CIMM Committee Report

Canada is a wealthy, developed, democratic and peaceful country with strong social programs. Accordingly, there will always be people willing to use almost any route, legal or illegal, to come here to live. However, many non status workers make a positive contribution to Canadian society—in part by filling labour demands that are not being met domestically by Canadians or legal immigrants. A number of witnesses raised the issue of this mis-match: our points system for economic immigration favours highly-skilled professionals and people with managerial or technical backgrounds, while our labour market is in need of certain types of tradespeople and people with lower levels of formal training. Witnesses described how a large number of non-status workers work in the construction industry in Toronto,[131] yet these jobs would not otherwise be filled with the doctors and engineers, for example, who qualify under our points system.

Workers essential to our economy are not allowed to come as legal immigrants.[132]

Accordingly, the Committee believes it is time to expand Canada’s legal avenues of immigration to better match those we select to come to Canada with actual labour demands. We need to make it legal for the people we need to come here. We expect that any such change in the immigration system will result in fewer valuable migrants resorting to illegal means of migration.[133]

The Committee has identified three practical means for opening Canada’s front door to all types of workers needed here. First, we note that providing a pathway for temporary foreign workers to transition to permanent status, as contemplated in Recommendation 6 of this report, would go a long way to reducing the incentives for workers we want here to fall out of status in the first place.

Second, the Committee believes that some provinces and territories could negotiate modifications to their provincial nominee programs to provide a pathway for temporary foreign workers to transition to be permanent residents, thereby enhancing provincial and territorial work forces. This approach would have the added benefit of retaining more immigrants in smaller communities across Canada, as well as in large metropolitan areas. We have discussed the provincial nominee programs in more detail in Part I of this report, and therefore refer readers to that section and Recommendation 3.

Third and finally, the Committee re-affirms its long-standing position that Canada’s current points system needs re-examining. We need to ensure that we have an efficient economic immigration system that is responsive to Canada’s actual labour needs. The workers we need here on a long-term basis must be able to immigrate here legally on a permanent basis from the start. We will know that our immigration system is working effectively when the temporary foreign worker program is relegated to providing temporary workers to fill short-term needs.

While these measures do not provide a new legal option for existing non-status workers, they would help to stem the growth of the population of non-status workers.

[131]         Cosmo Mannella, Labourers' International Union of North America, Committee Evidence, Meeting No. 25, April 8, 2008, 11:40.

[132]         Canadian Auto Workers Union, written brief, April 8, 2008, p. 4.

[133]         Mario Bellissimo, Barrister and Solicitor, written brief, April 8, 2008, p. 5.