Immigration whammy is not the first

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/04/2012 (5144 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The announcement Wednesday that the federal government will be cancelling its settlement agreement with Manitoba is a big whammy that comes on the heels of other changes that, over the years, have moved immigration decision-making and services from Manitoba to Calgary, Vancouver and Ottawa.

While this move does not necessarily mean that the immigration system will be less responsive to the needs of Manitoba, it raises the potential that Manitoba’s needs might be overlooked.

The decision to cancel the settlement agreement with Manitoba is distressing. While this does not necessarily mean that settlement agencies will see a decrease in funding, this agreement was signed in 2003 because it recognized that the Manitoba government could better assess needs of immigrants to this province.

The agreement gave Manitoba the ability to maximize the impact of settlement funds through, among other things, co-ordination and development of programs with the non-profit sector.

Over the years, Manitoba has funded programs that have helped newcomers adjust to Manitoba. This has helped their families, their employers and ultimately Manitoba’s economy.

In the last few months, the federal government has announced funding cuts to immigration and settlement organizations elsewhere in Canada. Is Manitoba next in line?

The cancelling of the settlement agreement is one of only a number of subtle changes that have seen the delivery of the federal immigration services leave Manitoba for other western provinces in the last few years.

A number of years ago, the Winnipeg office of the Immigration and Refugee Board was moved from Winnipeg to Vancouver. This board oversees hearings and appeals for refugees, family-class immigrants and others. The closing of the Winnipeg office has resulted in a lack of understanding of specific local issues.

In one case that I recall back in 2008, a Vancouver-based immigration appeal division member had questions regarding an hourly wage that he thought was too low for a gas fitter in rural Manitoba. In that case, the gas fitter was paid $14 per hour. The Vancouver member, drawing on his knowledge of similar occupations in Vancouver, thought this amount was too low. Because the wage was an important issue in this case, it was necessary to explain how this wage was above average in the rural area in Manitoba where the foreign national was living.

In 2006, Citizenship and Immigration created temporary-foreign-worker units to provide opinions to employers hiring foreign workers. Before these units were created, there was an immigration officer in Winnipeg who dealt with these questions for Winnipeg businesses.

In fact, when the units were announced, the press release spoke about potential expansion of this service to Winnipeg. This never happened and Manitoba businesses that need this service must file their applications with an office in Calgary.

Another subtle change is ongoing. Last year, Service Canada began moving the administration of the Manitoba portion of its temporary-foreign-worker program to Vancouver.

This program issues approvals to Manitoba businesses looking to hire foreign workers not covered by opinions made by the temporary-foreign-worker unit in Calgary. While there are still some officers located in Winnipeg, they now report to supervisors in Vancouver.

Though time will tell whether the immigration system will still be responsive to Manitoba’s needs, the signal that this move sends is not a positive one. Would Calgarians, Vancouverites and Ottawans feel that the federal government would be able to adequately monitor their immigration needs from downtown Winnipeg? If so, perhaps we should ask that some of these offices move back here.

R. Reis Pagtakhan is an immigration lawyer with Aikins Law in Winnipeg.