IMMIGRATION & CITIZENSHIP NEWS FROM QUEBEC & CANADA

A Beautiful Description of Canadian and American Friendship

2010-12-27T14:27:00.001-05:00

Dear Reader,
I watched this video and really enjoyed it. It touched my heart and I hope that it does yours too.
Without any further ado...
Tom Brokaw explains Canada to Americans
If the link does not work, kindly go to: http://www.wimp.com/explainscanada/.

Friend, where will you be happy??

2010-12-21T16:21:00.000-05:00

People who purposely move from one location to another are really a very brave lot.

To pull yourself away from the place that you are most familiar with; where you greet your neighbours on the way out to work and where you can recommend the best bakery in the entire area; where you know how to dart about and around town using the most clever shortcuts; where you are comfortable with everything and everybody - and to leave all that for an unknown, untested and unsure environment in the hope of a better future - this requires an incredible amount of fortitude, courage and determination.

I want to share with you an experience of one of my friends, which he had several years back. (All details have been confused to protect his (or her?) identity.) Single, suffering with a dead-end job and being quite bored with his life in Montreal Quebec, he decided to up-himself and move to Toronto Ontario. Maybe maybe, he imagined, he could find better career and social opportunities there. For context purposes for the uninitiated or not-totally informed, let me just say that Toronto is a mere one-hour flight from Montreal; five and a half hours easy drive by car. As is evident, each of these two cities has its own specialties and peculiarities, but rest assured that both cities are very very much Canadian and North American, typically allowing one to be quite at home in either city.

Well, to hear it from my friend, you'd have thought that he had gone off and joined the foreign legion! During his sojourn in Toronto, he kvetched and complained about everything there - not the weather, because that was too similar to Montreal but about the slow clean-up after any snowfall; about not being able to find a good tailor; about how there was so much traffic; about how he could not find a decent bagel anywhere in Toronto; about how he found Torontonians to be less friendly and on and on and on. Eventually his sensitive emotions could not bear the strain and torment and he made haste back to Montreal.
It's common knowledge in Montreal that some people have a sport of bashing Toronto, but I personally think that Toronto is truly a lovely city. As is Montreal.
And this is my point: here was a (native) Canadian, a Montrealer, who was moving all of 5.5 hours away, to a different Canadian city. Same nationality, language, currency, time zone, culture (though there are those in Quebec who would have my head for saying that the cultures are similar), way-of-life etc., and that didn't make one bit of difference to him. He was miserable in his new hometown! The reason is, I humbly submit, is because when we step outside of and beyond our regular comfort zone, a zone which we spend a lifetime building-up and perfecting, life gets tough. And my friend was unwilling to put-up with the challenge and that's what eventually caused him to high-tail it back to La Belle Province.
Now imagine that for someone who is moving to a new, well - everything! I won't start listing, but drawing on the categories mentioned above and by definition, an immigrant is shifting to a totally fresh experience and surroundings. Yes, of course, it's almost always something the he volunteers for and it is almost always a step up on so many levels, but it may still be a very daunting and scary proposition.

To you, the reader, I announce: Good news if you're moving to Canada - Canada is a super place to live!
According to a 'life-satisfaction' study conducted last year by the Canadian Centre for the Study of Living Standards, together with the Institute for Competitiveness and Prosperity, a whopping 92.1% of Canadians over the age of 12 considered themselves to be either 'satisfied' or 'very satisfied' with their lives.
Furthermore, not only are we a content bunch per se, but in a different study conducted in 2007-08, Canada also ranked as fifth on the 'global happiness index', behind Costa Rica, Denmark, Norway and Ireland. (I wonder with what's going on in Ireland these days, if this rating would still be as accurate. As an aside, the U.S. came in as seventh.) Not too shabby at all!
Andrew Sharpe, the executive director of the Centre, gives his take on our Canadian joie-de-vivre: 'money can't always buy you happiness!' According to the study, household income ranks behind mental health; physical health; stress levels; a sense of belonging to a community; and even behind being unemployed, in being a determinant of an individual's happiness.
Kindly look at the table of 'Happiest Provinces & Territories' below. Notice where PEI ranks and where Ontario fits in! Does that tell you something about what makes people happy?? Idyllic PEI vs powerhouse Ontario?! Not-so-(financially)-rich PEI vs (financially)-rich Ontario?! Even very-healthy British Columbia ranks at number 9! Maybe the researchers are actually right about this stuff. Financial wealth is appealing, but it may not be the ultimate in people's lives.
A bit further down you'll find the 'Happiest Canadian Cities' table. Please note that Canada's three major cities are listed toward the bottom of the pile. In fact, Toronto is dead-last and Vancouver is just one up.
Mr Sharpe attributes these dismal results regarding the cities to two facts: 1) anonymity and invisibility of individuals residing in large cities [we're guessing here that that's a bad thing]; and 2) new immigrants tend to flock to these larger cities but may encounter difficulties in finding employment opportunities.

