The Immigration Question: A reporter’s quest to make sense of shifting immigration policy

I was in a dusty village in Kutch, a desert-region in Northwest India, visiting the childhood home of my paternal grandfather when I realized how much things can change in a few generations. He grew up sharing a two-room house, not much larger than my family’s living room in Vancouver, with 14 siblings and their parents. He’d left Kutch on a ship sailing for Tanzania when he was about 14 years old, following in the footsteps of his elder brother, in search of a better life.

Eventually, after a path that took my ancestors through India, Tanzania and various places in the West, I was born in Vancouver – worlds apart from the farming villages where my grandparents and great-grandparents grew up.

 It’s a story that’s probably not that different from a lot of other Canadians, but I’ve always been fascinated by it and the implications that immigration has for economic development more broadly, how such movement shapes families and entire countries. 

That was why I chose to spend a year investigating the long-term impact of immigration policy on Canada’s economy and society as a Michelle Lang Fellow for the Calgary Herald and Postmedia News. Immigration policies and regulations have changed more often in the period since 2008 than at any other time in Canadian history. Pretty much everyone coming to Canada has been affected. Canadian businesses have felt these changes acutely too. A case in point are Banff and Lake Louise.  I wrote an article this week about how hotels and restaurants there are facing a labour shortage, and have been affected by the loosening and tightening of restrictions on the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.  

 Now, I’m trying to step back and understand the implications of some key changes to immigration policy, as well as how successfully Canada is integrating the hundreds of thousands of immigrants coming here each year. And I’d love to hear from you. 

For more information about Canadian Immigration programs, please visit the company’s site at http://www.immigrationexperts.pk
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Immigration Experts
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E-mail: wecare@immigrationexperts.pk