Canada must review its immigration policy

Recently the federal government modified the approach it had towards immigration in Canada. The new immigration system of Canada rapidly expands the flow of temporary foreign workers to fulfill the current needs of the Canadian labor market. The changes also mean that the selection will be more restrictive for applicants, as according to the current policy, the immigration minister can select prospective temporary workers to Canada as per his will and the demands.

In plane words, it can be penned down that the government just wants to rent foreign nationals for a limited period of time to work in the oilfields and in other industries that need labor. When the government feels that the work of the worker is over, it will simply send them back from where they came and get them again when needed.

So the bottom-line is that none of these temporary workers will actually be able to become citizen of Canada and all of them will gladly come when commanded and leave when the government demands so. But the fact is that life does not work this way and there has to be a better option for these workers.

But the approach isn’t just hurting these workers but the Canadians as well. Now let us look at some of the problems with the current approach. First of all, the fertility rates are on a decline in almost all western societies and even the population is aging. Also, there is a greater demand in many countries to attract these highly talented immigrants in order to keep the economy growing. Thus, now foreign workers have the luxury to select the countries where they wish to move, work and live. So, the countries which seem more attractive to these workers will be the ones they will go for.

Secondly, Canada should learn from the mistakes Europe made in the past. It is a well known fact that this method of temporary workers has been adopted by the French and the Germans, and it has caused major social disturbances. It hasn’t been long to forget the Paris riots. The prominent figures in the whole drama were mainly immigrants from Arab and Africa who lived on the outskirts of the city and were never treated fairly.

At the end, it is worth learning even from the United States. We should make a note of it that many of these temporary workers will remain in the country as non-status immigrants, without paying taxes, and thus, fuelling the labor black market of Canada.