Happiest Provinces & Territories
1. prince edward island	4.33
2. quebec	4.30
3. alberta	4.30
4. new brunswick	4.30
5. nfld & labrador	4.29
6. nova scotia	4.27
7. saskatchewan	4.27
8. yukon	4.26
9. northwest territories	4.26
10. nunavut	4.26
11. manitoba	4.25
12. british columbia	4.24
13. ontario	4.23

Happiest Canadian Cities
1. sherbrooke, qc	4.37
2. brantford, on	4.36
3. trois rivières, qc	4.35
4. quebec, qc	4.34
5. st john’s, nfld	4.34
6. calgary, ab	4.33
7. peterborough, on	4.32
8. saguenay, qc	4.32
9. sudbury, on	4.32
10. halifax, ns	4.32
11. guelph, on	4.32
12. victoria, bc	4.32
13. saskatoon, sk	4.31
14. st john, nb	4.30
15. capital region	4.29
16. barrie, on	4.29
17. kelowna, bc	4.28
18. hamilton, on	4.28
19. kingston, on	4.27
20. kitchener, on	4.27
21. regina, sk	4.27
22. edmonton, ab	4.26
23. montreal, qc	4.26
24. london, on	4.26
25. thunder bay, on	4.25
26. moncton, nb	4.24
27. winnipeg, mb	4.23
28. abbotsford, nb	4.23
29. windsor, on	4.21
30. st catherines, on	4.21
31. vancouver, bc	4.20
32. toronto, on	4.15

So...all of this is to say, that:

1) If you're moving or contemplating moving to Canada, you've made a good choice!! You're coming to a happy, peaceful place! Unquestionably, there's an adjustment period in any displacement, as there would be in your migration here. You must be prepared for it and be willing to give it some time. However, at the end of the day, you may rest assured that you've made a decision that will ultimately be highly beneficial for you (and your family); and

2) When considering where to lay down your roots in Canada, keep an open mind. Statistics show that most immigrants tend to gravitate toward the large cities. And perhaps for good cause - family; communities; jobs and so on.

However, it might be worthwhile to entertain other less-frequented towns or cities as possible 'home' candidates. The list of cities above shows many towns and cities with smaller populations, which could and would easily welcome and accommodate newcomers. (Or please visit some of the sites of possible destinations listed to the right of this column.) As the statistics prove, there is much joy and happiness to be had in Canada's smaller urban and rural centres.

Perhaps we can take a cue from the famous US statesman Benjamin Franklin: "Content makes poor men rich; discontentment makes rich men poor". Ultimately, happiness is always going to be right there in your head - wherever you may be. Still, it doesn't hurt if your environment and surroundings help lead you toward that sought-after 'happiness' goal.

How I love thee, let me count the pixels!

2010-11-23T23:43:00.001-05:00

When I was a child, one of the weekly shows which I really enjoyed watching on our 15-inch b+w TV was Star Trek - the original, classic , wholesome and progressive Star Trek, with Captain James T Kirk (William Shatner) and First Officer Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and the rest of the Enterprise crew. Sadly, I haven't seen the show in years now, however, when I do ever get the opportunity, I find that it is as enjoyable and entertaining as it was ages ago.

I remember being so impressed and awestruck with many of the technological advancements of that future era. (Isn't it a bit depressing though, that advancement and development in human character had not progressed at such a similar rate?!) Captain Kirk never budged anywhere without his 'communicator' and Chief Medical Officer McCoy was able to rattle off a medical diagnosis but with the scan of his hand-held medical instrument. Did any of us ever grow tired of observing inter-galactic conferences being held on the communication monitor at the front of the bridge? How about Communications Officer Uhura opening contact with another Federation official? (I regret that I do not remember / know the technical terms of the Enterprise instruments mentioned above).

Well, forward 40 years and are we living Star Trek today or what?! Not 100%, but you get my gist. The 'communicator' = our cellphone. Heck, some phones today even flip open just like the 'communicator' did! Medical diagnostic scans? OK, ours are not yet hand-held (though they may be portable), but we sure have competent scanning technologies which assist medical teams in reaching a medical conclusion. Finally, equipped with webcams and associated paraphernalia, we can very well have voice and audio conversations with anyone from anywhere on the globe (or beyond for that matter).

I share this with you because I read a very interesting article in the Montreal Gazette last week ('Virtual visitations' becoming the norm in divorce settlements, by Misty Harris, 16 November 2010) regarding the growing prevalence of 'virtual visitations', i.e. in divorce settings, non-custodial parents are communicating with their children via Skype; video chats and/or instant messaging.

Indeed, it might be worth reminding that when parents divorce each other, they don't divorce their children! No matter how mom and dad feel toward each other, the court always tries to ensure that the children maintain as much contact with both parents as is possible and as is the case. This would normally include planned visitation sessions and/or extended stays, so that while the children are not with both parents all the time, they get to at least spend some time with both parents (at different times, of course).
Sadly, in an ideal world, this would not be a solution. However, for whatever the reasons, broken families are a reality and as a society, we must do whatever we can to lessen the harsh impact of the child's new home environment, where both parents are no longer habitually resident.

