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Ottawa streamlines Canada’s immigration system
CTV.ca News Staff

Ottawa has announced changes to Canada’s immigration rules that will make it easier for immigrants to reunite with their parents and grandparents.

Immigration Minister Joe Volpe also announced Monday that rules have been loosened for international college and university students, making it easier for them to work part-time in this country while they study.

The measures are aimed at dramatically reducing the backlog of citizenship applications and cutting the waiting period for applicants in half. Applicants currently face up to a two-year wait for a decision.

«This will ease the pressure that’s currently placed by all of those who are in the queue to come here,» Volpe told a news conference.

On family reunification, the department’s goal is to cut down on the massive list of about 100,000 cases they have on file and process three times the number of applications per year — from the current 6,000 to about 18,000 in 2005 and in 2006.

The government will allow waiting parents and grandparents to use «multiple entry» visitor visas to allow them to visit their families in Canada while their sponsorship applications are being processed.

Under the new rules, applicants over the age of 55 who fulfill the residency requirement will no longer have to take the language and knowledge tests required for citizenship, Volpe said.

«We become Canadians by doing that which Canadians do,» he said. «We manifest our identity as Canadians by fulfilling our obligations and responsibilities as Canadians. We do not need to test those who have already fulfilled those obligations and exercised those responsibilities.»

As for foreign students, they have previously only been able to get on-campus jobs while attending school in Canada. Under the relaxed rules, they’ll be able to look for employment off-campus.

«International competition for talented international students is fierce and today’s announcement moves Canada even further ahead,» said Volpe.

He also announced incentives for foreign students to work outside of large urban centres.

International students can currently work in the country for only up to a year after graduation. But if they take jobs outside Canada’s three big cities of Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, they’ll be able to work for up to two years after graduating under the new rules.

«The Government of Canada is investing $10 million a year for five years to support this strategy,» said Volpe.

Colleges and universities have been lobbying for the changes, in hopes to attract more international students.

Volpe’s announcement isn’t the only major initiative introduced by the Liberals recently. Last Friday, Martin made a high-profile visit to Vancouver to sign a gas tax deal that allows the city to share federal gasoline tax revenue.

This comes as the Liberals are being hammered by the fallout from Justice Gomery’s inquiry into the sponsorship scandal and are facing the possibility of a June election.

But federal officials said the recent announcements aren’t part of a public relations campaign to take voters’ minds off the scandal that’s shaken Prime Minister Paul Martin’s minority government.

One cabinet official told The Canadian Press that Volpe was making the move because it’s sound public policy and that it’s not an effort to buy votes and curry favour in ethnic communities.

A Toronto-area Liberal MP who’s been lobbying Volpe for months to overhaul the immigration system said, «I’m ecstatic.»

«People can say it’s opportunistic, but it’s the right thing for the people of Canada, it’s the right thing for the families of Canada,» Jim Karygiannis told The Canadian Press.