StatsCan 2006 Report - One in Five Canadians Born Overseas

Highlights….

The 2006 Census enumerated 6,186,950 foreign-born people in Canada. They accounted for virtually one in five (19.8%) of the total population, the highest proportion in 75 years.

Between 2001 and 2006, Canada's foreign-born population increased by 13.6%. This was four times higher than the growth rate of 3.3% for the Canadian-born population during the same period.

Recent immigrants born in Asia (including the Middle East) made up the largest proportion (58.3%) of newcomers to Canada. This was virtually unchanged from 59.4% in 2001. In contrast, in 1971, only 12.1% of recent immigrants for this period were born in Asia.

Newcomers born in Europe made up the second largest group (16.1%) of recent immigrants. Europe used to be the main source region of immigrants. In 1971, they accounted for 61.6% of newcomers to Canada.

The Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver census metropolitan areas (CMAs) were home to 68.9% of the recent immigrants in 2006. In contrast, slightly more than one-quarter (27.1%) of Canada's total population lived in these three CMAs.

Within the Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver CMAs, newcomers tended to live in the central municipalities, but an increasing share of newcomers chose the surrounding municipalities.

In the Toronto CMA, 59.8% of its newcomers resided in the city of Toronto. Its surrounding municipalities, such as Mississauga, Brampton and Vaughan, had an increased share of newcomers; 28.8% of recent immigrants in 2006 lived in these surrounding municipalities, up from 21.4% in 2001.

The majority (85.1%) of the foreign-born who were eligible for Canadian citizenship in 2006 had become naturalized. The census enumerated 863,100 individuals, or 2.8% of the population, who reported a Canadian citizenship in addition to at least one other citizenship. Four out of every five of these individuals were foreign-born.

"The Invisible Border" - Canadian Retailers could see further losses to the U.S.

CALGARY, Nov. 29 /CNW/ - This Christmas season more Canadians than ever will be shopping in the U.S. - without leaving their homes. A new national research study, conducted by ZINC Research and its partner Dufferin Research, shows that the recent dollar parity has created a spike in online shopping across the nation, most notably in the west. "This is a significant and unsettling finding," says Brian F. Singh, Managing Director of ZINC Research. "U.S. shopping is no longer restricted to Canadians living near the border. With the current value of our dollar, Canadians are jumping on the on-line bandwagon to grab US deals, and our retailers are likely to take the hit."

Nearly half (48%) of the 1,200 respondents said they will do on-line shopping for Christmas, and a full 70% of those said they would or might buy in the U.S.. Of those, 45% said they would do more on-line shopping in the US than they did last year.

"With dollars increasing going south, Canadian retailers could likely be hurt during the Christmas shopping season," said Singh. "Not just will more people shop from home instead of the malls, but they are critical comparison shoppers and have no issues going beyond borders and shopping online."

Canadians Speak Out On Rudeness Ahead Of The Holiday Travel  Season

TORONTO, Dec. 4 /CNW/ - By now, most Canadians have already made their travel plans for the hectic holiday season. Flights are booked, cars are rented, and accommodations have been reserved. But no matter how organized the plans are, most Canadians have not prepared for the frustrations they may face getting to their holiday destination. According to Travelocity.ca's Air Travel Tolerance poll, 97.5 percent of Canadians say that they expect to sometimes or always experience travel delays, either at the gate, on the tarmac, or in the air  Naturally, when people are faced with unforeseen travel delays, tempers fray and emotions can erupt. The bad news, according to the poll findings, is that Canadian travellers in this heightened-security world are not getting any more patient when it comes to handling such situations. Thirty nine percent of respondents believe that their travelling cohorts are less polite than in years past.

"Travelling doesn't always bring out the best in people," Jennifer Gaines, Contributing Editor, Travelocity.ca, said. "Everyone has their own idea of what constitutes rude behaviour and not all Canadians will be thrilled by their fellow travellers. It's important to prepare for crowds and delays, and keep your cool if things go wrong."

