The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act 2002 - Essay Example

?The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act 2002 Introduction The Canadian society has witnessed a continued transformation in terms of legal structures and mechanisms aimed at making the nation better. The Immigration and refugee protection act 2002 is one of those legislations and which is the center for discussion in this paper. The act replaced the Immigration Act of 1976 based on the need to eliminate discrimination and include refugees in the provisions of the act. The great depression, the ageing Canadian population, low levels of immigrants and economic benefits of immigrants are among the key reasons leading to the development of the act (Arakelian, 2008, pp.67-68). The transformation of the act to the new immigration and refugee protection act stems from the need to stamp out discrimination, encourage population growth and the need for skilled workers. The act has contributed immensely to economic development of Canada as well as promoting population growth and its use should be continuously supported (Beach, Green, & Reitz, 2003, p.167). This paper is going to look at the historical background of the act in terms of its development and values and ideologies that guide the legislation. It will provide statistics and global trends contributing to the act as well as other researches that have been done and which support and are in contrary of the act.it will then conduct a critical analysis of the legislation in terms of how well it serves the population, its strengths and any gaps that exist in service before finishing off with a conclusion that will provide a summary of what was discussed. Historical Background The first immigration act was passed in 1869 and this marked the foundation of Canada’s immigration policy. It was an open policy kind of act that had very few restrictions as who could immigrate to Canada. Criminals, disabled, ill people and the poor were restricted from entering Canada at this time. Immigration offices were opened in Britain, Europe and the US to facilitate the immigration process. At this time, the dominion act was passed and this provided free land to males who could cultivate it and build homes in Canada (Stoffman, 2002, p.10-13). During the First World War, restrictions were imposed on who could enter Canada because of security reasons. Immediately after the war, the nation experienced a number of setbacks and once again revised the act to a more exclusionary immigration policy aimed at encouraging harmony and control; although certain religions as well as ethnicities were barred from immigrating to Canada. This was followed by a further amendment in 1919 of section 38 prohibiting entry of certain races and nationalities (Westhues, 2006, p.20). After the Second World War, there was a change in attitudes as well as unprecedented economic growth. The senate in 1951 recommended the return of the open door policy stance on immigration which led to a new act in 1952 that did not include much of the proposed changes and continued to discriminate against races and people on economic grounds. A more inclusive policy was arrived at in 1967 that eliminated racial discrimination. 1969 saw the inclusion of refugees into the policy widening increasing chances of people who could immigrate to Canada. Amendments continued until 2002 when the immigration and refugee protection act was established (Kelley & Trebilcock, 2010, p.11-13). Westhues (2006, p.23) argues that the rationale and ideologies at this time was to attract an influx of immigrants in order to boost the economic growth of the nation. Coming up with the immigration policy was seen as a way of increasing the country’s demand for domestic products and stimulate the nation’s manufacturing sector. At this time also, there were large tracts of land that were unoccupied and thus the need to fill this land with people. The idea of filling up the unoccupied land was as a result of the need to ensure sovereignty of the nation which was an important factor at this time. Therefore it is only through a good immigration policy that this could be achieved. Research and Statistics After the introduction of the Immigration and refugee protection act in 2002, the country has continued to witness growth in population. The act introduced three categories of immigrants and these include: Family, the economic class and the refugees. The first category deals with individuals who may be independent who apply on their own initiative or assisted relatives who are sponsored by family members staying in Canada. The economic class represents those people who specifically immigrate to Canada as skilled people who have the ability to contribute the Canada’s economy. This class holds business immigrants, skilled workers, caregivers among others (Makarenko, 2010). Canada has continued to experience an upsurge in the population which is brought about by the continued presence of immigrants in the nation. The country’s population increased by 5.9% between 2006- 2011 (Statcan, 2012). The previous five years also witnessed an increase in population of about 5.4%. This translates into a significant increase in the population every year and this can be attributed to the immigration policies. Another