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Canada's Immigration Minister Elinor Caplan plans to increase annual immigration to 300,000 despite failing to reach the target of 200,000 immigrants and 25,000 refugees for the past two years. She said that it is essential that the number of immigrants be increased because of Canada's low birth rate and aging work force.

During the past few years, Caplan said that Canada has put a greater emphasis on enforcement than on promoting immigration. Caplan said Canada must advertise its benefits, or face losing out to other countries who are aggressively seeking newcomers. In November 1999, Caplan proposed legislation that would require immigrants to be physically present in Canada for three years of a six-year period before they can qualify for citizenship.

There is currently a three-year wait to immigrate to Canada, with about 370,000 applications waiting to be processed.

The Immigration and Refugee Board handled 30,000 asylum claims in 1998, a 20 percent increase over 1997; the backlog of applications stands at 21,926—the average processing time is 12 months. The IRB continues to be criticized for inconsistent decisions--in 1997/98, for example, the IRB's Montreal office approved 75 percent of asylum applications from Bangladeshis, compared to 25 percent by the Toronto office.

A Time magazine profile of the 8,000 residents of the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation estimated that one-eighth of the residents of this reservation, which straddles the Canada-US border, are involved in migrant smuggling—by one estimate, 20,000 migrants a year are smuggled into the US via the reservation. In 1999, 35 people, including a tribal chief, were indicted for their part in an international ring that smuggled Chinese into the U.S.

According to Jack Jedweb, author of a new book, "Ethnic Identification and Heritage Languages in Canada," if trends found in the 1996 census continue, the Chinese family of languages may replace French as the second most widely used in homes after English by 2001. This rapid growth of Chinese speakers is attributed to the continuing influx of immigrants since 1980s from Asia, particularly from Hong Kong and the People's Republic of China.

On November 3, Quebec announced that it would increase the number of Francophone immigrants in order to reinforce its French identity. Over 80 percent of Quebec's immigrants in 2002 will be French speakers, including workers from France and North and Western Africa. The number of Francophone immigrants will rise from the current level of 12,600 to 17,000 in 2002.

In the city of Richmond, 40 percent of the population are ethnic Chinese, yet only 16 percent are registered voters. The Civic Education Society has been trying to increase Chinese participation in elections. Vancouver has 15 Chinese candidates standing for election and Richmond has the next largest number at six. An ethnic Chinese candidate remarked that the small number of Chinese Canadians registered to vote makes it a challenge for the candidates.


Edward Barnes, "The easiest illegal route to America may be through a tiny Indian reserve," Time, November 22, 1999. Brian Laghi, "Ottawa must be 'faster, better, smarter' at admitting immigrants, Caplan says," Globe and Mail, November 19, 1999. "Migrants end hunger strike," CP, November 17, 1999. Marina Jimenez, "Jailed foreigners get right to day parole," National Post, November 18, 1999. Marina Jimenez, "Immigration and Refugee Board cuts decision time, backlog," National Post, November 16, 1999.