Metropolis
Presents
Expert Panel on the Economic Performance of Immigrants
December 1, 2003 - 9:00am* - 12:00pm
Centre Block, House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
Sponsors: Metropolis Project, European Commission and
the Library of Parliament
In December 2000, Canada and the European Union
signed an accord on cooperation on justice and home
affairs. One aspect of this accord was a commitment
to share best practices and research on migration and
the social and economic integration of migrants through
the Metropolis Project in which both Canada and the
European Commission are active partners. The European
Commission Expert Panel on Economic Performance of Immigrants
is being organized to follow through on this commitment.
Canada's immigration program has always had some of
its roots in fostering economic prosperity, in meeting
the needs of the Canadian labour market, in grounding
our future capacity for innovation and growth. A fundamental
economic rationale motivated the development of Canada's
sophisticated system for selecting those immigrants
with the best potential for economic success in our
country. Furthermore, some now argue that economic migration
will assume an ever-greater importance because of Canada's
aging population and related concerns about a shrinking
labour force. These supplement the traditional interests
in increasing the size of our economy and recent desires
in many provinces to fill specific skills shortages
and to assist economic development through immigration.
However, recent research undertaken by Citizenship
and Immigration Canada and Statistics Canada may call
this basic approach into question because it suggests
that the link between immigration and economic prosperity
is less than strong. Data from the 2001 Census shows
that the earnings of immigrants have declined, their
poverty rates have increased, and the time required
for their economic position to reach the Canadian average
is increasing. These facts indicate serious problems
not only for the immigrants and their families but suggest
that their ability to contribute to Canada's economic
well being is diminishing. In other words, the economic
presuppositions underlying much of Canada's immigration
policy are being challenged.
The importance of the challenges indicates that it
is imperative that we have a sound understanding of
these economic trends, of their implications for our
immigration policy, and of their impact on both the
lives of the immigrants and on Canada's economy. At
the very least, we will need to conceive solutions to
these earning deficits and, possibly, to re-conceive
the basis of the economic aspect of Canada's immigration
program.
The Delegation of the European Commission in Canada,
the Metropolis Project and the Library of Parliament
are pleased to invite you to listen to a distinguished
panel of experts who will bring their research and experience
to guide us through these issues and help us to deal
with the challenges we face.
The Panel:
- Howard Duncan, Executive Head, Metropolis
(Chair)
- Representative from the Delegation of the
European Commission in Canada
- Joe Fontana, MP, Chair of Standing Committee
on Citizenship & Immigration
- Cynthia Williams, Assistant Deputy Minister,
Human Resources Development Canada (Invited)
- Christoph M. Schmidt, President of the Rhine-Westphalia
Institute for Economic Research
- Oded Stark, University of Bonn, Center for
Development Research
- Don DeVoretz, Simon Fraser University
As seating is limited, please register via e-mail (libres@parl.gc.ca)
or by phone at (613) 996-3942.
* All participants will need to go
through a security check at the House of Commons. Please
leave yourself sufficient time for this.
