 25%.
Therefore, simple math would suggest that ATLEAST 25% of all immigrants admitted are EDUCATED. This is of course assuming that all the spouses and dependants and every family member sponsored is illiterate or uncultured (which I bet is not the case).
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/statistics/facts2010-preliminary/01.asp

4. This may be true. The real solution I think is to encourage native birth.

5. No comment. But, many will also be working on minimum wage jobs. Just take a walk around downtown Calgary after 7PM and you will finds thousands of these old folks working in security and cleaning services. Only few sit at home doing nothing.

6. No comment, but sounds plausible.

7. Not really. Just as in any other country, the minority with the most vocal fundamentalist views is heard. Just because they make the most noise, does not make them the majority.

8. A definition of what exactly is “Canadian Culture” is first required. If it means high morality, ethics, freedom, value for human rights, equality, then YES. Absolutely, the newcomers HAVE to adapt to these exceptional human values, irrespective of what their religious or cultural sensibilities dictate.
On the other hand, if we Canadians expect newcomers to eat pork or their women to go out scantily dressed (or on the flip side, restrict what they can wear in public) or to drink with us, then I would say it is reasonable for the new comers to resist.

9. No comment. Don’t know the stats.

10. Which other countries are we talking about? Countries neighbouring conflict zones accept millions of refugees per year. For example, Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest country, has accepted over one million refugees from Somalia.
Yes, I agree with second point that many non-genuine refugees are taking advantage of the Canadian system to apply when they indeed are bogus. But this is not a systemic fault. This is fault of lack of stamina to prosecute false claimants.

11. Again, who are we comparing to? India accepted tens of thousands Sri Lankans. If you want a comparison, then Canada is way behind India or Indonesia or Malaysia or even Australia in accepting Sri Lankan refugees.
The issue I have with these statistics is that we can always find numbers to fit our idea in our head. If you want to say Canada is too generous in its acceptance, then yes, you will find stats to back you. On the flip side, if you want to prove that Canada is not humanitarian in its acceptance rate of refuges, then you can also find other countries in the world (usually poorer) that have generously accepted refugees. The number game goes both ways.

12. This I would say is true and a travesty of the system. It’s a joke that Canada would even consider applicants from say, USA or Germany.

13. No comment on this statistic.