Immigrants & Refugees in Canada

Immigrants and refugees come to Canada do experience a free land, and as they are normally excited to be free from a land of violence or other circumstances, immigrants are landed in poverty. Coming to Canada is supposed to be a feeling of being free or safe, not in worry of being in poverty.

When immigrants come to Canada, the federal government is making the lifestyle of being a Canadian feel unsafe for families. While they do give money towards paying for housing, and help provide homes for immigrants they amount of money is a lot less than the average income a household accumulates. Which in Canada the average rate for a house hold families with two children, with no income earner is 31,500 dollars. If the family has one earner the average salary is 60,900 dollars and if they have two earners the average is 85,600 dollars. In 2003 a working immigrant would make on average 28,856 dollars assuming that all immigrants get jobs as soon as they get here. Immigrants have to pay the federal government a permanent residence fee, which is 490 dollars. Refugees they have a transportation loan, which can amount to thousands of dollars.

Marty Dolin says that “immigrants already spend 60 to 70 per cent of their income on housing costs and Canada is the only country that has transportation loans.” He also states that “the policy of the government of Canada ensures that refugees will in the poverty for their first year.” A federal immigrant spokeswoman said currently refugees owe 33.0 million dollars in transportation fees. And these refugees don’t even know what their paying for, and also that they weren’t aware that they had too. Some even say that if they would have known about the costs of coming here would be, that they would have stayed where they were. In violence and crime. Families coming to Canada are being in my eyes, “set-up” to become poor. And although it may only be the first year of them living here, the stress and outcome of being poor can have a negative effect in the long run. It’s also shown in studies that families that are grown up in poverty, usually stay in poverty for the rest of their lives.

Not only is this Canada’s problem, but Sid Frankel who released the council’s report said that in Manitoba 31.9 immigrants live in poverty. In Winnipeg the number actually increases, to 40 percent of children are living in poverty with their families. Frankel said that Manitoba attracts 11,000 immigrants per year, and in 2016 its expected to be 20,000. So while were expecting the immigration of people to come into Manitoba to increase by 9,000 people in the next 4 years we as a province acknowledge the fact that they are in poverty, but aren’t doing much to change it. Manitoba should be the province to change immigrants and refugees in poverty and to stand up for the people coming into our province.

Immigrants and refugees shouldn’t feel like they don’t want to come to Canada because of the fees they will be faced with. Families should not be put into homes that not every can fit, and they should not be unhealthy in the situations that their being put into. Canada needs to put more thought into what and who they are dealing with. Immigrants and refugees should feel relief, which I’m sure they do at first, but faced with poverty puts an amount of stress that people could not believe. Especially in a foreign country where English isn’t their first language. There should more jobs available for people coming into our country, programs that are offered to them, homes that are the right fit, and less of a stress factor for money.

Jordyn

References:
Article from the Winnipeg Free Press, Oct.22nd 2009 http://proquest.umi.com.proxy2.lib.umanitoba.ca/pqdlink?index=31&did=1883855141&SrchMode=3&sid=1&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1322027341&clientId=12305#indexing

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/research/income/section6.asp