Canada is among the globe’s most munificent countries for immigrants. The nation possesses one of the highest admission rates per capita. Over the past decade, Canada has been providing residency to approximately 200,000 refugees and immigrants annually thereby, earning a worldwide reputation for its generous attitude (Anwar, 2014). Immigration has largely been considered a significant shaping factor of the Canadian cultural and societal diversity. Canada’s immigration policy was originally influenced by an aspiration for growth due to its small population and the availability of large areas of unsettled land. Canada began regulating the movement of immigrants into the country by adopting policies that debarred non-European applicants in the early twentieth century. However, by the year 1976, new regulations abolished the ethnic criteria; Canada, therefore, became worldwide destination for immigrants. In Canada, immigration laws are primarily executed by two federal departments of the government: CBSA (Canada Border Services Agency) and IRCC (Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada) (Anwar, 2014). CBSA is usually accountable for custom services, border services commonly referred to as the port-of-entry services, and the imposition of some of the Canadian immigration laws. IRCC is liable for the Canadian citizenship and immigration.
The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) is a confederated law enacted by the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa. The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act stipulates the regulations and laws associated with the refugee and immigration protection in Canada (Benhard et. al , 2009). Every decision and process implemented in Canada concerning refugees and immigration ought to follow the Act. The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act’s purpose is to recognize immigrants allowed into the country and to identify immigrants allowed to remain in the country. The Act also has objectives which dictate how courts, government, and administrative systems handle individuals who wish to stay or visit Canada. These objectives are divided into two sets: those associated with refugees and those associated with immigration. The first IRPA objective that deals with immigration is to support diversity and population growth. Secondly, the Act aims to support the economy of Canada. Thirdly, the Act aims to sustain the successful assimilation of immigrants into the Canadian community. Fourthly, IRPA intends to reunite families. Lastly, the Acts aims to protect the security, safety, and health of Canadians. The Act’s refugee objectives include to provide a fair consideration to individuals who come to the country claiming persecution. The second objective is to save lives and to provide protection to the persecuted and displaced persons. Thirdly, the Act seeks to accomplish the international legal duties of Canada with regards to refugees. Fourthly, the acts aims to maintain the self-sufficiency and the economic and social welfare of refugees through helping them get together with their family members in the country. Lastly, IRPA aims to protect the safety and health of its citizens, support the Canadian security, and to foster internal security and justice by denying them access to the country to individuals who are serious criminals or security risks such as refugee claimants (Grubel, et. al , 2009).
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Everybody has the right to visit Canada or to stay permanently in Canada. However, not everybody is usually allowed into Canada. The individuals who possess the right to come into Canada and to reside in Canada are individuals registered under the Indian Act, Canadian citizens, protected persons and refugees, and permanent residents commonly referred to as landed immigrants. Non-permanent residents such as temporary workers, students and visitors are often allowed to inhabit the country for a restricted time. Foreign nationalities ought to hold a visa or other important documentation demanded by the Canadian regulations if they want to enter the country temporarily or permanently. There is usually a certain group of individuals who qualify to immigrate to Canada. These immigrants are often classified as economic class, humanitarian and refugee class, and family class (Mina, 2013). The economic class consists of investors, live-in caregivers, entrepreneurs, provincial nominees, and skilled workers. The family class consists of persons with family members already residing in Canada as permanent residents or Canadian citizens. The Citizenship and Immigration Minister often advertises the number of immigrants the country will accept into the nation during the succeeding year. Once the number is occupied, no other immigrants are usually allowed into the nation during that year. To qualify under the category of skilled worker, the individual ought to have an employment offer, have been residing legally in the country for a year as a non-permanent foreign worker, or be a proficient employee who possesses at least a year of experience in corresponding occupations and National Occupation Codes (Mina, 2013). The Canadian skilled class was added recently to enhance the application procedure of the Permanent Residence for global undergraduates and postgraduate students who have graduated from a college or university in Canada and for temporary employees in Canada.
When an individual requests to immigrate to Canada as a proficient employee, she ought to meet the fundamental criteria. If the required criteria is met, the individual is usually evaluated on a point system to discern if she qualifies as a skillful employee. Points are assigned based on the proficiency in English, French or both, education background, adaptability, age, work experience, and arranged employment. Sixty-seven is considered the minimum pass mark (Raska, 2016). Self-employed immigrants, investors, and entrepreneurs are not subjected to any point-based assessments; their applications are appraised on the capacity of the individual to attain the investment essentials and on whether the individual has a business plan, experience in the business, and sufficient funding. Rules applied to those individuals entitled for the family class are very different from that of the skilled worker class; they usually have families residing in Canada. A permanent resident or Canadian citizen is allowed to apply to sponsor a spouse, grandparents, dependent children, or a common-law partner. Sponsorship applications are submitted to Canadian processing center in Canada and to the visa offices in the applicant’s home country. Sponsorship applications are usually complicated and the process takes a long time. In case of a denied sponsorship application, one could petition to the Immigration Appeal Division which is under the Immigration and Refugee Board. The board can overturn the decision by categorizing it as legally incorrect, uphold the refusal, or opt to allow the appeal on humanitarian grounds. A refugee is defined as an individual who is outside his nation of origin due to admissible fear of persecution based on religion, race, social group membership, nationality, or political belief (Wiseman, 2011). Refugees and individuals who require protection are normally selected by the Canadian government, UNHCR, and IRC (International Red Cross) for resettlement in the country. Refugees in Canada could be sponsored by the government, individuals, and groups. Canada also provides refugee protection to persons in Canada who fear oppression, those likely to be exposed to torture, cruelty, or life risks if they were to be removed from Canada.