With what would have been unthinkable years ago, parents and courts are now turning to cutting-edge communication technologies to help bridge and fill newly-formed gaps in parent - child relationships. According to the newspaper article, computer-assisted communication is currently most often used when great distances separate parent and child and actual in-person contact is either not available or available only in a diminished capacity or not possible at all. Notwithstanding, Canadian courts presently do order it on a case-by-case basis and experts predict that it's just a matter of time before such arrangements becomes de rigeur in all cases.

Resorting to technology should not be flouted as the sure-all answer and accordingly, its use has not been allowed as of right in all cases. Not necessarily because there's a problem with the particular venue, but rather because in certain instances, the court was not prepared to buy into it as a substitute for in-person contact.
For example, a custodial parent may not unilaterally decide to pick up and move away with the child, far from the non-custodial parent, effectively depriving the latter of his/her ability to spend 'real time' with the child. Court approval would have to be accorded to the moving parent, in order to justify altering the other parent's rights and modifying the divorce agreement.

In another scenario, in a case in Kingston Ontario, the mother of a child was denied her request to move to New Zealand with her child, even though she had given assurances that she would facilitate regular webcam sessions between the girl and her father. The Ontario Superior Court ruled that due to the extreme time differences between the two locations, contact with her father could only be made at awkward hours and would thus make for a complicated and unrealistic schedule.

Ultimately, as in all cases involving children, the court looks to what is in 'the best interests of the child' and moves from that starting point in its decision-making.

I was wondering and hypothesizing how the use of 'virtual communication' could potentially be viewed by immigration officials in immigration matters. There are several instances where your 'being there' or physical presence is necessary to pass over a legal threshold. For example, when completing a spousal sponsorship application and claiming to have lived together 'common-law' for one year, could one make an argument that any periods of time physically spent apart should be overlooked, if the couple had always remained bonded via Skype? It's still speaking, it's seeing each other, it could be sharing a daily routine together - just not physically there. Would that count?

Or in the Spouse/Common-law Partner Questionnaire, where the sponsoree is asked to provide details about the development and growth of the relationship with the sponsor and how they came to be in that committed relationship. Would stating that one had engaged in an intense on-line relationship, would that be convincing and sufficient enough for a favourable opinion from the deciding immigration officer?

How about a virtual trip to Canada in lieu of an actual 'exploratory trip' in an immigration application?

And what about a employment position clinched on Skype or Windows Messenger?
Finally, what if someone had hooked-up a 24-hour-a-day webcam connection to his/her family/school/place of work in Canada, would that satisfy the 'presence in Canada' requirements for Permanent Resident and/or Citizenship statuses?

When I was a student in law school, part of our training consisted of preparing and pleading a fictitious case in a moot court [a make-believe court, presided by laypersons acting as judges]. In this exercise, a team of two students was paired against another team. Each side had to make a case for the plaintiff and defendant respectively. A date was fixed and the four students were set to plead their causes before the 'judges' - usually a law professor, a practicing lawyer and a third or fourth-year law student.

A professor once recounted this story: On one occasion, a student showed-up for his turn at the moot court dressed in his best workday clothes - jeans, coloured shirt, no tie, running shoes - looking generally dishevelled. When one of the judges on the bench admonished him for appearing so, the student replied, that since this trial was anyway just in moot court and was therefore imaginary and pretend, could the judge just not imagine that the student was dressed in a much more respectable fashion? Without skipping a beat, the judge replied that he would be inclined to accept the student's suggestion, so long as the latter was also prepared to imagine - that he had received an 'A' as his grade!

Point is: sometimes, 'virtual' doesn't cut it! Sometimes, you just really really need the real thing.

I would think and hope that each case mentioned above, should be decided on its own merits, with common-sense as the guiding principle. To say that a couple cannot initiate and nourish an amorous relationship on-line is not to be living in the 21st century. Indeed, there are so many sites devoted to exactly this cause: helping people find loving relationships on-line. To deny this reality to would-be immigrants would be unjustifiable and unreasonable. Of course, people do have to get together to really know each other well, but Skype can go a long way in keeping those flames alive and going.

On the other hand, could a virtual trip by prospective immigrants truly replace a hands-on visit to our country? Really, there are great informative presentations of Canada on-line. It may even be possible to get more information by sitting in front of a computer or a television. But honestly, you can only get the complete feel for something when you are truly there, when you experience it in the raw with your senses. Feeling the cold / the heat / the snow / the sleet; driving through neighbourhoods and breathing in its distinct flavours; visiting the premises of a possible employer and meeting with employees; hearing all the languages and shaking hands with people in the community where you plan to settle - all these things have to be experienced first-hand in person. No book or video can clue you into these experiences.
If you want to live here as a permanent resident or become a citizen of this great country, it's not enough to do it 'virtually'. You have to experience the real deal.
In closing, we really ought to embrace these technologies whenever we can, depending though on the context of the given situation. Skype & Friends have the potential to make our lives so much richer in human experiences "to seek out new life and...to go where no man has gone before" (so to speak!), but can never replace the true meeting and bonding of human spirits.

