Alberta adds jobs as unemployment rises across Canada

EDMONTON - Alberta bucked national employment trends in November,Statistics Canada reported Friday.

The country shed 19,000 jobs last month, the agency said, bumping unemployment up from 7.3 per cent to 7.4 per cent nationwide. But in Alberta, the jobless rate shrank from 5.1 per cent to five per cent as the province added nearly 3,000 jobs in the month.

“We had a lot of job gains in some specific sectors, such as oil and gas, scientific and technical sectors, construction,” said Darrell Winwood, spokesperson with the provincial Department of Human Services. “One of the reasons, of course, is wintertime. The oil and gas sector, traditionally, tends to be busier in the winter time. When the ground gets cold and freezes, it’s easier to move the heavy equipment into the back country.”

On Thursday, City of Edmonton chief economist John Rose said the greater Edmonton area added nearly 45,000 jobs between Oct. 2010 and Oct. 2011, more than any other metropolitan area in the country.

The Statistics Canada release paints a different picture for the country as a whole.

It was the second straight month of job losses for Canada, which saw 54,000 people leave the ranks of the employed in October.

BMO Capital Markets economist Robert Kavcic pointed out that, since the middle of this year, there have been average employment losses of about 2,000 people per month, “so there’s no question that employment growth has cooled sharply.”

Still, Kavcic noted that some of the details of the November job numbers “weren’t as bad as the headline, but certainly nothing to smile about.”

For example, there was a decline of 53,000 part-time workers last month but 35,000 more people finding full-time work.

As well, there were 11,000 more people working in the private sector last month, but that wasn’t enough to make up for the 2,200 decline in public-sector workers and 27,500 fewer people considering themselves self-employed.

CIBC World Markets chief economist Avery Shenfeld also said there were some bright spots in the details of the report, though it was still indicative of a tough job market.

“Overall, while there was at least some encouraging news in the lean back towards full-time work, the overall picture is one of a continued softening in Canada’s jobs market, suggesting a slowing in economic growth after a brisk third quarter,” Shenfeld said.

This report comes after data earlier this week showed Canada’s economy grew at a faster-than-expected annualized pace of 3.5 per cent in the three months ended in September.

There were job losses in industries such as retail and wholesale trade in November, as well as support services for business and building management. Gains were seen in areas such as personal services, construction, natural resources and utilities.

Looking more broadly, there were 43,900 fewer people in service sectors in November, with 25,200 more in goods-producing sectors.

Statistics Canada highlighted employment declines of 30,500 in Quebec and 4,200 in Saskatchewan, though Nova Scotia had a relatively strong gain of 4,400.

The Alberta government predicted more job growth in the province over the coming decade on Friday. The Human Services Department released a new forecast calling for 606,000 new jobs in Alberta by 2021, along with a potential labour shortage of up to 114,000 workers in industries like health care, tradespeople, and financial services.

‘Immigrate through legitimate means’

Chandigarh, January 5
Dwelling on the agenda of youth empowerment through quality education, skills development and employment, most of overseas participants expressed serious concerns over deterioration in the standard of senior secondary education and post-matriculation dropout rate in Punjab at the Punjabi Parvasi Divas conference here today.

Canada as a partner country in this years' conference was well represented, both among speakers and the audience.

Though Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, NRI Affairs Minister Balbir Singh Bath, Chief Secretary SC Aggarwal and NRI Commissioner Vijay Partap were conspicuous by their absence, overseas Punjabis from Canada, including Ontario Minister Harinder Takhar, Alberta MLA Peter Sandhu and former MP Gurbax Malhi, talked about how Punjabis have scripted a success story in their present country of abode.

The participants endorsed the suggestion made by the secretary-general of the International Punjabi Chamber for Service Industry Gulshan Sharma that immigration overseas should be only through legitimate, decent and dignified means.

Satinder Dhiman, a management professor in North America, through video conferencing, expressed deep concern that the dropout rate of students for post-matriculatiuon education in Punjab had shot up to more than 90 per cent. Without education, he said, no state could come up economically.

Canada's Consul-General in Chandigarh Scot Slessor said what Canada needed most was young skilled people who were comfortable in speaking English.

More than 50 per cent of the total Indian immigrants in Canada come from Punjab and its surrounding areas. Scot Slessor said list of skills in demand in Canada were all prominently displayed on the government websites. Advanced countries did not need many people with higher educational qualifications, including PhDs, but they needed plumbers, drivers, mechanics or people trained in other trades in demand. Other basic requirement was that they should be conversant with English.

