1. CIC Policy Context
Presentation by Deborah Tunis
Director General
Integration

2. Presentation Outline
 Current Context for Immigration
 Overview of Canada’s Immigration Program
o Selection
o Citizenship & Multiculturalism
o Settlement & Integration
 Canada-Ontario: Settlement and Integration
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3. Current Context for Immigration
 “Economic Action Plan 2012 announces the Government’s intention to build a fast and
flexible economic immigration system whose primary focus is on meeting Canada’s
labour market needs”
 The Prime Minister Harper’s speech at the January 2012 World Economic Forum and
Budget 2012 make clear that immigration is a key priority for the Government of Canada:
“We will... undertake significant reform of our immigration system [and] make our
economic and labour force needs the central goal of our immigration efforts in the
future.”
Given these directions, changes are being introduced to enhance CIC application
management and program design:
 Comprehensive policy and program changes (selection, citizenship and
multiculturalism, settlement and integration)
 Operational changes (modernization agenda, national call for proposals)
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4. Moving Forward: Selection
 Enhancing Our Application Management System:
o Expression of Interest System (CIC and MCI are co-chairing the FPT work to develop
policy options for the design and implementation of an EOI model)
 Enhancing Our Application Management System:
o FSW points grid: Increase the labour market readiness of FSW applicants by
modernizing the selection grid to focus on the highest quality human capital
o Federal Skilled Trades Program: A new class to be created using criteria more
appropriate for skilled trades
o Modifying the Canadian Experience Class (CEC):
• By reducing the work experience requirement in the CEC, eligible temporary
workers with in-demand skills will more quickly become permanent residents
o Educational Credential Assessment: Applicants will have their foreign educational
credentials assessed and verified by an independent third party organization as part of
the FSW application review process:
• Helps applicants understand how their credentials compare to Canadian
credentials and how employers are likely to value their education
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5. Moving Forward: Selection (contd)
 Other Economic Program Innovations:
o Strengthening the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP);
o Better align the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) with labour market
demand and ensure that businesses look to the domestic labour force before accessing the
TFWP;
o Enhancing Entrepreneurship: Developing a “start-up” visa which would link
immigrant entrepreneurs with private sector organizations with experience and expertise in
working with start-ups;
o Minimal language level for PNP’s.
 Reforming Canada’s International Student Program:
o International students contribute nearly $8.0 billion in annual expenditure to the Canadian
economy through tuition fees and other expenses and represent qualified pool of potential
immigrants
o Attracting quality students to Canada a priority for federal and PT
governments, educational institutions and businesses
o Developing agreement between CIC and provinces/territories on common elements for
designation of educational institutions under the International Student Program
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6. Moving Forward: Respecting our Humanitarian and Family Reunification Objectives
Family reunification is a core value of the immigration program
 Under the Action Plan for Faster Family Reunification, announced in November 2011, the
Government:
 Has paused intake of new Parent and Grandparent applications for two years to address current
backlogs and wait times for processing
 Steps have also been taken to deter use of marriages of convenience
o Implemented regulatory amendment to bar a person who has been sponsored as a
spouse or partner, from sponsoring a new spouse or partner for a five-year period.
o Proposed conditional permanent resident measure
A leader in the resettlement of refugees
 We welcome one out of every 10 of all resettled refugees globally
 By 2013, Canada will resettle up to 14,500 refugees annually – a 20% increase over 2010
Reforming the asylum system
Royal Assent on June 28, 2012, of Bill C-31, Protecting Canada’s Immigration System Act:
• Further reforms to the asylum system;
• Faster protection to those who need it by reducing the timelines for hearing a refugee claim and
faster removal of those who do not require protection; and,
• Limited access to appeal mechanisms for failed refugee claimants who come from generally non
• refugee producing countries.
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7. Moving Forward: Citizenship/Multiculturalism
Strengthening the integrity of Canadian citizenship
• Placing an increased focus on common values and
the rights and responsibilities of all Canadians, in
Discover Canada, the study guide for the enhanced
citizenship knowledge test
• Taking action to revoke the citizenship of those who
acquired it fraudulently
• Applicants for citizenship are required to enclose a
proof that they meet the minimum language
requirement.
Building an integrated, socially cohesive society
• Multiculturalism policy addresses increasing
diversity by endeavouring to remove barriers to full
participation in Canadian society and economy
• Strategic Outcome 3: Foster an Integrated Society
• Examining balance of programming along
immigration continuum and both sides of the two-
way street.
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8. Settlement and Integration: Current Context
 Diversity of New Immigrants:
o Immigrants now account for almost 20% of our population, are increasingly visible minorities
and the majority being admitted as economic immigrants. They are also arriving from across
the globe with the top 5 source countries being China, India, the Philippines, Pakistan and the
United States now accounting for nearly 40% of all immigrants admitted since 2001
 Federal commitment to settlement and nation building
o An integrated society with a strengthened commitment to citizenship
o To support our newcomers, federal settlement funding has more than tripled between 2005-06
and 2012-13: from less than $200 million to almost $600 million outside of Quebec, and from
$177.3 million to at least $283.1 million in Quebec.
o Commitment to comparable outcomes and access to settlement services across the country.
 Partnerships are important
o Strengthened collaboration with other stakeholders including PTs, SPOs and employers is key
to our ability to meet the needs of new immigrants and to provide integrated client-centered
services.
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9. Supporting Immigrants’ Success
 Through settlement service providers, including colleges, CIC continues to
provide language training, information and orientation services, labour market
support, and fosters community connections in provinces/territories outside
Quebec.
