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Hi, it’s Dozie!
Welcome to today’s From the Editor.
In today’s newsletter: Since 1980, Canada has taken in about 1.5 million refugees. And those folks do the country a whole lot of good.
Also in the news: IRCC adds new fraud checks; CCIS opens registration for employment program for newcomer youth.
Plus: The second of our four-part series with Immigrant Services of BC (ISSofBC) where we tell the stories of Vancouverites who were forced from their home countries by circumstances beyond their control has gone live.
See past issues here.
Refugees are good for Canada
Five plus years ago, I landed in Canada as an economic immigrant. You know; skilled worker, the right type of degree, picked for what the country figured I’d add to the economy. All I had needed to do was fill out the forms, wait for my COPR to arrive, and then leave for Canada on my own terms.
That’s the kind of newcomer Canada seems to prefer and supposedly builds its immigration system around. Most years, skilled workers like me and their families are more than half of everyone we let into the country. And even when you go around asking people which newcomers to prioritise, they tell you to go look for people like me.
With refugees, it’s a different arrangement. They are people we take in because it’s the right thing to do. No one sits down to run the numbers on what they’ll add to the country before their visas are stamped.
Which makes it easy to lump them in with everything people are frustrated about Canadian immigration right now. Yes, some of that frustration is fair because not everyone who claims asylum has a genuine case. And all that doesn’t help the processing backlog the IRCC has to deal with.
What I can’t wrap my head around is why, when something breaks in the immigration system, the collective stands trial for what a handful did or for what the rules failed to catch. But I digress.
It’d be fair to say that underneath all the frustration aimed at refugees is an assumption that they take more than they give to Canada. Well, UNHCR Canada did the numbers and published a report called “Refugees are Good for Canada.”
Since 1980, the country has taken in about 1.5 million refugees. These amazing and resilient humans work at close to the same rate as people born here. A larger share end up in health care and the skilled trades, and they're twice as likely as Canadian-born workers to be in manufacturing and utilities, what the report calls the backbone jobs. They stay, too, as more than eight in ten go on to become citizens.
However, while statistics can tell you why a person is worth having in Canada, it can’t introduce you to them. It can’t show you what they had to give up to move to Canada, or what runs through their head when they are headed home after work. So, that’s what we are going to do.
So between 24th June and 15th July, the Immigrant Services Society of BC (ISSofBC) and The Newcomers are going to be sharing the stories of people who didn't choose to leave their home country, but who have spent every day since choosing everything else; the apartment they could finally afford, the language they practised until it stopped embarrassing them, the kids they coach on a Saturday morning, the city they keep choosing even on the days it's hard to love.
You'll meet them one at a time, because that's one of the best ways to make new friends.
Happy belated World Refugee Day, everyone.
From our newsroom
IRCC adds new fraud checks. Updated officer instructions require photo cross-checks, case-note reviews, and mandatory referrals to an integrity unit. The changes apply at every stage of processing before a decision is made. — Full article here
CCIS opens registration for employment program for newcomer youth. A 13-week job-readiness course for immigrant and refugee youth ages 15 to 30 starts July 6 in Calgary, with one-on-one employment support after the class ends. Registration is open now. — Full article here
Ebrahim Al-Yousefi is giving back, everyday
In this episode, the second in our four-part series with Immigrant Services Society of BC (ISSofBC), I'm speaking with Ebrahim Al-Yousefi, who fled Yemen as a child during the 2015 war, moved through Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Egypt, and arrived in Canada as a refugee.
Ebrahim was raised to believe that help runs both ways, you give back what you receive. And for years after landing in Canada, it felt like all he was doing was take from the country.
And so when the chance to volunteer with the ISSofBC came up, he grabbed at it with both hands. And then a communications role opened up, and the rest is history. He describes taking the job less like accepting an opportunity and more like settling an account balance.
Ebrahim and I chat about:
The phone call from Muhammad that started everything
The scholarship named in his honor, and how that happened
His advice for newcomers on integrating
Why he calls Canada an entirely different field of opportunity
The ukulele project that helped him pay down his debt
Listen to the full episode here ⬇️
Want to work with us? Check out The Newcomers Media Kit.
Want more immigrant interviews? Listen to The Newcomers Podcast.
Looking to find out what Canadian immigration program you’re eligible for? Check out our Who’s Eligible For series.
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