Chatty neighbours and a less-than-cordial flight crew are the biggest annoyances for travellers, with 44 percent indicating that these factors would make for an unpleasant flight experience. It seems that Canadian travellers are more annoyed by behaviour than by environmental factors. Dirty or malfunctioning bathrooms (16 percent), poor air circulation (15 percent) and not getting a preferred seating assignment (12 percent) were all deemed less bothersome for travellers. Although many complain outwardly about the lack of food on flights nowadays, only five percent flagged this as the most annoying element when flying. When Travelocity.ca's poll dug a little deeper, Canadians divulged the specific air travel behaviours that they find to be rude:

- Kicking the back of the seat - 98 percent
- Loud talking or swearing - 97 percent
- Excessively loud music or movies - 91 percent
- Another passenger hogging the armrest - 86 percent
- Reclining the seat all the way back - 73 percent
- Taking off shoes - 19 percent

The polls showed that what is classified as rude or unacceptable behavior differs between some groups. For example, while 17 percent of passengers with children of their own were bothered by crying or uncontrolled children, 30 percent of those without little ones of their own found the behaviour to be "very rude".

Visible Minority Women Lack Of Critical Relationships Limits Advancement

TORONTO, Nov. 28 /CNW/ - Visible minorities in some of Canada's biggest organizations feel excluded from relationships that are critical for career advancement, according to the latest Catalyst study, "Career Advancement in Corporate Canada: A Focus on Visible Minorities ~ Critical Relationships."

"Our study confirms that corporate Canada is not maximizing the potential "brain gain" offered by skilled immigrants, most of whom are visible minorities," says Deborah Gillis, vice president, Canada, Catalyst. "We know that having a network, mentor and champion are critical for career
advancement. Unfortunately, visible minorities, especially women, feel excluded from the kind of relationships that help individuals - and ultimately the businesses they work for - succeed.

Key findings from the study include:
- Visible minorities, especially women, feel excluded from informal networking opportunities.
- A lack of multiple mentors who share gender, visible minority status and/or who are influential but demographically different, is a career advancement barrier for visible minorities.
- Visible minority women and men described mentoring relationships in different terms.
- As with other groups, visible minority men and women believe that having a champion is particularly important, yet visible minorities lack access to the critical relationships that are necessary to finding champions.
- Self-promotion is often necessary to get a champion on one's side, yet visible minorities, especially women, are uncomfortable with self-promotion.

The study points strongly to the importance of informal networking, which builds trust and information sharing. As this networking often revolves around social activities such as playing and/or watching sports, visible minority women feel particularly uncomfortable in this environment and it is more difficult for them to find mentors and/or champions.

UK equality watchdog joins HSMP Indians' cause
(*Highly Skilled Migrant Programme)
Excerpt from: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/
2 Dec 2007,
IST,Rashmee Roshan Lall,TNN

LONDON: Britain's lead equality watchdog has weighed in with criticism of the UK government's treatment of an estimated 30,000 Indians and 19,000 others who claim they were suddenly disenfranchised by hardline new rules for highly-skilled migrant workers. The trenchant criticism by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), a non-departmental public body established under Britain's Equality Act 2006, comes as the Indians wait for the second hearing of their high court appeal to reverse the new immigration rules.

The initial hearing was held on November 30 and the second is expected within two months.

If the HSMP visa-holders lose their judicial challenge, they face deportation.

The EHRC, which assumed the functions of the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) on October 1, stressed that the Home Office had already admitted its failure to comply with regulations requiring an assessment of any new policy's impact on different racial groups before implementing it.

In a letter to Amit Kapadia, director of the non-profit campaign group HSMP Forum, the EHRC quoted the Home Office to say it had accepted significant omissions in the Race Equality Impact Assessment (REIA). The EHRC further said that it did not accept as legitimate the reasons given by the Home Office for failing to publish the REIA prior to changing the rules governing mainly Indian workers on the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP).

The EHRC's criticism comes after its predecessor, the CRE, rapped the Home Office on the knuckles for failing to assess its new immigration policies for racial fairness. The CRE's criticism forced the government to admit that the HSMP rule changes would help nationals of the European Economic Area in their search for jobs.

Sources said that the government's admission clearly implied that Britain's December 5, 2006 change to HSMP rules were meant to reduce the numbers of non-Europeans on the job-seekers' list.

The equality watchdog's championing of the HSMP cause is seen to be a feather in their cap after a marginally indifferent response from the British Asian MPs and peers they lobbied.

The affected Indians say they have high hopes of Goan-origin Labour MP Keith Vaz, who currently chairs the parliamentary Home Affairs Select Committee, which has the power to summon the Home Secretary and investigate the allegedly discriminatory changes to immigration rules.

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