UAE | Visa
It is a continuing success story
New immigrants may initially find it difficult to land jobs in their own fields, but Canada still offers a "good deal", the former minister of immigration said here.
- By Mahmood Saberi, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:00 June 23, 2006
Dubai: New immigrants may initially find it difficult to land jobs in their own fields, but Canada still offers a "good deal", the former minister of immigration said here.
He said Canada created over one million jobs over the last four years, the highest in job creation among the G-7 nations.
"The quality of life is second to none. There is universal access to healthcare, education is free till university. I tell you it's a good deal," he said.
The former minister said while there are still a lot of areas that new immigrants will find difficult to access, there are "countless examples of successes they have made, and there is the additional success that their children will make."
Former minister Gerry Weiner was in Dubai to address a seminar on the immigrant investor programme, the programme which he said he had "written" more than 20 years ago as minister.
"The new [conservative] government, which is generally business-oriented, is more cognizant of the benefits and the enormous economic contribution that people bring," he said.
"You cannot walk the streets of urban Canada without getting impressed by the contribution made by new people who have come from all parts of the world," he said.
"Sure, you will have to accept that not everybody will become the president of a construction company. There are a lot of people who will go into retail. I am a pharmacist by profession; I go work in a drug store."
Weiner said he had complete confidence that while new immigrants may take some time to reestablish themselves; they will continue to find ways to make their important contributions.
Landing fee halved
He said the new government has reduced the landing fee by 50 per cent. "There is a commitment to reduce it by 50 per cent again in the next five years. It [the fee] was an obstacle [for new immigrants]," he said.
Effective May this year Ottawa had reduced the Right of Permanent Residence Fee to C$490 (Dh1,620) from C$975. The new budget had also increased immigration settlement funding by C$307 million, part of which will be used for the set up of an agency for the assessment and recognition of foreign credentials.
The last is a major hurdle for new immigrants who find their foreign degrees are worthless in Canada.
Investor Programme
Weiner said that about 300 families from the Middle East settle in Canada annually under the immigrants investment programme.
He said if a person has a net worth of C$800,000 (Dh2.64 million) and can show that he had earned the money through his own efforts and through legitimate skills, he then is given a permanent residence status.
Armand Arton, executive director of Hampton Securities, said verifying the funds of people in the region is not as difficult as in China. "Today, the reality after September 11 in North America is that it has made all brokers and financial institutions responsible to the government for the source of funds [of its clients]."
Hampton Securities is one of the nine financial brokers that partner with Ottawa in the programme.
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