Canada

Since the 1980s, Canada has accepted more immigrants and refugees for permanent settlement in proportion to its population than any other country. In the course of the twentieth century, the country’s immigration policy was transformed from a mechanism for keeping people of non-European origin out into a tool for meeting economic, demographic, social and humanitarian goals. Above all, years of careful policy-making have achieved a relatively broad level of acceptance across political parties and among the general public of large-scale immigration and the increasing diversity that comes with it.

In Europe and elsewhere, Canada’s immigration policy – or at least its so-called “points system” – is often regarded as a model to be emulated. The country’s relative success in integrating a large number of people from a wide range of socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds has also been touted. The system certainly has its strengths. The selection criteria are clear, and people accepted as permanent residents enjoy a variety of rights, including unrestricted access to the labour market. Relatively easy access to citizenship has led to high naturalisation rates and, in turn, high levels of immigrant involvement in the country’s social and political life.

In recent years, however, observers have warned that mismanagement of the immigration system is creating conditions which are detrimental to immigrants and native-born Canadians alike: selection criteria seem to be increasingly out of touch with the country’s labour market needs, those who are admitted are facing greater difficulties in entering the labour market and finding employment that matches their qualifications, and the processing times for applications from many regions of the world have become very long.

As one Canadian researcher has put it, “Canada mainly frames its immigration debate in terms of its self-interest.” It is generally accepted that immigration serves this self-interest. Recently, however, observers have been questioning whether Canada’s immigration policy serves the country’s self-interest and the interests of the people who choose to immigrate to it.