 To ensure that settlement programming continues to meet the diverse needs of all
newcomers CIC is:
o Reviewing settlement programming
o Developing closer ties between immigration and integration programs with
an emphasis on integration success factors for principal applicants in
economic programs
o Renewing the Terms and Conditions to better align with current
programming (to come into effect April 1, 2013)
o Conducting evaluations on an ongoing basis to ensure that settlement
program policy remains evidence-based.
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10. Settlement and Integration: A National Approach
 CIC resuming management of federally funded settlement services in Manitoba
by April 2013 and in British Columbia by April 2014;
 Introduction of National Call for Proposals in 2012;
 Pan-Canadian Framework for Settlement Outcomes
o FPT collaboration to develop a roadmap for improved outcomes across jurisdictions.
o A national outcomes survey is currently being administered to 20,000 newcomers
across Canada. The survey will demonstrate how newcomers are faring across the
country and identify areas that have the greatest impact on overall settlement.
 Pan-Canadian Framework for the Assessment and Recognition of Foreign
Qualifications
o Regulatory bodies and stakeholders are meeting the Framework’s commitment to
timely service in the first eight target occupations; the remaining six target
occupations will have similar processes in place by end of 2012.
o The next set of target occupations is currently being identified.
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11. Settlement and Integration: Building Partnerships
 International Partnerships:
o Overseas delivery (COA, CIIP, AEIP)
o Foreign credential recognition including educational credential assessment (ECA)
 CIC collaborates with FPTs through the FPT Settlement Working Group:
o Multilateral development of a new partnership model.
 Communities and Municipalities are engaged through:
o Local Immigration Partnerships
o Official Language Minority Communities
 Engaging Settlement Sector:
o Settlement and Integration Joint Policy and Program Committee (SIJPPC)- Forum for
national dialogue with settlement sector, new National Language Training
Council, FCM and PTs.
o Umbrella Organization Conferences;
o National Settlement Conference (fall 2013)
 CIC co-chairs interdepartmental Director General Forum on Immigrant Integration to
encourage horizontal perspective across federal government on immigrant integration
 Employer Engagement
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12. Settlement and Integration: Better Accountability
 CIC has developed and implemented a number of tools and measures to
improve accountability, including:
o Settlement Program Profile – Historical data on the usage of settlement services
o ELT client Survey
o Settlement Program client survey pilot
o Development of iCARE modules
o Annual Project Performance Report (APPR) – Projects level results
o Template of the LIPs Annual Report
o Portfolio-Based Language Assessment (PBLA)
o The CLB Milestone Test
o Official Language Minority Communities Performance Measurement Framework
o FPT Settlement Outcomes Survey (BC Stats)
Next steps
o Development of an internal and external reporting strategy for the Program
o Revision of the performance measurement Strategy
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13. CIC-Ontario: Settlement and Integration
Joint Projects: CIC and MCI continue to work together on
 Bridge Training, which helps skilled immigrants enter the Canadian labour market and
find employment that matches their education and skills
 Orientation to Ontario (O2O): an orientation program designed to ease the settlement transition
of newcomers by providing them with access to standardized information about settling in
Ontario and connecting them to settlement and other community services shortly after arrival.
 Local Immigration Partnerships (LIPS) are a successful mechanism to engage a range of local
stakeholders:
o LIPs are consolidated in Ontario and new partnerships are being created in communities
across Canada.
o A national performance measurement framework for the initiative has been recently
developed to standardize data collection and measure the aggregate impact of LIPs on
settlement and newcomers outcomes.
 The Municipal Immigration Committee (MIC) provides a tripartite forum for federal and
provincial governments and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario members to enhance
coordination and integration of policies, programs and initiatives related to immigration
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14. CIC-Ontario: Settlement and Integration
Joint Projects cont.
 Coordinated Language Assessment and Referral System (CLARS), which offers “one-
stop” language assessment:
o currently being piloted in several communities, and pilot results (expected in
spring 2013) will be considered before moving ahead with province-wide
implementation
 Portfolio-Based Language Assessment (PBLA)- CIC and MCI conducted a joint pilot of
the protocol in Ottawa. Results were very positive and teachers from both programs
continue to work collaboratively to perfect the approach.
 CIC has since expanded the pilot to other provinces, and hopes to make PBLA a standard
feature of LINC programs in Ontario over the next 2-3 years
 Next step: Adapt the PBLA teacher training and student resources for use in French
language training programs
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15. CIC- Ontario: Settlement and Immigration
Joint Projects cont.
 As part of the Federal Skilled Worker Program requirement for an Education
Credential Assessment, CIC is seeking to work collaboratively with MCI and
regulatory bodies to better align provincial licensing policies and protocols with
federal immigrant selection process.
 CIC will seek to work with MCI to continue to work jointly on the
implementation of the Pan-Canadian Framework for Assessment and
Recognition of Foreign Qualifications for priority occupations, including trades.
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16. CIC-Ontario: Settlement and Immigration
Settlement Partnership
 The Forum of Ministers Responsible for Immigration identified the need
for a shared vision for the future of Canada’s immigration system.
 The FPT Vision Action Plan (VAP), a framework and action plan for
intergovernmental collaboration for achieving this vision has been
developed
 As part of the FPT Vision Action Plan, all jurisdictions have agreed to
work collaboratively on developing a multilateral framework for a
partnership model on settlement.
 The multilateral framework can inform a future bilateral partnership on
settlement between CIC and Ontario.

17. Thank You
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