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Immigration minister defends move to strip offending dual nationals of...
By Jim Bronskill OTTAWA — The public thinks it is “absolutely legitimate” to strip dual nationals of their Canadian citizenship if they commit acts of treason, terrorism or espionage, says the federal...
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Foreign worker program to get overhaul Friday from Harper Conservatives
OTTAWA — The Harper government announces reforms to the controversial temporary foreign worker program on Friday. The announcement will be made by Employment Minister Jason Kenney and Immigration...
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Feds drag feet on inspections of places that employ temporary foreign workers
OTTAWA — Not one Canadian employer of temporary foreign workers has been inspected to date despite a Conservative government promise to do so during last year’s initial overhaul of the controversial...
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Coyne: Reforms to temporary foreign workers program not good policy
The unveiling of Jason Kenney’s reforms to the temporary foreign workers program was a sight to behold: a technical briefing, followed by an exhaustive ministerial press conference, accompanied by...
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Den Tandt: Kenney’s clampdown on temporary worker program a deft, savvy move
Jason Kenney’s overhaul of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program was a deft, decisive, politically savvy move in a government not known, any longer, for such responsiveness. At one stroke the employment...
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How Toronto lawyer Rocco Galati became a ‘one-man opposition’ to the...
Rocco Galati insists he is neither cynical, nor jaded. But over the course of a 45-minute chat this week, the Toronto lawyer attacked the government for being a “machine” that doesn’t care for the...
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Amid calls for more visas for foreign workers, some Americans fight back
By Laura Wides-Munoz And Paul Wiseman Kelly Parker was thrilled when she landed her dream job in 2012 providing tech support for Harley-Davidson’s Tomahawk, Wisconsin, plants. The divorced mother of...
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Immigration officer’s decision on failed asylum seeker Jose Figueroa was...
A senior immigration officer’s decision to deny permanent residency to a failed asylum seeker because of his links to a resistance movement in El Salvador did not take into account “exceptionally...
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Child Crusade lays minefield for U.S. politicians
WASHINGTON – The flow began with a comparative trickle, so no one in government took much notice. In October 2011, U.S. border guards along the Rio Grand Valley frontier separating Texas and Mexico...
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Canada deports 20 members of Hungarian human-trafficking syndicate
HAMILTON, Ont. — Twenty members of a Hungarian human-trafficking ring that brought people from eastern Europe with promises of a better life in Canada have been deported, Public Safety Minister Steven...
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Silicon Valley North: Vancouver tech surges as U.S. immigration reform idles
By Tamsyn Burgmann VANCOUVER — Software engineer Pablo Guana nearly refused a job with Facebook when the company redirected him to Vancouver from Silicon Valley because his United States visa...
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Buzz or bubble? Vancouver tech veterans encourage vision among startups
By Tamsyn Burgmann VANCOUVER — The Canadian founders of mobile gaming company A Thinking Ape embarked on a make-it-or-break-it quest to source first-rate tech wizards when they left Silicon Valley in...
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Canada’s refugee policy risks tearing parents from their children, activists say
By Benjamin Shingler MONTREAL — For the past month, Sheila Sedinger woke up every morning fraught with worry over the prospect of being deported to Mexico without her two young children. But Sedinger,...
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White House: Obama to delay immigration action until after elections (with...
By Jim Kuhnhenn WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has decided to delay any executive action on immigration until after the November congressional elections, abandoning his pledge to act on the issue...
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Left expected to oust centre-right government in Swedish election
By Karl Ritter STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Sweden heads into a parliamentary election on Sunday with polls showing the left-leaning Social Democrats poised to return to power after eight years of centre-right...
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Foreign workers applications plummet in sign overhaul is success: Kenney
OTTAWA — Employment Minister Jason Kenney says there’s been a significant decrease in applications for temporary foreign workers since the government announced an overhaul of the troubled program...
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Government changes live-in caregiver program, does away with the live-in part
OTTAWA — Immigration Minister Chris Alexander says live-in caregivers from abroad will no longer be required to reside with their employers, part of an effort to reduce caregiver abuse. In announcing...
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Obama provokes showdown with Republicans with far-reaching immigration orders
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama invited a showdown with newly empowered Republicans in Congress, ordering far-reaching changes to the U.S. immigration system that will protect nearly 5 million...
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With prisons overflowing, Switzerland mulls plan to export inmates to France...
BERLIN — Little Switzerland has too many criminals and too few prisons. Now the Justice Ministry is reportedly considering a proposal to export convicts to neighbouring France and Germany. Swiss...
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Family of Mohamed Fahmy hopes Baird visit to Egypt marks end of imprisonment
By Diana Mehta and Mike Blanchfield The family of an Egyptian-Canadian journalist imprisoned in Cairo is hoping that Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird’s visit to the city on Thursday will mark “the...
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Who is Joe Canada? The National Household Survey offered us a new portrait
“Joe Canada” is increasingly likely to be Jose, Youssef or Josipa Canada, with our nation now boasting the highest proportion of foreign-born citizens of the G8 countries: 20.6 per cent. His – or her –...
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Year in a minute: Orwell, immigrants and the informal economy
VANCOUVER – On a dismal spring day, I headed out into a Vancouver deluge to follow up on an anonymous tip, something about an immigration raid and a camera crew. What I uncovered was a bizarre incident...
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Immigration Minister Chris Alexander promises lower wait times, fewer...
OTTAWA — From newly elected MP to cabinet minister in two short years, Chris Alexander says it’s been both challenging and humbling to take on the immigration portfolio long-held by one of the Prime...
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Parent, grandparent immigration program reopens
OTTAWA — A two-year freeze on the popular parent and grandparent immigration stream officially lifted Thursday as officials braced for an expected onslaught of applications of which only the first...