reason that explains the sudden increase in the population is the increase in fertility rates as well as the increase in the number of temporary residents and immigrants (Statcan, 2012). As a member of the G8, Canada was the only country that registered a faster rate of economic growth between 2006 and 2011. Previously between 2001 and 2006, the country had registered almost similar results beating most industrialized nations in terms of population growth. Statistics show that the net international migration amounted to two thirds of the nation’s population growth in the last decade. Natural increase was about one third. There is a sharp contrast between these figures and figures from other countries such as the US which has grown its population mostly from natural increase (Statcan, 2012). There are many permanent immigrants that go into Canada. However, as much as the country has a friendly immigration policy, the US still holds the first position as the most preferred destination for permanent immigrants. The US received 1.13 million immigrants into the nation in 2009 (Mahoney, 2012). This represented a significant increase of about 2.1% as compared to the results in 2008. The UK stands second place. However, the UK posted a significant growth in immigrants by posting a 14.5% increase as compared to the previous years. Although the UK ranked second in the number of immigrants entering the nation, it was ranked 8th highest for emigrants moving to other nations. This can be attributed to the conservative attitudes about race that continue to dominate the nation (Mahoney, 2012). Canada has interesting findings. It has a foreign population of about 17.4% of the total population. The number of immigrants is about 18.6% percent of the total population. The current number of immigrants stands at about 6.1 million. The country holds 3.272% of the total world’s immigrant’s population (CIC, 2012, pp. 5-9). The immigration policy is centered on boosting the economic growth of Canada as well as boosting its economic growth. Statistics show that Canada has a large population of the aged, most of them above the age of 65. These are unproductive people and thus much of the skills needed are got from the immigrants (Mahoney, 2012). The number of the aged population grew by 57.6% in the last 20 years. At the same time, the number of children population dropped significantly by 3.6% (Sedghi, 2011). The aged population makes up about 14.9 % of the entire population which show a significant increase from 11.6 % witnessed 2o years ago. Children aged 14 and below represented 16.2% of the country’s population, down from 20.7% (CIC, 2012, pp.5-9). Analysis and Discussion The ideologies on which the immigration act was built on are sound and clear. The rationale for the implementation of the immigration policies was to foster economic development, ensure sovereignty of the nation and lastly to foster economic growth of the nation. These arguments are well supported in literature given the implication of low populations to the economy (Westhues, 2006, p.25). Scholars argue that an ageing population is bad for the economy because of the fact that there is a reduced workforce to work in the industries and thus the economy of the nation slows down. An ageing population also translates into increased costs of care as a result of the disease burden that hit many ageing people (Serkan, 2003, p.293). Therefore, the country is usually faced with a dilemma in getting the right people to work in industries which drive the country’s economy (Gomez & Hernandez, 2008, pp.352-354). Another problem that is brought about by the ageing population is the fact that such people have a reduced fertility rate and this means that there is always a continued drop in the number of newborns, something which is bad for the economy. A large population provides the necessary manpower that leads to economic growth within a nation (Gomez & Hernandez, 2008, pp.355). From this therefore, it is possible to argue that, the all-inclusive or the open door immigration policy in Canada is aimed at fostering economic development as well as population growth to ensure that the country continues to move ahead. The economic benefit of immigrants has continued to spur debate among scholars with most of them arguing that there is a direct link between an influx in immigrants and economic growth of a nation while there are those who believe that there is no direct relationship between the two (Westhues, 2006, p.26:Tomasi, 2000, p.4). The truth may be hard to establish. However, taking the situation in Canada and some of other nations such as the US and China, it is possible to argue that immigrants contribute significantly to economic growth and not the other way round. The US has continued to experience an upsurge in immigrants and its economic growth is still good. China also follows the same path. Immigrants can be harnessed by making use of their skills and abilities in order to boost economic growth (Tomasi, 2000, p.4). Such nations with ageing populations such as Canada have realized the value of this and continuously allow immigrants into the country who work in various sectors of the economy significantly contributing to economic development. However, it should be noted that, an uncontrolled influx