Immigration to Canada

[3] During this era, the Canadian Government would sponsor information campaigns and recruiters to encourage settlement in rural areas; however, this would primarily be only towards those of European and religious Christian backgrounds, while others – "Buddhist, Shinto, Sikh, Muslim, and Jewish immigrants in particular" as well as the poor, ill, and disabled – would be less than welcome.

[19][20] According to a 2011 report by The Fraser Institute, immigrants to Canada cost the federal government up to $23 billion annually and was found to be a large fiscal burden on Canadian taxpayers.

[24][29] In 2023, Statistics Canada released a report indicating that the longstanding concern regarding labor shortages has ceased to be a predicament, a major objective of the immigration policy.

The report recommends to incorporate workers at all levels for employment by deflating hiring requirements, prioritizing on-the-job training, and establishing sustainable workplace practices.

[34] Following initial British and French colonization, what is now Canada has seen four major waves (or peaks) of immigration and settlement of non-Aboriginal Peoples take place over a span of nearly two centuries.

[35] The first significant wave of non-Aboriginal immigration to Canada occurred over almost two centuries with slow, but progressive, French settlement in Quebec and Acadia, along with smaller numbers of American and European entrepreneurs in addition to British military personnel.

This wave culminated with the influx of 46–50,000 British Loyalists fleeing the American Revolution, chiefly from the Mid-Atlantic States, mostly into what are now Southern Ontario, the Eastern Townships of Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.

From forcibly having cleared land in Scotland, several thousands of Gaelic-speaking Scottish Highlanders migrated to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and parts of Eastern Ontario during this period, marking a new age for Canada and its people.

By the 1820s Irish immigration to Canada had increased in small numbers to organize land settlements, mostly to work on canals, timber, railroads but also established themselves in the cities in the Maritimes, Québec, and Ontario.

[38] Clifford Sifton, Ottawa's Minister of the Interior (1896–1905), argued that the free western lands were ideal for growing wheat and would attract large numbers of hard-working farmers.

With the goal of maximizing immigration from Britain, eastern Canada and the US, Sifton broke the legal log jam, and set up aggressive advertising campaigns in the U.S. and Europe, with a host of agents promoting the Canadian West.

[41] Subsequent increases in the head tax in 1900 and 1903 limited Chinese entrants to Canada, and it was followed by 1907 major riots against 'Oriental' people (i.e. Asians) in Vancouver, BC by Asiatic Exclusion League.

In regard to economic opportunity, Canada was most attractive to farmers headed to the Prairies, who typically came from Eastern and Central Europe, as immigrants from Britain preferred urban life.

[48] As such, the Church of England took up the role of introducing British values to farmers newly arrived in the Prairie provinces, although, in practice, they clung to their traditional religious affiliations.

The regulations introduced in 1976 consisted of 9 categories: education, occupation, professional skills, age, arranged employment, knowledge of English and/or French, relatives in Canada and “personal characteristics.” To qualify for immigration 50 points out of 100 were necessary in 1976.

[55] In 2008, Stephen Harper gave then-parliamentary secretary and Minister of Multiculturalism and Citizenship Jason Kenney, established a mandate to integrate immigrants, while improving relationship between the government to communities to gain votes.

The experts concur that achieving a balance between the country's economic needs and the well-being of both newcomers and existing residents will be key to effectively addressing labor market challenges and ensuring successful immigration integration.

[93][94] Settlement workers help immigrants into Canada understand their rights and responsibilities and find the programs and services they need to integrate with the new culture and the prospects of a livelihood.

[100] In 2019 it was reported that there is a new trend in exploiting the Canadian visa process, where immigrant consultants/lawyers with food franchises, motels, gas stations, and family run businesses collect substantial cash from students and foreign nationals in exchange for supporting them through their permanent resident applications.

Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Ahmed Hussen felt that the poll results may be indicative of the concerns of some Canadians about housing shortages and the ability of communities to absorb more people.

[117] Rima Wilkes, a University of British Columbia professor raised a question about why consultation with First Nations is not made for shaping immigration policies while in almost every aspect there is one when it comes to sharing of unceded land and water resources.

However, by the time of the administration of Mackenzie King, it was realized that this was an improvident short-term solution that would result in future labour shortages (that immigration was initially intended to overcome).

[154] Opposition parties have advocated for providing one-year free residency permits for refugees as an opportunity to increase their living standards until they are ready to migrate back to their home countries, rather than uprooting them from their heritage and culture in forms of relief.

[161] There are many instances in which claims have been deemed ineligible for referral to the IRB, notably those by migrants who seek entry into Canada through the United States, where the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) is applied.

Fleras notes that for Canada to honor this social contract, it must genuinely require immigrants' services, have established systems of fairness and opportunity, enacted policies and laws to dismantle discriminatory and gatekeeping barriers, and removed obstacles hindering productive participation in the economy and community, among others.

It also highlighted that part of the problem stems from an obsolete perception that welcoming new Canadians is an act of generosity rather than a strategic ambition—a viewpoint that has significantly shaped many systemic structures and immigrant touchpoints.

[189] Across Canada, businesses have proposed to allow unpaid or basic-pay internships as part of a rewards system, which were considered illegal (both in government and private) in many provinces at the time, which posed a major obstacle to integrate immigrants into the job market.

The Ontario Human Rights Commission has acknowledged the racist effects of Canadian work experience requirement for jobs, and has declared it to be "prima facie discrimination," and an inadmissible criterion for exclusion of applicants.

[190] An article points out that simply increasing immigration levels without considering the underlying issues in the labor market may not effectively address skills shortages or unemployment rates.

[193][194][195] A qualitative study found that taste-based discrimination is more prevalent in cities than semi-urban areas, as major factors that contribute to less hostility seem to be regional differences in industrial composition and attendant labour demand.