The Canadian government has started a four year immigration program and will invest $10 million to attract and retrain Francophone migrants to New Brunswick. The great emphasis will be put on rural communities.
The funds will passed to organizations that provide settlement services in the area or to those that wish to start helping new migrants to find a place in the local community. The main objective the initiative is to maintain the linguistic profile of the area.
Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration said: “It is important that provinces have the resources needed to recruit and integrate Francophone newcomers. Attracting Francophone newcomers to New Brunswick ensures the continued vitality of Francophone communities and contributes to the cultural richness and diversity of the region.”
The Canadian immigration program is set to increase Francophone immigration and help the local government to keep New Brunswick fully bilingual province in Canada.
Keith Ashfield, Minister of State said: “Our government’s $10 million investment in this initiative will help ensure that New Brunswick and Atlantic Canada have the bilingual capacity needed to maximize the region’s long-term economic potential.”
Canadian Immigration Department decided to inject the Home Instruction for Parents of Pre-School Youngsters programme (HIPPY) with additional $3.5 million.
The programme was set to aid immigrants to enhance their literacy skills. The pressure is put to give all participants better understanding of Canadian culture, language and lifestyles. The initiative is also set to make newcomers aware of multiple services available to them in their communities and to help them to settle in Canada.
“With these additional investments, HIPPY will be able to expand its reach to more Canadian cities to help newcomer families improve their language and literacy skills, maximising their contribution to our society,” said Canadian immigration minister.
The programme will be expanded in Toronto, Ottawa, Red Deer and Halifax regions. In those areas learning can be carried out in immigrants’ homes.
“With the support of the federal government, we can build on our foundation of success with three more sites and a dramatic expansion of Canadian content in our curriculum” said HIPPY’s International Director, Dr. Miriam Westheimer.
Canadian Immigration Minister, Jason Kenney, announced that the country joined a new international information sharing initiative that will make it easier to discover and deal with fraudulent refugee claims.
The agreement made between Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom involves sharing data on refugees including finger print details.
The agreement was signed during the Five Country Conference (FCC) which was organized by three aforementioned countries, the US and New Zealand. The other two countries didn’t join the data sharing programme at the time, but stated that they are willing to join it in the future.
“Through this initiative, we are tackling identity fraud and abuse of our immigration and refugee programs, while at the same time ensuring that Canada continues to welcome genuine refugees. Canada has had a long-standing collaborative relationship with the FCC countries and I am pleased that we are building on this partnership,” said Jason Kenney.
The agreement will also enable authorities to process genuine refugee Canada visa application faster and prevent those who are facing deportation re-applying for a visa in other countries taking part in this initiative.
As questions about privacy have been raised, it has to be mentioned that the agreement only enables the countries to check data bases for matches and doesn’t offer unrestricted access
Spokesperson for Privacy Commissioner said: “We very much look forward to receiving further clarity and information from CIC (Citizenship and Immigration Canada) to ensure that this initiative is respectful of the privacy rights of what may be considered quite a vulnerable group. We understand this is just one of several biometrics initiatives being considered by the CIC and we’ve made CIC aware of our concerns.”
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