Groundbreaking decision from Quebec Court of Appeal

2010-11-10T22:45:00.016-05:00


Quebec Court of Appeal

A very interesting judgment came out of the Quebec Court of Appeal last week. Let me tell you about it.

In Canada, we live in a generally free society and people are allowed to do many things. One of the many freedoms which we have includes the choice of how and with whom we cohabit - whether to live single; get married; live together and not get married and so on.

National Assembly of QC

In Quebec, first in 1980 and then later again in 1989, legislators in the National Assembly of Quebec enacted legislation which granted financial protection for women in the event of a break-up of their marriage. In determining the scope of the application of these laws, lawmakers considered extending it to both married and unmarried couples, but ultimately settled on married couples alone. Thus, the Civil Code of Quebec contains laws providing benefits and protection to married persons, but these are not extended to those who choose to live together in an unmarried state, otherwise known as a 'common-law marriage'.

In practical and very simple terms, this means that upon the dissolution of a marriage, whether by divorce or death or otherwise, there is a possibility for spousal support (a.k.a. alimony) and that the matrimonial property is split according to a certain formula, in order to provide (hopefully) a fair division and distribution of the estate to both parties.

Common-law couples, on the other hand, have never received any such safeguards. When they split-up, there is no similar (required) division or distribution. Generally speaking, each go their own way.

It is important to note that children born from married couples, common-law couples or from two persons not cohabiting together at all, should always receive aid from both parents, as the case may be. This financial allotment is based on the child-parent relationship - the marital status of the parents being irrelevant.

La Belle Province of Quebec, until last week, was the only province in Canada that made a distinction between marrieds and common-law'ers, at least with regard to spousal support. In the rest of Canada, recognition of the common-law status has long been the norm. Usually, this means that if a couple has been living together for a minimum of 3 years or alternatively one year with a child from their union, they were subject to the rules of alimony upon the break-up of their relationship. With the ruling of the Quebec Court of Appeal, this division has now been bridged somewhat.

Let me tell you about the facts of the case.

I think that the details of this story have been sensationalized, which is a shame, because that distracts from the true issues at hand. A 34-year-old billionaire man - nicknamed 'Eric' - met a 17-year-old girl - 'Lola' - in Brazil. She moved back with him to Montreal. They moved in together and had 3 children. Apparently, she wanted to get married, but he said that he didn't believe in the institution of marriage and they never married. After 10 years of being together, they decided to part ways.

Since their split, 'Eric' has taken very good care (financially-wise) of their children, to the tune of $35,000 per month (you read that right - that's no printing mistake!). Mother and children currently live in a cool $2.5 million house in a very tony district of town.

Lola would like a chunk of her ex's money. She went before a Quebec Superior Court and asked the judge to grant her a $50 million lump-sum payment plus $56,000 per month as an alimony payment. (As mentioned above, spousal support and child support are two distinct matters).

In her situation, she felt that she was being discriminated against due to her marital status, or more precisely, her lack thereof. She decided to challenge those provisions of the Civil Code of Quebec which differentiate between married and unmarried couples. She based her arguments on our constitution, the supreme law of the land, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, declaring that she was guaranteed the right to equal benefits and equal protection of the law, without discrimination. She asked the court to declare those Civil Code provisions unconstitutional.

Contrary to what may be commonly perceived, a judge cannot change or re-write the law. If it is not perfectly clear, then she can interpret the law. Or, she can also declare a law to be unconstitutional i.e. that it does not jive with the supreme law of the land.

In our case, the trial judge stated that the suggested discrimination was not apparent and consequently, there were no grounds for striking down the law. Lola's claim was thus denied.

Lola went to appeal. At the appeal level, the court ruled that the law as it stands now is discriminatory and therefore unconstitutional. The court was not prepared to pronounce that she be awarded a portion of the family patrimony, but concluded that she should be entitled to receive spousal support.
This ruling has the potential to have an incredible impact on Quebec society. There are lots of common-law couples here and now that there is a possibility of having these relationships look and behave more like marriages, participants will have to be more aware and conscious of their decision to enter into such a state. For sure, many common-law relationships are of the long-term committed type; but there are also many 'shacking-up' common-law relationships too. All of these may soon be touched by new legislation. Family law as we know it will be changed forever.
The Quebec government must now decide whether to send its legislators back to the drawing board and make the law right or whether to appeal this decision to the Supreme Court of Canada.