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How many immigrants is too many?
OTTAWA — Despite all the so-called “transformational change” that has befallen Canada’s immigration system, a non-partisan think tank argues the government has missed the mark on one critical element:...
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Citizenship fraud crackdown stymied by tie-ups in Federal Court
OTTAWA — Government efforts to revoke the citizenship of those who’ve obtained it fraudulently have apparently hit a snag. According to the most recent Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC)...
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Citizenship changes raising concerns about integration, multiculturalism,...
OTTAWA — Recent changes that have made it tougher to obtain Canadian citizenship may be “counterproductive” to successful immigrant integration, a new study suggests, while a renewed emphasis on...
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Olivia Chow recounts abusive upbringing in new memoir
OTTAWA — She grew up to be a gifted political organizer and beloved step-mom, but Olivia Chow’s teenage years as a new immigrant in Toronto were marked by abuse and family dysfunction. In her new...
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New quota aimed at stripping refugee status raises concerns among advocates
OTTAWA — The Canada Border Services Agency has set a quota to try to strip at least 875 refugees of their status this fiscal year — four-and-a-half times last year’s target — in a move one immigration...
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Obama’s State of the Union speech will be call to arms on wealth gap
WASHINGTON – The best you could say about U.S. President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address last year was that it initiated an impressive string of failures. Immigration reform. Gun control. A...
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Experts raise concerns about citizenship rules
OTTAWA — The notion that newcomers must be physically present in Canada for three of the previous four years to become citizens is an inaccuracy the government continues to perpetuate, say experts who...
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Medical journal calls refugee health cuts ‘medically irrational’
OTTAWA — As tensions heat up over federal cuts to refugee health coverage, the Canadian Medical Association Journal has weighed in with a scathing editorial that calls them “medically irrational” and...
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Obama promises ‘year of action’ in state of the union address
WASHINGTON — Promising a “year of action,” U.S. President Barack Obama announced Tuesday in his state of the union address that he will bypass Congress and take unilateral action to implement a broad...
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Americans want Justin Bieber expelled from U.S.
WASHINGTON – Singer Justin Bieber is in trouble with the American public, and they want him to get out of town. More than 200,000 people have signed petitions to deport him for his “terrible” influence...
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Parent, grandparent immigration stream closed for 2014 season
OTTAWA – Just 33 days after the federal government began accepting new applications through the popular parent and grandparent immigration stream following a two-year moratorium, officials say they’ve...
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New citizenship bill toughens rules, targets fraudsters, garners mixed reviews
OTTAWA – The federal government wants to triple the cost of citizenship, make it harder to become a Canadian citizen, toughen penalties for fraud, and regulate the citizenship consultant profession, in...
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Federal budget: Government dumps immigrant investor, entrepreneur programs
OTTAWA – The federal government is eliminating once-and-for-all the much-maligned immigrant investor and entrepreneur streams, refunding applications for 66,000 individuals at a cost of $2 million. The...
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‘Three Amigos’ summit expected to focus on trade, Mexico visa dispute,...
OTTAWA — When Prime Minister Stephen Harper lands in Mexico next week, he will likely smile broadly and appear chummy as he meets with his North American counterparts: U.S. President Barack Obama and...
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Canada, Mexico expected to sign deal increasing air travel routes between...
MEXICO CITY — Canadians looking to fly to Mexico are expected to find themselves with more options in the coming weeks and months, as the two countries are expected to sign a new agreement this week...
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U.S. Congress offers little warmth for snowbirds
WASHINGTON — For any snowbirds who may soon find themselves bumping into the limit for time spent in the U.S., bad news: there’s no more escaping this year’s Canadian winter. That’s because an attempt...
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Nigella Lawson barred from US-bound flight over drug confession
LONDON — The U.S. Embassy says celebrity cook Nigella Lawson was denied permission to board a flight to the United States on the weekend. The embassy did not disclose the reason for refusing Lawson,...
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Documents detail federal push to get war crimes website online
Border services staff were under pressure to develop a website featuring suspected foreign war criminals hiding in Canada, even as the legal and privacy implications of publishing the “wanted” list...
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McDonald’s puts temporary foreign worker program on hold
VICTORIA — McDonald’s Canada says temporary foreign workers are a necessary ingredient in the fast-food chain’s business model, but until the company satisfies itself and Canadians it doesn’t abuse the...
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A guide to foreign work permits in Canada
In areas where there is a shortage of skilled workers, the government has attempted to create programs and training goals to meet demand. Here is a look at the ways foreign workers can come to Canada,...
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Employment Minister Jason Kenney bans restaurants from using temporary...
OTTAWA — Employment Minister Jason Kenney took action on Thursday against the government’s scandal-ridden temporary foreign worker program, banning restaurants from accessing the program amid a roar of...
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The nasty shift in Canadian immigration policy
Lately the discussion around temporary foreign workers has sounded an awful lot like an episode of South Park. In the seventh season of the animated Comedy Central show, the town finds itself facing a...
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Employment Minister Jason Kenney’s reputation under attack over temporary...
OTTAWA — In the midst of a fresh eruption of abuse allegations surrounding the government’s troubled temporary foreign worker program, is Jason Kenney’s reputation as a capable taskmaster taking a...
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Coyne: Let’s take the ‘temporary’ out of temporary foreign workers
The Great Temporary Foreign Workers Panic of 2014 may be about to blow itself out. Some time in the next couple of weeks Employment Minister Jason Kenney will announce a number of reforms to the...
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Miami Beach marks centennial with 100 hours of free events, celebrity-studded...
By Jennifer Kay MIAMI — To stage a centennial celebration, officials here sought local talent to highlight their commitment to creativity and sense of community. Since this is Miami Beach, that local...
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