Position Papers & Backgrounders

December 9, 2014/Toronto - The Auditor General (AG) of Ontario has found serious shortcomings in the Ontario Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) in her 2014 Annual Report, released on Tuesday December 9, 2014. The report makes several important recommendations, which when implemented will bring a transformation to ensure program integrity.

The PNP as a policy tool is critically important to Ontario, Canada's largest province, to compete with other countries as well as provinces and territories for highly qualified immigrants. 

The Ontario government is pushing Bill 18, Stronger Workplaces for a Stronger Economy Act, 2014 through the legislature to have it passed as soon as possible. The Bill amends various employment-related statutes, with many of the proposed changes impacting temporary help workers.

OCASI has submitted comments on the federal government's proposed compliance framework for the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) and International Mobility Program (IMP). An overview of proposed regulatory changes was provided in an Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) discussion paper, “Regulatory proposals to enhance the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and International Mobility Program compliance framework” and interested parties were asked to submit comments.

Colour of Poverty - Colour of Change (COP-COC) commends the Ontario Government for its ongoing commitment to poverty reduction, expressed through the release of its second Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS), Realizing Our Potential – Ontario's Poverty Reduction Strategy (2014-2019) on September 3, 2014. In it the Government reaffirmed its commitment to “reducing poverty among children and youth through targeted investments and supports”, and adds a new focus on ending homelessness while moving towards employment and income security, particularly for “vulnerable populations”.

Update: The government has included in the Budget Bill (C-43), provisions from Bill C-585 that may lead to refugee claimants being denied access to social assistance. The Budget Bill was introduced on Thursday October 23, 2014. It is making its way very quickly through the House of Commons.

May 2, 2014 - Ontario Budget 2014 tabled yesterday in the legislature by Finance Minister Charles Sousa contains a variety of proposed investments that can benefit immigrants and racialized families and individuals, groups that are over-represented among Ontario’s low-income population.

OCASI appeared before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration on April 30, 2014 to make submissions on Bill C24 - Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act .

The Bill was introduced by the federal government on February 6, 2014. The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration has said that Bill is meant to reduce citizenship fraud, increase efficiency of the system and reduce backlogs.

Ontario Minister of Immigration tabled Ontario’s first ever immigration legislation in the Legislative Assembly yesterday, February 19, 2014.

The following is OCASI’s preliminary comments on the federal budget, focused on areas that directly impact our sector (broadly defined):

OCASI has prepared a preliminary analysis of Bill C-24, the Citizenship amendment Act tabled in the House of Commons on Thursday February 6, 2014. We will develop a fuller analysis as we continue to review the Bill and prepare for public comment opportunities through the Parliamentary Standing Committee later in the year.

The government has already doubled the citizenship application fees from $200 to $400. The change is already in effect and will remain so regardless of what happens to Bill C-24.