TORONTO: Federal Immigration Minister Sergio Marchi plans to propose that Canadian sponsors of family class immigrants post bonds of up to $10,000 before their relatives are allowed into Canada, according to published reports, The Canadian Press, a wire service, has quoted Marchi as saying, ‘We made a commitment that it (the bond) would be in place by ’96, Marchi recently introduced a processing fee of $500 for each adult applicant. This amount is nonrefundable whether the applicant gets the visa or not. This was followed by the imposition of a landing fee of $975 on each new adult immigrant.
Critics of the proposal contend that it will severely curtail family class immigration to Canada, Rey Pagtakhan, Winnipeg Liberal member of Parliament, said he told Marchi that “the combination (processing, landing fees and the bond) will constitute an undue burden,” it was reported.
Don Devore of Simon Fraser University, who chaired a federal advisory committee on bonds Iron Sponsors tor family class immigrants, said the landing fee and bond will be a disincentive to independent business class immigrants because they won’t want to come here without a reasonable way of bringing over their relatives. He was quoted in the media as saying that “you don’t need to be a genius” to come to that conclusion. Immigration Canada, meanwhile, has identified the need for a standard set of evaluation tools to determine proficiency in English as a second language (ESL). These standards will be used by teachers, employers and ‘educators across Canada to evaluate the progress of ESL students and to rate their proficiency, Immigration Canada has decided. These tools would be designed by the Reel Board of Education (in Ontario). The Peel board covers the cities of Mississauga and Brampton and the Caledon area.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 19, 1995