in the number of immigrants could pose a security threat to any nation. It could also put pressure on available resources and in the end affect economic development and the ability of the nation to meet the needs of its people. The immigration and refugee protection act of 2002 has many positive impacts. The first is that it has enabled the entry of people in the nation, with varied skills and abilities that has bolstered economic development. The senior population is unable to work and thus the entry of the immigrants has contributed a great deal to the development of industries. Secondly, it has facilitated population growth as the country has witnessed a natural increase in population and this is a good this for the nation especially with the problems that come with an ageing population. Third is that the act has led to favorable international relations as people continue to hold the country‘s image high because of its favorable immigration policy (Westhues, 2006, p.27). As much as the law has tried to address many challenges concerning immigration, there are still many barriers inherent in it that do not provide the service that the regulation was intended to provide. People are still being prohibited from going into the country because of ethnicity, race and economic conditions (Makarenko, 2010). The policy is viewed as favorable from outside but from the beneficiaries’ point of view, many think that it has not addressed many of the challenges that have marred it throughout history necessitating a thorough look and restructuring of the regulation to meet intended objectives (Beach, Green, & Reitz, 2003, p.167). Conclusion The immigration act has gone through different stages in order to reach where it is today. A lot of changes have been made to suit the 21st century demands and needs as was seen in the discussion. The regulation, having come up because of economic and social needs and ideologies still stands as an important policy in Canada that holds the country together. The regulation has led to many economic benefits as well as social benefits that continue to have a significant effect on the nation. In my opinion, from the discussion above I would recommend a restructuring of the act to eliminate discrimination that is still evident in the application of the regulation. Secondly, I would also recommend that the Canada initiates programs that could cater for the new immigrants and integrate them into the Canadian society as well as the economy. At the moment, the process of entry is clear, however, the process, programs and services for new immigrants’ integration into the society are missing. From this paper, I have learnt the value of immigrants to any nation and the reasons as to why nations accept immigrants in the country. I have also learnt the need to ensure transparency in policies in order to facilitate effective delivery of services expected to be delivered under those regulations. References Arakelian, K. (2008). The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act: One Step Forward Two Steps Back. New York: Simon & Schuster Publishers. Beach, C. M., Green, A. G., & Reitz, J. G. (2003). Canadian immigration policy for the 21st century. London: John Deutsch Institute for the Study of Economic Policy. CIC. (2012). Canada facts and Figures: Immigration Overview Permanent and temporary residents. Retrieved November 13, 2012, from Citizenship and Immgration Canada: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/research-stats/facts2011.pdf Gomez, R., & Hernandez, D. P. (2008). Does Population ageing promote Faster Economic growth. Review of Income and Wealth, 54(3), 350-372. Kelley, N., & Trebilcock, M. J. (2010). The Making of the Mosaic: A History of canadian Immigration Policy. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Mahoney, J. (2012, September 27). Spurred by Immigration in the west Canada's Population growth fastest in G8. Retrieved November 13, 2012, from Globe and Mail: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/spurred-by-immigration-in-the-west-canadas-population-growth-fastest-in-g8/article4571648/ Makarenko, J. (2010, August). Immigration Policy in Canada: History, administraion and Debates. Retrieved November 13, 2012, from Mapleleafweb: http://www.mapleleafweb.com/features/immigration-policy-canada-history-administration-and-debates Sedghi, A. (2011, July 12). International migration: where do people go and where from? Retrieved November 13, 2012, from The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/jul/12/immigration-destination-countries-list-migration-statistics Serkan, T. M. (2003). Population aging and economic growth: political economy and open economy effects. Economic Letters, 81(3), 291-296. Statcan. (2012, February 8). 2011 Cenus: Population and Dwelling Counts. Retrieved August 13, 2012, from Statistics Canada: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/120208/dq120208a-eng.htm Stoffman, D. (2002). Who gets in: what's wrong with Canada's immigration program, and how to fix it. New York: Macfarlane Walter & Ross. Tomasi, L. F. (2000). Immigrants benefit the economy. Migration World Magazine, 25(4), 4. Westhues, A. (2006). Canadian Social Policy: Issues and Perspectives. Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press: New York. Read More