Ontario Minister for Government Services said Punjabis made up for their deficiencies in education with "jugads". With their hard work and unprecedented ability to adapt themselves to the new work and living environs, they had made major strides in every area.

Peter Sandhu from Alberta said when he left India more than three decades ago, the standard of high school education was pretty good. But unfortunately, it had deteriorated rapidly. The government needed to focus on reviving education network, besides imparting training in trades that were in demand overseas.

DIASPORA DIGEST WITH JERE EHIRIBE: UK Visa Appeals – Imminent Changes

The United Kingdom has in place an appeal system against the refusal of applications for entry clearance (visa) or in the case of those already in the country, further leave to remain or a variation of leave to remain.  However the appeal system is all set to change today.

Late last year the government proposed an introduction to fee charges for appeals against adverse immigration decisions from October 2011 and a consultation was carried out.  That consultation closed in January 2011.  October 2011 came and went and some thought it was safe to exhale and then on Friday 9th December 2011 the UK Border Agency (UKBA) announced that the proposed changes will take effect from Monday December 19th 2011.
The changes are far reaching and will take many by surprise.  The changes and details include the following:

·         Charge a fee for appeals following refusal of an application.  A proposed fee of £80 for paper appeals and £140 for oral hearings.  These fees are payable by each individual appellant and so a family of  4, for example, will each pay a separate fee just as in the application

·         All appeals refused outside the UK will be lodged in the UK thereby removing the previous option of lodging at the refusing post

·         There will be no refund to an Appellant if the appeal is subsequently withdrawn, is out of time or invalid

·         An Immigration Judge has the power to award costs against the UKBA to recover the lodgement fee if the appeal is successful but only where the decision to refuse is so clearly wrong and all the required information was submitted at the time of the decision

In 2000 the UK government introduced appeal fees for family visitor appellants but they were scrapped pretty quickly because they simply did not work.  Ten years later the same idea was raised and extended not just to family visit appeals but almost right through all the categories, including settlement.  Immigration appeals are currently wholly funded by taxpayers and the government wishes to reduce this substantial cost to the taxpayer and shift some of the cost burden to the users of the Tribunal system – immigration appeals are heard by the Immigration and Asylum Chamber (IAC) of Her Majesty’s Court and Tribunals System (HMCTS).

The details of the new system will be published today the 19th of December 2011 – when the changes come into effect, which act by itself, gives very little time for potential appellants and their representatives to familiarise themselves with a whole new system that also involves a fee.

The Response Paper published in May 2011 following the consultation gives an idea of what anyone who is faced with a refusal will have to contend with. 

In the first place payment for the appeal will be taken before the appeal is processed. The government has stated that its preferred method will be by credit/debit card or by bank or wire transfer.  For appellants outside the UK this may pose untold problems.  As for the argument as to why appellants have to pay in order to lodge an appeal in the first place, the government’s position is that if they could pay a not insubstantial application fee and have had to show adequate funds for their maintenance in the UK, then they can pay the appeal fee.  Third party payment will be acceptable and so those who have family or friends in the UK can hopefully count on them to make payment on their behalf.

The government’s decision to start what it describes as a single lodgement system whereby all appeals must be lodged in the UK does not appear to take into consideration that for many overseas appellants there will be the added difficulty of ensuring that appeals are safely and timeously lodged, given the cost and the vagaries of some countries’ postal systems.  The argument is that all appeals will be collated in one place unlike the present double lodgement system which is unwieldy, creates duplication and takes more time.  It is far easier for those who are appealing inside the UK as the postal system is reliable and appeals can be lodged by fax without the constant worry that the power supply will go off halfway through the process.

Considering that the refusal rate in Nigeria is relatively high at 31% (2010 figures) it is clear that anyone who is issued a refusal notice with a right of appeal will need to consider very quickly whether to appeal and if so, how best to do so, whether by post, courier or fax, whether by asking for a paper appeal which means the appeal will be considered by an Immigration Judge on the basis of the documents submitted and any written arguments put in support of the appeal or whether indeed to opt for an oral hearing which a sponsor or UK representative can attend.  An Immigration Judge has discretion to decide whether an appeal should be considered on the papers or by way of an oral hearing regardless of the choice that has been made and paid for by an appellant.  So if an appellant has paid for a paper hearing and the Immigration Judge prefers an oral hearing, no further fee will be paid by the appellant but if an appellant asked for and paid for an oral hearing and the Immigration Judge decides to deal with the appeal on the papers, a refund of the difference in lodgement fees will be made on application by the appellant.

