ImmigrantChildren.ca Archive

Category: Family reunification

  • Council of Europe: "Refugees must be able to reunite with their family members"

    The Council of Europe (COE) has issued a statement on refugees and their right to family reunification. Citing the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, the COE says:

    “the respect of the right to family unity requires not only that States refrain from action which would split families, but also to take measures to reunite separated family members when they are unable to enjoy the right to family unity somewhere else”.

    Canada is a party to the Convention and to the Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees.

  • Alberta expands family sponsorship program

    The Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program has amended its policies to allow “eligible Albertans” to sponsor family members, even those without a job awaiting them. Alberta Employment and Immigration Minister, The Honourable Hector Goudreau, in a news release entitled “Invite your uncle to pack his arc welder for a new life in Alberta“, says that adding to the family stream will support employment, “while creating more diverse and welcoming communities for all our families“.

  • Toronto film event: Family Motel

    Toronto’s Royal Cinema will be running the acclaimed NFB docu-film Family Motel from June 22-24. Many outstanding reviews, including this excerpt from the Montreal Gazette:

    “A hard-working Somalian immigrant and her teenage girls fall victim to high rents and payments to other family members back home and slip through the Ottawa social safety net into homelessness. This gripping NFB-Instinct Films co-production resurrects the powerful fiction/documentary tradition of alternative drama and introduces the amazing non-actor family of Nargis Jibril and daughters Asha and Sagal.“

    John Griffin, Montreal Gazette

  • Recent research/reports on immigration

    “Policy Options“, the publication of the Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP) has several stories on immigration and immigration policy in their June 2008 issue. We are pleased that 2 of the reports touch on issues related to immigrant children and families, although slightly disappointed in an article by Robin Sears.
    Sears writes on the history of immigration policy in “Canada: If you build it, people will come” and notes that Canada received thousands of “guest children” during WWII in order to provide them with “safe haven”, but neglects to report on the shameful accounts of the 100,000 “home children” who were brought to Canada to serve the nation’s workforce needs. 
    Nik Nanos provides analysis on a recent poll in “Nation building through immigration: Workforce skills come out on top” and reports that “four Canadians in five thought family reunification  was important or somewhat important”.

  • Canadian Public Health Association conference: Sessions on immigrant children and families

    The Canadian Public Health Association is holding its annual conference this year in Halifax, Nova Scotia from June 1-4. Sessions on or related to immigrant children and families include:

    Immigrant and Migrant Health – I

    Development of a framework to examine the determinants of health among Canadian immigrants, with Marie DesMeules
    Studying intra-metropolitan health disparities in Canada: how and why globalization matters, with Ted Schrecker
    Migration, Health and equity issues for Canada in the context of global migration, with Janet Hatcher Roberts
    Using administrative data to analyze the health experience of African Nova Scotians, with Mikiko Terashima

    Focus on Children’s Health

    Children immigrants’ risk of physical inactivity according to family origin and length of residency, with Mathieu Bélanger

    Immigrant and Migrant Health – II

    Meanings of health, illness and help-seeking strategies among punjabi-speaking immigrants, with Beatrice McDonough
    Migration and perinatal health surveillance: An international DELPHI survey, with Anita Gagnon
    Migration to industrialized countries and perinatal health: A systematic review, with Anita Gagnon
    Childbearing migrant women and equal access to research participation, with Amy Low
    For more information, see the PDF program.

  • Gender, families and Latino immigration in Oregon, USA

    Latino children make up about 15 % of the population under age 18 in the US state of Oregon. Latino births account for 20 % of the total births in Oregon.

    A conference sponsored by the University of Oregon, on Gender, Families and Latino Immigration in Oregon will be held this upcoming week, May 22-23/08 in Eugene, Oregon. The conference is free and open to the public.
    The conference features panels on a range of topics of interest to the Early Childhood Working Group, including: education, changes in family dynamics, immigrant indigenous women’s organizing. It also will include a community forum on Myths and Facts about Immigration: Gender, Youth, and Family Perspectives, a plenary session on Building Alliances for Immigrant Rights, and a closing keynote panel on Lessons on Gender and Families Issues among Latino Immigrant Populations in California and Oregon.

