Canada First Immigration Reform Committee

Your article “Canada’s jobless rate  rose in February, reaching its highest level in three years” (The Globe and Mail March 12, 2016) calls into question the self-congratulatory tone of the announcement last week that Canada is upping this year’s immigration to 305,000.

You reported: “The country missed expectations for employment gains and lost 2,300 jobs with a steep decline in full-time positions. The unemployment rate edged up … to 7.3 per cent in February … Across the country full-time employment fell by 52,000, while part-time jobs rose by 49,500. … The unemployment rate in [Alberta] jumped to 7.9 per cent.”

Just what is this flood of newcomers, even if they have language and work skills —  and many in the family re-unification class do not – going to do?

Two possibilities: an immigrant gets a job or does not get a job. If he gets a job,  good for him but bad for a Canadian who remains unemployed. Canada loses. If he doesn’t get a job, that’s bad for him and bad for Canada as, being a compassionate society, he has to be housed and supported. Canada loses again.

In times of high unemployment, Canada needs a moratorium on immigration, not an increase. It’s time for some compassion for our own unemployed and for recent graduates struggling to find a job for which they’ve studied and trained.

Paul Fromm
Director