I'm not quite sure about how I feel about this judgment! On the one hand, when these laws were originally brought into force in the 1980's, couples were overwhelmingly married, as opposed to living common-law. Thus, the laws ensured that the majority of unions was well covered by the progressive legislation.
Forward 20+ years and Quebec is now the common-law capital of Canada (and North America)! A whopping 35% of couples now live in couple-hood outside matrimonial bliss and 60% of children now born in Quebec are born to these relations. That's 6 out of every 10 children born! If the law's intention was to protect women exiting from a 'loving' relationship, i.e. a married one, can there be any justification today in ignoring the approximately 3.5 women (out of 10) of the common-law ilk, who may be left impoverished if suddenly found single?
On the other hand, who's to say which proportion of these common-law couples actually chose to be in an unregulated common-law setting! Perhaps it was a very clear, purposeful and obvious choice for them to remain in the common-law arena and specifically not to venture into the married side. I am sure that anyone would be willing to bet a dollar, that everybody today knows of this creature called 'marriage' (or civil union) and those who do stay clear of it, know perfectly well what they are doing! The fact is: getting married brings its own baggage and maybe maybe some just couldn't be bothered and/or wish to avoid it altogether.

What's the connection to this immigration blog? Well, for starters, I thought that this all was interesting enough to share! Perhaps persons living in far-away lands with cultures and lifestyles very different from our own, can have a better understanding and appreciation of our familial and social environments.
Furthermore, anyone reading this post, contemplating coming to Canada, might well remember and be forewarned of the possible implications of his/her relationships once arriving here.
Finally, there is an incidental connection to immigration. Spousal sponsorship applications includes those living in married and in common-law relationships. Potential immigrants already have enough to worry about and hopefully the information provided above will give them a better and clearer insight of the intricacies of Canadian family styles.

(The photo file of the Quebec Court of Appeal is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license and is free to share with attribution.
Attribution for the photo of the National Assembly of Quebec: By dszpiro on Flickr [CC-BY-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons).

Changes to the Federal Skilled Worker program

2010-11-01T13:52:00.001-04:00

You know the expression: 'damned if you do, damned if you don't'? No matter how you act, someone will sure enough turn up with a negative comment about what's going on. I really believe that this dictum is so true and can readily apply to most or all situations.

Please read my comments below and consider the author's opinion.

Turn on your radio, turn to your favourite news talk-show and for years you will have heard much debate about our immigration system and the kind of immigrants coming to Canada. Ranting like 'Why do we need more university-educated workers coming to Canada?' 'Why aren't we getting more labourers to help us here with our shortages?' 'There are so many [you put in the name of the practitioner] who come to Canada and drive taxis!' There was and still is no lack of couch-chair political commentators willing to offer their wise suggestions and wisdom on how the immigration system could and should be run, in a more productive and proficient manner.

And to be frank, maybe just maybe some of these folks had some valid points. Who hasn't heard the nightmarish stories of the foreign highly-trained professionals who immigrate to Canada, can't find a job in their chosen career field and sadly end up working in a totally different profession?! Why not be honest about it all and tell prospective immigrants upfront that we are looking for a certain type of immigrant with these specific credentials? Trust me, it would save a lot of heartache! And the clincher is that if someone still truly and sincerely wants to come to Canada, he can get the desired training in order to fit into one of those 29 areas. (True, some still require a healthy university training; but some do not.) Ultimately, it really is ok if the government changes its criteria from time-to-time in order to adjust to new realities and situations. A more transparent system, from both the government's and the potential immigrant's points-of-view would allow applicants to proceed with more focus, certainty and empowerment.

Well, it appears that the Minister has listened to these calls! During this past summer, the Federal Skilled Worker program underwent an overhaul. Generally speaking, effective 26 June last, a person applying under this program must submit the results of his language test and a) have an 'arranged employment' i.e. an employer offering a job; or b) have at least one year of experience in the previous 10 years in the list of 29 professions provided by the government. The maximum number of applicants to be accepted for processing under this program (which does not include 'arranged employment') is set at 20,000 per year, with a cap of 1,000 applications within each occupation category. As of 29 October last when the government released its most recent figures, 2,988 applications (out of 20,000) have been received; the largest groups are 900 in the ' Professional Occupations in Business Services to Management' category and 405 in 'Registered Nurses' category.

Now at least, prospective immigrants may have a better shot of knowing what's really in demand and finding a job when they arrive in Canada.

So what's a bloke to do if his profession is not on the list? Some thinking / strategizing is required. There are other options, like applying through Quebec's system (get a life - just learn some French!). Or trying through the available Provincial Nomination programs or other federal programs.

Changes?? Can be a drag, but isn't everything in life a 'work-in-progress'?

Do You Have Your Student Visa Yet?

2007-06-24T11:35:00.004-04:00

It's summer, for crying out loud! The heat, the beach, ice cream, no coats, no boots, no shoveling, flowers and trees in full bloom, vegetable and fruit produce aplenty. Summer tires, convertible tops down, radios blaring, loads of pedestrian-traffic downtown, air-conditioning. Day camp, overnite camp, bbq's, summer decks, ice cubes and lemonade. Rain, laundry hanging to dry on clotheslines, alternate-side parking, going to the park with your kids, sidewalk sales. Crocs! Bumping into friends on the street you haven't seen all winter. Going on vacation. It's a great time, summer. Nature's breather until fall comes around knockin' at our doors to make sure that we don't forget that winter is really but a bitterly cold day away. Sorry to interrupt your summer's daydream and remind you of the autumn, but there are pressing matters which must be attended to now and cannot wait until after the summer. Namely: are you, your child or someone you know from outside Canada, planning to come study in Quebec (or Canada) for the academic year of 2007-08? If so, the information in this post is vital for you.