  • On new shores: Int'l forum on issues of immigrant and refugee children, youth and families

    The 2008 On New Shores: International Forum on Issues of Immigrant and Refugee Children, Youth and Families conference program is available. This is a tentative program, but we are thrilled to see so many sessions devoted to young immigrant children and their parents/families.
    The conference will be held Nov 6-7/08 in Guelph, Ontario and is sponsored by Dr. Susan Chuang, Family Relations and Applied Nutrition, University of Guelph. 
    Some of the events, sessions and workshops with Canadian content include:

    Thurs. Nov 6th, Session 2:

    Z Sonia Worotynec, Canadian Coalition for Immigrant Children and Youth, Valerie Rhomberg, Canadian Mothercraft Society and Ken Setterington, Toronto Public Library on The Children’s Picture Book as Immigrant Literature. 

    Poster sessions:

    Alka Burman, Early Literacy Consultant, Peel Region: Providing an Anti-Bias Environment.

    Fri. Nov 7th Keynote:

    Janice MacAuley, Canadian Association of Family Resource Programs, Dr. Susan Chuang, FRAN, University of Guelph, Christopher Friesen, Canadian Immigration Settlement Sector Alliance: The Canadian Way: Welcoming Immigrant and Refugee Families. 

    Fri. Nov 7th Session 4:

    Judith Bernhard, Ryerson University: Por necesidad: Challenges of Multi-Local Parenting.
    Mehru Ali, Ryerson University: Loss of Self-Effacacy among Immigrant Parents. 
    Roma Chumak-Horbatsch, Ryerson University and mylanguage.ca and Z Sonia Worotynec, Canadian Coalition for Immigrant Children and Youth: Immigrant Children in Toronto Child Care Centres: A Language Profile.
    Visit Dr. Chuang’s webpage at the University of Guelph for more information.

  • CIC on proposed changes to IRPA

    The Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration has published a new section on their website with more information on the proposed changes to the immigration policy and legislation, introduced in the budget bill – Bill C-50. 
    A section with questions is also new, and offered in the categories of: Description and rationale for changes; How the system will work; Impact of the changes; Minister’s authority; and offers a space for folks to post their questions. Let’s all surf on over before the links change/disappear (again).

  • CCRs 10 areas of concern about proposed changes to the IRPA

    The Canadian Council for Refugees has developed a useful fact sheet that outlines “Ten reasons to be concerned about proposed amendments to Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) in Bill C-50″.
    Excerpts from the fact sheet:
    1. Arbitrary power. The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration can introduce “instructions” without Parliamentary oversight..Having the rules for who gets in made and changed by ministerial fiat … lacks transparency and makes the immigration selection process vulnerable to inappropriate political pressures.
    2. Applicants’ legal rights eliminated. The proposed amendment in IRPA s. 11 from ‘the visa shall be issued’ to ‘the visa may be issued’ (means) the applicant will no longer have the same legal basis to demand that the processing be finalized in a timely manner.
    3. Overseas humanitarian and compassionate applications. The amendments eliminate the right to have an overseas application for humanitarian and compassionate consideration examined. This includes … family reunification.
    4. Intentions are not law. The government has made a number of statements about how they intend or don’t intend to use the new powers… Expressions of current intention are no protection against future uses of the powers.
    5. The amendments do not belong in the budget bill. IRPA amendments should (be) dealt with through separate legislation, studied by the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration and debated.
    6. Lack of explanatory information. The government has failed to provide adequate information.
    7. Failure to produce draft instructions. … draft instructions have not been made public.
    8. Lack of consultation. The proposed amendments were introduced without the normal prior consultation with stakeholders.
    9. There are other ways of addressing the backlog. … the proposed amendments will not … resolve the existing backlog, since they only affect applications made after 27 February 2008.
    10. The immigration program needs to value immigrants. Canada needs to consider immigrants as full participants in society, not simply as disposable units to fill currently available jobs.

  • Canada in violation of UN Rights of the Child

    The Canadian Council on Refugees (CCR) has denounced the Canadian government and accused it of being in violation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. From the CCRs April 7th press release:

    “The Canadian Council for Refugees today denounced the blind application of an inflexible immigration rule that is keeping children separated from their parents. Regulation 117(9)(d) excludes family members, barring them from sponsorship, if they were not examined by an immigration officer when the sponsor immigrated to Canada.
    ‘Children deserve to be with their parents – all Canadians can agree on this. Yet children affected by the excluded family member rule are spending years without an immigration officer even considering their interests,’ said Elizabeth McWeeny, CCR President. ‘This is not only inhumane, it is a clear violation of Canada’s international human rights obligations, including under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.’”

    See more about the CCRs campaign on family reunification, including the April 7/08 press release at the CCR website.