Balancing the Different Streams — Canada Policy Thoughts
Canada’s International students, refugees, responsibilities & IHRL
Brief commentary on how to balance the potentially competing goals and priorities of the different streams (humanitarian, family, etc.).
Considering the competing goals and priorities, as already expanded on in the previous post, there are many things to consider.
Humanitarian Stream
With the humanitarian stream, there is a moral responsibility to help migrants but that does not translate into a duty to accept them all into your country. A country can instead work with a third country to offer the migrants support.
Family Stream
With the family stream, family unification can quite literally help the migrants to settle more safely, in an orderly manner, without as many social /psychological and integrational issues. This ultimately reduces the burden on the state in some aspects for the full well-being of the migrants.
Employment Stream
In the employment stream, most countries gain from low and high-skilled workers. There are benefits associated with open borders from huge welfare gains for the migrants, with a small reduction in real wages in developed countries.
More so, low-skilled migrants can be an advantage in countries that are lacking the labour such as in the Gulf states. Or high skilled migrants are an advantage to countries too as the talent can help differentiate the host country — this has mainly been to attract the best and brightest to contribute to the knowledge-based economies.
How can Canada balance these competing goals and priorities?
Knowledge-Based Economies
On one hand, if Canada wants to become one of the leading knowledge-based economies that influences rather than being “buffeted in the tides of the world”. then Canada needs to consider how the highly skilled migrants come with their families and grant rights to not just the applicant but their family for better integration into the society, to incentivize them to stay.
Moreover, to incentivize migrants to move to rural communities in Canada, especially where the population is so sparsely located, whole-family integration could be specifically advantageous and beneficial.
International Human Rights
While Canada must adhere to the international human rights that it is a signatory to — the protection of the family is a fundamental human right.
To reiterate, it helps family units settle and integrate faster in host communities and hence, be able to participate in the socio-economic and political & cultural spheres much faster and possibly more seamlessly.
In this way, employment and family streams can support each other if looked at through the right lens. They should not be seen as distinct goals and priorities.
Moral Duties
While considering a humanitarian stream, Canada does have a duty to admit migrants for causal and morally responsible reasons as previously mentioned. They will be morally responsible when they violate the duty to admit, especially if done so unnecessarily and without reason.
If a person is a refugee, they cross borders to seek asylum for humanitarian purposes as they lack reasonable alternatives and fear for their lives. The priority for refugees is that they have the potential or are already skilled migrants, which means they can contribute to the economy.
But two, this works to safeguard Canada’s moral and causal responsibility to other people globally. That way Canada will be known and perceived as a moral leader globally. This is what Canada is known for — being nicer than the US, human rights-focused, pro-immigrant, safe, and peaceful.
The International Student Problem
It’s worked so well that too many people wanted to move to Canada and get their “quick” permanent residence (just study and work for a year Express Entryway!..for some) and most likely better-paying and “secured” jobs. So much so, that many have been abusing/scamming the immigration system, and now they’re capping numbers for study permits.
That in itself is creating an even bigger problem. The international student problem continues! In the past 5 years, Canada has witnessed a 650% increase in asylum claims from international students.
Crazy. But not surprising.
What if your work permit ends before you have received the permanent resident permit?
Imagine your family depends on you… at 24, your whole household now depends on your payroll from Canada. You’re quite literally paying for your sibling's education back at home, life-saving medication, and a car even.
What would you do if you were them?
This is the case for so many. A humanitarian, ethical, and legal response is better than a political one to close borders.
Democracy
Moreover, if Canada sees itself as a democratic country and subscribes to this ideal, then it must uphold it — one cannot simply limit people from entering a liberal-human rights-oriented society.
Ackerman considers the role of social justice in the liberal state, migrants have a prima facie right to demand entry into a liberal state and Canada has no right to simply deny it ‘just because’.
Restricting immigration would limit the progressiveness of the ongoing process of liberal conversation which will be the opposite of what Canada wants to accomplish and uphold in values.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Kieran Oberman, “Border Rescue,”, 2019, pg 80,
IOM family reunification
Bernadette Hanlon and Thomas J. Vicino, Global Migration, 2014, pg 81,
Noora Lori, “Temporary Workers or Permanent Migrants? The Kafala System and Contestations over Residency in the Arab Gulf States,” pg 13
Ayelet Shachar, “The Race for Talent: Highly Skilled Migrants and Competitive, 2006, pg 152
Doug Saunders, “What Would a Canada of 100 Million Feel Like? More Comfortable, Better Served, Better Defended,”, 2012
Bruce Ackerman, Social Justice in the Liberal State, 1980, pg 95