Generally speaking, Canada allows non-Canadian visitors into her borders for short visits, usually for a period of up to six months at a time. Depending on country of origin, a person may or may not require a permit or visa to enter. Thus, for example, US citizens may normally enter Canada for a period of up to six months with no visitor visa necessary; Venezuelans, on the other hand, will require a visitor visa.

These 'temporary' guests are allowed to come and...visit. And that's it! They are not allowed to work and /or study, unless they have first received a special dispensation from the federal government for that purpose, namely a work or study permit. In this post, I would like to discuss study permits.

Coming to study in Canada can truly be an exciting and rewarding experience. In Quebec, our educational system has many fine world-class institutions, in good company with the better known international ones. Open up a Montreal Yellow Pages and a quick survey of schools will indicate that indeed, there is almost every kind of educational possibility available here in Quebec. Coupled with a sizable and varied international student body (last year about 25,000 persons came from around the world), studying here is an experience that can provide anyone with a great future and a lifetime of precious memories.

Furthermore, our bilingual French and English character acts as a true-life laboratory language experiment. (Just promise yourself that you will ignore and stay away from associated political overtones.) The fact is that there is no other city in the world that can rival our bilingual (or even multi-lingual) status. Even if you were to choose to live and function in a unilingual English or French environment, you could not help but be infected, one way or another, with the feeling of cosmopolitanism that one gets from living in a city that speaks these two beautiful international tongues.

And finally, who can forget the weather?! Ah, the weather! You have to accept it , to embrace it, to love it. Summers are great, but aahh...the winters! The snow, the snowstorms, the piles and piles of snow, the cold, the brutal cold. And yes, the skiing, the skating, the sledding and being the first to make footprints and imprints in the snow, anticipating that loud crunch under your boots. Or if you're not the sporty type and would rather prefer winter cocooning, well, there's lots of that too. How's standing inside your cozy living room late at night, staring out the window, basking in the heat pouring out of your radiator while nursing a double, steaming hot chocolate, mindlessly watching the cascading sheets of snow accumulate in artful and deliberate snow dunes, burying trees, cars and anything left helplessly outside. Or perhaps simply cultivating and nurturing relationships by just spending more time with friends and family indoors. Montreal is not your beach destination getaway. This climate builds character and really must be experienced.

OK, you're convinced. You're coming. Great!

However, in order to be able to come take advantage of the Quebec / Canada learning experience, you must first obtain a study permit if you are not a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident and to this there is some effort and focus involved. It's not as simple as coming to Quebec for a visit, deciding on a school, filling in the application, going off to some downtown government office and receiving the study permit that day. If only! On the other hand, it's not an impossible task to do either, but it does require will, patience and planning. There are many tasks and details to pay attention to, which eventually all come together in your application.

Planning is crucial because even when you think that you're on top of your application and that you've got your end covered pat, you might quite rudely discover that suddenly you have to contend with external, unforeseeable and development-delaying circumstances over which you have utterly and absolutely no control! For example, you're ready to send out your application, but need some small information / a letter from your intended school or your bank or whomever. Guess what? You call them, only to be told that they're closed / gone off on vacation for three weeks till the end of whenever / working on a reduced staff / can't find your file or some other willy-nilly excuse and you're left holding the bag. The government-person-type who will ultimately be processing your application at the receiving end is certainly reviewing many, many others as well and if you want your application to be processed properly and quickly, without getting stuck in the system, you want to be 100% sure that you have crossed your t's and dotted your i's. Your application must be complete and perfect.

Coupled with the above, according to statistical information provided by the CIC for the period of April '06 to March '07, it took an average of a minimum of 28 working days (which translates into much more time when you include those inevitable nasty statutory holidays, Saturdays and Sundays) to process a study permit. This number has to be higher prior to the start of the school year.

Also, you have to be in possession of your initial study permit before you come to Canada as a student. You cannot come in as a visitor and then obtain your study permit. It is regularly not possible to have an initial study permit request completed in Canada.

Unfortunately, I have been contacted by would-be students to Quebec, who have been stymied by such a lack of proper planning. Believe me, it's upsetting to see how distraught these potential students become when they encounter these otherwise avoidable delays. Thus, in order to avoid big-time aggravation and disappointment, as well as possibly missing those seriously crucial first days of school, when everybody else gets the best ofs, it it absolutely necessary to start thinking and acting on your study permit now, if you haven't already begun.