Non-permanent residents such as workers, visitors, and students and permanent residents may be removed from the country if they do not abide by the laws of Canada. Removal orders are categorized into three types namely: departure order, exclusion order, and deportation order. Under the departure order, one is not banned from coming to Canada, once he confirms his departure from Canada. Exclusion order entails a one or two year interdict from Canada once an individual has validated their departure from the country. Deportation order, on the other hand, involves a permanent debar from Canada. Individuals who have been eliminated from the country for the authorization to overcome prohibition from the coming to the country to the Citizenship and Immigration department in Canada. Temporary and permanent residents may be prohibited from entering the country due to the following reasons, espionage, security (terrorism), and threatening the lives of individuals in Canada, violations of the International Rights or Human Rights, organized criminality, serious criminality, failure to comply with the IRPA, and misrepresentation (Bhuyan, 2012). Temporary residents may not be accepted into the country due to the following reasons; lack of finances, health conditions, and inadmissible member of the family. Permanent residents may lose their immigration status if they travel and stay out of the country for more than seven-hundred and thirty days in five years prior to an examination (if not under an official assignment by the Canadian government). Failure to meet the residency obligations by a permanent residence may lead to the issuance of a departure order by the immigration officer. A permanent resident may make a formal application for the Canadian citizenship if he has resided in the country for a period of at least three out of four years prior to the application date. To qualify for a Canadian citizenship, the permanent resident should show requisite knowledge of the responsibilities and rights of Canadian citizenship and Canada as a country. Secondly, he should communicate and understand both written and spoken English or French (Bhuyan, 2012). A fee for the citizenship- application process is quoted as $200.00 for adults and $100.00 for children. A test is often scheduled to analyze the applicant’s proficiency in the required fields. If the applicant meets the test requirements, he will be invited to a Citizenship ceremony to take the Oath of Citizenship. One may not become a citizen of Canada if he is in parole or prison, has been prosecuted for an indictable crime, is accused of a crime under the Citizenship Act, was convicted of a serious offense within the past three years or has had his Canadian citizenship revoked within the past five years. Other factors that may hinder one from becoming a Canadian Citizen include if the individual is under an investigation or removal order under IRPA and is currently prohibited from coming to Canada and if the individual is under inspection for a crime that is against humanity.
Lack of immigration boundary laws would threaten the Canadian national security through encouraging the unmonitored entrance of terrorists into the country. International justice and security would also be compromised since human rights violators, terrorists, and accused individuals whose cases are under investigations would come into the country; this would affect the investigation procedures in their countries thereby, affecting international justice (Benhard, et al, 2009). The security of Canada and its neighboring countries would also be threatened. Lack of immigration laws would also pose a serious threat to the health and safety of the Canadian citizens. If the Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau implemented the strategies being executed by President Donald Trump such as the discontinuation of visas and the deportation of immigrants Canada’s economy would be affected both positively and negatively. First, the policies would lead to the mass deportation of immigrants which consequently reduce the gross domestic product of Canada significantly. Secondly, the labor market would also be affected significantly, for instance, farmers would experience difficulties in finding replacement employees leading to a cut in their gross production to adjust with the reduction in labor supply. Thirdly, the cost incurred by the government due to the deportation of immigrants protected by significant visas would be very expensive; this may lead to overspending by the government. The expense incurred may not even be compared to the amount of funds immigrants contribute to the economy. Fourthly, illegal immigration reduces wages significantly for the low-skilled jobs; this largely affects the income of Canadian citizens as it leads to low remunerations.
Immigration boundary laws have a significant value to a country. These laws seek to protect the health and safety of a country’s citizens. The immigration laws ensures that the security of the country is maintained at all times. The laws also fosters international security and justice through denying serious criminals who pose security threats access into the country. The laws also seek to save human lives and protect the persecuted and displaced individuals. The laws ensure the self-sufficiency and the economic and social welfare of refugees. These laws support the diversity and growth of the population, it builds the country’s economy and enhances the reunion of families. Immigration laws are, therefore, significant in creating a diversified society, in enhancing a country’s security policies, and in building the country’s economy.
References
Anwar, A. (2014). Canadian Immigration Policy: Micro and Macro Issues with the Points Based Assessment System. Canadian Ethnic Studies , 46(1), 169-179.
Bernhard, J. K., Landolt, P., & Goldring, L. (2009). Transnationalizing Families: Canadian Immigration Policy and the Spatial Fragmentation of Caregiving among Latin American Newcomers. International Migration , 47(2), 3-31. doi:10.1111/j.1468- 2435.2008.00479.x
Bhuyan, R. (2012). Negotiating Citizenship on the Frontlines: How the Devolution of Canadian Immigration Policy Shapes Service Delivery to Women Fleeing Abuse. Law & Policy , 34(2), 211-236. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9930.2011.00361.x
Grubel, H. G., & Fraser Institute (Vancouver, B.C.). (2009). The effects of mass immigration on Canadian living standards and society . Vancouver: Fraser Institute.
Mina, N. (2013). Taming and Training Greek 'Peasant Girls' and the Gendered Politics of Whiteness in Postwar Canada: Canadian Bureaucrats and Immigrant Domestics, 1950s- 1960s. Canadian Historical Review , 94(4), 514-539. doi:10.3138/chr.1177
RASKA, J. (2016). Humanitarian Gesture: Canada and the Tibetan Resettlement Program, 1971- 5. Canadian Historical Review , 97(4), 546-575. doi:10.3138/chr.Raska.
Wiseman, N. (2011). The Making of the Mosaic: A History of Canadian Immigration Policy. Canadian Ethnic Studies , 43(1/2), 301-303.