The fact that an immigration judge can award costs against the UKBA on a successful appeal can only be a good thing because it means that a more robust and effective decision making process will be put in place since, with the new system, wrong decisions will cost the UKBA money.  The UKBA will be unable to appeal against the award of costs alone except the substantive appeal goes further up the Tribunal chain in which case the issue of costs can be revisited and a decision made to uphold, vary or quash the order of the initial Immigration Judge.  The Upper Tribunal can award costs against the UKBA in a further appeal even where no such award was made at the initial appeal hearing.

As stated above, more information about how these changes will be implemented will be published by the UK government today.  The changes will only affect refusal notices issued from today and so for anyone whose application is refused before today, there is no appeal lodgement fee and the option to lodge the appeal with the refusing post or directly to the Tribunal in the UK is still available.

Students eager to migrate to foreign countries: Expert

Fatehgarh Sahib, December 17
Indian technical institutions are desperate for foreign tie-ups, whereas students look desperate for migrating to foreign countries, said Dr Hema Sharda, Director, South Asia Relation, University of West Australia, while addressing the delegates on the 2nd day of 41st annual convention of the Indian Society for Technical Education here today.

Prof VN Rajasekharan Pillai, Principal Secretary, Kerala,stated that more than 80% of engineering education was delivered by the private institutions. 

Kenney aims to reshape and rejuvenate workforce through immigration

OTTAWA - Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has plans to reshape and rejuvenate the Canadian workforce.

Step one comes this week when he announces immigration targets for next year.

The minister tells The Canadian Press that wants a snappy, efficient immigration machine that will help solve Canada's demographic imbalance, while boosting the country's competitiveness.

After that, he wants to grapple with the backlog of applications, which is now about a million names long.

And then he wants to rejig the criteria for skilled workers to come into the country, putting priority on young people, high quality education and language.

Kenney's critics say the minister is frantically trying to make up for his own failed policy decisions of the past, and that he should stop and think before rushing through so many profound changes.

Immigration minister targets 6,500 in citizenship fraud

Citizenship and Immigration , Minister Jason Kenney

A two-year investigation into immigration fraud could lead to 2,100 people having their citizenship revoked and another 4,400 not being able to move from permanent residency status to full citizenship, Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said Friday.

Kenney said the people who face losing their citizenship obtained it fraudulently, paying consultants to make it look as if they were living in Canada to fulfil the residency requirement, when they actually spent little or no time in the country.

Of the 4,400 permanent residents under investigation, he said, 1,400 have voluntarily withdrawn their applications for full citizenship. In some cases, the government will withdraw their permanent resident status.

"We will apply the full strength of Canadian law. Where evidence permits, we will seek the revocation of permanent resident status or citizenship and in some cases the deportation of anyone perpetrating such fraud," Kenney said.

The announcement is the culmination of two years of investigations by Canada Border Services Agency and the RCMP following reports of consultants who would provide fake proof of residency — such as utility bills or receipts for rent — so people could meet that requirement of their application.

Kenney said he started to hear rumours of systematic fraud by consultants when he became minister three years ago. He also credited Radio-Canada's Enquête, which investigated crooked consultants.

"If you are a consultant involved in selling Canadian citizenship fraudulently to people …we are on to you. It’s just a matter of time," he said.

Interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae says fraud has always been illegal, and he sees no real change in what Kenney announced.

"I don't know anyone who's in favour of fraud...it's a question of giving the sense that he's doing something when he isn't doing anything new," Rae said.

"[Fraud is] something that has to be proven. You can’t just announce that’s what you’re doing. There have to be the facts to back it up and there has to be a due process of law… where these issues are settled not just unilaterally by the minister."

NDP Foreign Affairs critic Hélène Laverdière said there are plenty of immigration issues that need more attention, including family reunification. But she admitted the party has nothing against cracking down on immigration fraud.

"For example, there are enormous delays on family reunification. When we're talking about, really, many years before we can complete a family reunification, that's dramatic. There's a lack of resources at a number of levels."