Very generally and in a nutshell, in order to get a study permit, a person must submit the following:

all the completed forms and documentation;
a letter of acceptance from the school which he/she plans on attending;
proof that he/she has enough financial funds to cover the tuition; and living expenses and return transportation at the end of the studies for all family members;
proof that he/she will be leaving Canada at the expiry of the study permit (don't worry - renewals are possible);
a police certificate with a clean police record, if requested;
a medical examination, if necessary; and
additionally, Quebec-bound students must first obtain a CAQ or a Certificat d’acceptation du Québec (Certificate of Acceptance) from the Quebec government, before applying for a Canadian study permit.

As Quebec provides health insurance to all her citizens, it is necessary for a visiting student to also prove that he/she is in possession of valid health insurance.

Depending on where you are coming from will also determine where your application for the study permit must be presented.

Thousands of people come to Quebec / Canada each year, in many different capacities. You can too. Put down the suntan lotion and get crackin'. Good luck!

Believe in Miracles!

2007-06-05T20:56:00.001-04:00

If you don't believe in miracles, well then, you might want to start believing now! What may be an incredible reprieve for thousands of ('lost') Canadians will hopefully come into effect as law soon. Read on.

In a previous post (Are you a Canadian living abroad?), I highlighted the importance of registering children born abroad to a Canadian parent, as Canadian citizens. I mentioned that historically, this privilege has been time-sensitive and indeed, there have already been instances where this right has expired for certain classes. Please hold that thought while we move on and consider another related topic.

For many years back, if one were travelling from Canada to the US, one could usually present a birth certificate or other government-issued document in order to pass through the immigration control at either border. Getting through with a photo-less, signature-less birth certificate or with just a driver's license was typically considered uneventful.

However, figuring post 9-11 fears and concerns, the US has decided to tighten immigration control at its borders so as to prevent 'undesirables' from slipping through and sneaking into the US. As a result, the US passed the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), which requires all travellers in the western hemisphere, including Canadian and US citizens, to provide a valid passport or other secure identification when wishing to enter the US. According to the US rules released in November 2006, all persons travelling by air in the western hemisphere through the US, on or after 23 January 2007, are required to present a passport or a NEXUS card (to be used with a NEXUS kiosk at select Canada-US entry points) upon entry to the US. This rule has already come into effect and is being applied.

Rules for travel by land or sea have yet to be released, though it is certain that a passport will also be an accepted mode of identification. The US Congress has given a delay period of up till 01 June 2009 to implement the rule regarding travel by land or sea, once certain safety considerations relating to travel documents have been met. Cf.: http://cbsa.gc.ca/agency/whti-ivho/poster-affiche-e.pdf.

(Ironically, according to an AP article from 07 June last, processing times for applications for US passports from within the US, has slowed to a crawl. Consequently, it may be announced this Friday, that the US may temporarily suspend its requirement for US travellers going to and from Canada and Mexico, if the traveller can prove that he/she has already applied for a passport.)

In response to this US law, many Canadians decided to go ahead and apply for their Canadian passports, so that they be prepared in the event of travel to the US. This is where the story gets weird. Anticipating routine passport process, some applicants discovered instead, to their palpable horror, that they were in fact not legally recognized as Canadian citizens! These include persons who were not born in Canada, but rather born abroad to a Canadian citizen and unbeknownst to them (and others), had missed the deadline (for their class) for citizenship registration. They have been affectionately labelled in Canada as 'lost Canadians'. How generously sensitive! Imagine spending your whole life in what you thought was your home country, only to learn that you are not, in fact, entitled to its citizenship. Cf.: http://www.lostcanadianchildren.com/.

And then when all seems lost for the stranded, the Conservative Party steps in to save the day. Hurray for Prime Minister Stephen Harper!

On 29 May last, the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, appeared before the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration. She announced that she is planning amendments to the Citizenship Act so as to help and rescue these 'lost Canadians'. She stated, "... I announced that I plan to introduce new legislation to amend the Citizenship Act. This will mean that anyone born in Canada on or after January 1, 1947, will have citizenship even if they had lost it under a provision of the 1947 Canadian Citizenship Act. Anyone naturalized in Canada on or after January 1, 1947, will have citizenship even if they had lost it under the 1947 Act. And anyone born outside the country to a Canadian mother or father, in or out of wedlock on or after January 1, 1947, will have citizenship if they are the first generation born abroad." Cf. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/press/speech-2007/2007-05-29a.html for the full statement.

The deadlines which these new 'non-Canadians' had missed are indeed very significant ones, having evidently produced serious consequences for them thus far. In effect, it has meant nothing less than losing their right to Canadian citizenship forever (barring exceptions). It is not my intention to provide political comment on this blog, but really hats-off to the Harper government for wanting to remedy this situation instead of just washing its hands of this affair.

It's not everyday that one gets a second chance to fix something like this. This is really really grand, a true gift! So...once again, for those of you who have not yet registered as Canadians, whether a 'lost Canadian' or not, don't lose this or any other precious opportunity to register yourselves or children. Good luck!

