The following editorial was written by Colin R. Singer and appeared in the December 6, 2002 edition of the National Post - Financial Post Commentary section.

The facts about immigration

Colin Singer
National Post

Friday, December 06, 2002

If three recent publications that harshly criticize Canada's immigration policy are a reliable indicator, the Canadian government and formulators of policy in the 30 OECD member countries have got it all wrong. The publications, which raise the same arguments and cite the same authorities with uncanny eeriness, claim that Canada's immigration policy requires major reform, and that we should drastically reduce our annual immigrant arrivals.

Curiously, none of these publications, written by the Fraser Institute's Martin Collacott and two journalists, Diane Francis and Daniel Stoffman, even deigns to mention that Canada's immigration laws recently underwent the most significant legislative and policy reform in 26 years. Many changes carefully followed a series of recommendations identified in successive OECD reports and leading think-tanks during the past decade.

Equally interesting, Ms. Francis and Mr. Stoffman, while advocating that Canada's annual immigrant arrivals be arbitrarily reduced from current levels of 250,000 annually to 150,000 and 80,000 respectively, fail to rely on any current Canadian demographic analysis or Canadian-based economic research studies.

Since the mid 1990s, immigration has been rising in most OECD countries, in part to combat a number of demographic developments, including an aging population, a growing elderly dependency ratio, a shrinking labour force and a problem of brain drain. But Canada's immigration levels, relative to population size, are about one-fifth the rate of Luxembourg, one-half that of Switzerland and significantly lower than other OECD countries such as Germany and Norway. Moreover, the total number of immigrants per year nowadays is about 63% of what it was in the peak years at the start of the 20th century (400,000 in 1913), when the Canadian population was less than half as large as it is now.

Indeed, annual immigration levels in their own right are greatly exaggerated, because immigration data does not take into consideration the number of arrivals who do not use their residency status. Canada has become an entrepôt for a large yet undocumented number of individuals who return to their former country of residence soon after landing in Canada. For many, Canadian status is a secondary option against having to return to a Third World country should their temporary working status in the United States or elsewhere not be renewed. For a significant number who leave after one or two years, the cultural challenges of adapting to life in Canada are just too overwhelming.

A more meaningful measure of immigration levels can be found in the number of applicants who obtain Canadian citizenship after the mandatory three-year period of permanent resident status. In 2001, only 160,000 applicants received Canadian citizenship, versus the 250,000 immigrants annually admitted to Canada.

The three critics argue that the skilled worker component of Canada's immigration program has shrunk in recent years, thereby diminishing the benefits of immigration. In fact, Statistics Canada publications reveal that, although the family component did comprise over 50% of Canada's annual intake in the early 1990s, it has been in a steady freefall since 1993, to the point where family-class immigration comprises less than 30%, with economic class immigration comprising between 50% to 60% of annual levels during the past number of years.

Opponents of Canadian immigration policy do have a valid concern: The extent to which government continues to develop public policy behind closed doors, without meaningful public debate. As a participant in the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, I found the consultation process conducted prior to the implementation of the new Immigration and Refugee Protection legislation an exercise in formality, as a study of testimony by respected interest groups will likewise confirm. But these sentiments, which are shared by many, reflect government as a whole in Canada and they are surely not isolated to an immigration problem.

Still, economic migration is a valid response to the growing demographic changes that currently affect many OECD member countries. Government policy should exploit strategies that will maximize the capacity of our existing economic, social and demographic infrastructure while simultaneously ensuring that the numbers of newcomers settling in Canada is proportionate to our ability to absorb them successfully.

Colin Singer is an immigration lawyer in Montreal.