'At the heart of our identity'

"Citizenship is priceless. It is at the heart of our identity as Canadians," Kenney said.

The main requirements to get Canadian citizenship are to spend three out of four years in Canada, plus proficiency in French or English, and a basic knowledge of Canada.

Kenney said the crackdown isn't aimed at people who have minor disputes with the department over whether they have spent the precise number of days required for residency.

Kenney announced a large-scale crackdown in July, targeting 1,800 people the government alleges obtained their citizenship fraudulently.

The people were identified through investigations conducted across the country by police and the Citizenship and Immigration Department. People identified by the investigations were to receive letters informing them of the government's decision.

Kenney has also recently stepped up pressure on the Canadian Border Services Agency to tackle crimes related to immigration marriage fraud and abuse of Canadians who are drawn into fraudulent marriages.

The government will reintroduce legislation to regulate citizenship consultants, Kenney said.
He says there are also 4,400 people with permanent resident status who are known to be implicated in residence fraud.

Most of them are outside the country.

"Canadian citizenship is not for sale," said Kenney.

"Canadians are generous people, but have no tolerance or patience for people who don't play by the rules and who lie or cheat to become a Canadian citizen.

"The government will apply the full strength of Canadian law to those who have obtained citizenship fraudulently."

Permanent residents must acquire three years of residence out of four years to apply for Canadian citizenship.

To retain their status as permanent residents, they must be physically present in Canada for two years out of five.

"I encourage anyone who has information regarding citizenship fraud to call our tip line to report it," Kenney said.

Thousands to be stripped of Canadian citizenship in historic fraud sweep

OTTAWA — The federal government is set to crack down on 4,700 more people believed to have obtained citizenship or permanent resident status illegally in what’s being dubbed the biggest citizenship fraud sweep in Canadian history.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is expected to make the announcement that “Canadian citizenship is not for sale” on Friday.

He will unveil the details in Montreal where Nizar Zakka — an immigration consultant suspected of fraud — was arrested in 2009. Zakka is suspected of providing would-be Lebanese immigrants with false evidence — indicating that they were living in Quebec when they were not — to support their cases for permanent residency.

He’s also accused of filing or contributing to the filing of 861 false tax returns for at least 380 clients between 2004 and 2007. The returns allegedly were then used to claim refunds for child care and property taxes as well as the provincial sales-tax credit.

The announcement comes six months after the government moved to strip 1,800 people of their Canadian citizenship or permanent resident status for the same reasons. Up until this year, Canada had revoked just 67 citizenships since the Citizenship Act came into force in 1947.

The bulk of the citizenship fraud cases are said to be linked to Zakka as well as Halifax immigration consultant Hassan Al-Awaid, who was charged in March with more than 50 citizenship fraud-related offences.

The cases are also tied to a third consultant from Mississauga, Ont., west of Toronto, who remains under investigation, according to a government source who noted the others were brought to light thanks to the new citizenship fraud tip line.

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Up until this year, Canada had revoked just 67 citizenships since the Citizenship Act came into force in 1947

Unveiled in September, the tip line already has fielded 5,366 calls.

Letters are currently being sent to the 6,500 people from 100 countries indicating that Canada is revoking their citizenship or permanent resident status due to fraud.

This comes following a lengthy investigation by the RCMP and the Department of Citizenship and Immigration.

Alleged fraudsters, the majority of whom are not currently living in Canada, have up to 60 days to appeal the decision in Federal Court before cabinet moves to void their passports and strip them of all rights and privileges.

According to Citizenship and Immigration, to maintain permanent resident status a person must reside in Canada for at least two years within a five-year period. Permanent residents seeking citizenship must show proof that they’ve lived in Canada for at least three of the last four years before applying.

At the time of Al-Awaid’s arrest, Kenney said he was suspected of helping people “create the appearance they were residing in Canada in order to keep their permanent resident status, and ultimately attempt to acquire citizenship.”

He said investigators had linked Al-Awaid to 1,100 applicants and their dependents, 76 of whom had obtained Canadian citizenship.

He noted that many people were prevented from “fraudulently obtaining citizenship” as a result of the investigation.

The government has been taking action against citizenship fraud for some time. The Cracking Down on Crooked Consultants Act, which imposes tough new penalties for immigration consultants convicted of fraud, including fines and/or prison, is now law in Canada.

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