Don't Leave Home Without...Your Valid Permanent Resident Card!

2007-05-27T16:27:00.001-04:00

Nearly five years ago, the Canadian government issued its first 'Permanent Resident Card' for Canadian Permanent Residents (PRs). Canadian citizens don't require this card and once PRs themselves become citizens, they no longer require it either.

Generally, if a PR travels anywhere outside Canada (using commercial carriage, such as a bus, plane etc.), then he/she must be able to present his/her valid PR Card in order to board and gain re-entry back into Canada. If he/she does not have such a (valid) card, he/she might then have to obtain an emergency travel document from the nearest Canadian emergency-travel-document-issuing authority (which might end up not being so near at all!), in order to get back home. Frankly, if you are at the close of your voyage and you're familiar with that 'just wanting to go home already' feeling, who then needs this kind of hassle and headache?! We're not even talking about lost time, lost money and maybe even your ticket home!

Well, those first cards which were issued by Citizenship & Immigration Canada (CIC) way back in June 2002, are nearing their 5-year expiry date. This means that if you are a PR and you plan on travelling outside Canada some time soon, and you currently have a valid PR Card, then please check the expiry date on your card before leaving Canada. If there is enough time to renew your card before travel, then by all means do so; otherwise, you may have to contact CIC in order to request a rush service and/or perhaps consider modifying your travel plans.

Not to belabour the point, but if you are a PR and have never had any card at all yet, you might want to consider applying for one asap. One never knows when one might be unexpectedly summoned outside of Canada and when that happens, the last thing you'll want to be fretting about is about being able to eventually get back into Canada.

Make your trip an enjoyable one, one that will end happily. Plan ahead.

See: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/pr-card.pdf

Are you a Canadian living abroad? Do you have children?

2007-05-27T16:09:00.000-04:00

Canada is a great country and a great place to live. Really. At once cosmopolitan and friendly, nice people, high quality-of-life, good health and education systems and great weather. (OK, maybe not really so much the weather. But, respectfully, other areas with more temperate climates are themselves weather-challenged, what-with their heat waves, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes and so on. Those I can't live with - snow and cold weather, skating and tobogganing I can.) We live in a democratic society where we speak our minds with no fear of reprisal. It's destiny's gift to be able to live our lives in this glorious country.

Immigration to Canada, or to most countries for that matter, requires effort, concentration and drive. It can be costly. It often creates an upheaval in people's lives, hopefully in a positive way. Still, especially when coming to Canada, these efforts are well worth it. This is evidenced by the fact that thousands of people around the world apply to immigrate to Canada and would love to come to Canada, to live here and join in our rich lifestyles.

Why the pontification?

I know some people who were born in Canada and are consequently Canadian citizens. For whatever their personal reasons, they have moved from Canada and have established their families and households elsewhere now. They love Canada, though they may or may not still retain strong ties to her. This is fine.

However, and this is where I have my beef with them: they have not yet registered their children as Canadian citizens! This is incomprehensible! Generally speaking, the privilege of Canadian citizenship is generously extended to children born abroad to Canadian citizens, if either or both parents are Canadian at the time of their child's birth. Registration is not that complicated to do and is not very costly. Imagine that - gifting your child, almost effortlessly, with a nationality that most people can only dream of obtaining.

Why bother, you may ask? To me the answer is simple: it's about awarding your child the privilege of being part of this great Canadian family and nation. Consider also that one never knows what the future may bring. Perhaps right now, Canadian citizenship for your child may not be a priority and you cannot imagine how he/she may ever have any advantage from it. However, it helps to think about the years to come. What if your child may wish to come live in Canada at some point in his/her life? What if he/she one day desires to come study in one of our world-renowned and acclaimed universities and pay Canadian-student tuition rates? More seriously, our world's political situation is not quite as stable as we would perhaps like it to be. What if your child's current host country decides to implement homeland security measures and/or a draft for a war effort, implementations to which he/she may be ideologically opposed? While I am not suggesting any kind of civil disobedience and/or disrespect to his/her current home country, as a Canadian however, he/she could have the right to view political issues from a uniquely Canadian standpoint and correspondingly will always have a home to come to.

This registration privilege has limitations and does not last forever. Already on August 14 2004, transitional provisions of the Citizenship Act expired, such that persons born outside Canada before 14 February 1977 are no longer allowed to register under these provisions. (There has been much in the news recently about persons who applied for Canadian passports and because they had previously not registered, found out that they were technically not Canadian citizens! The Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration has set-up a dedicated unit in the CIC to deal with this issue). These could-have-been-Canadians have been denied their rightful birthright of a national heritage. How dreadfully sad!

So to all you expatriate Canadians: if you have children, unless you have clear beliefs and/or other pressing concerns which stand in your way, please register your children asap! Save any later regrets and don't let this incredible opportunity slip away.

Just one more practical reason: don't wait until it's too late and your kid has yet another reason to tie you to the whipping post for another alleged misdeed!