Rather than having individual organizations having their own plans to attract and retain immigrants, Peterborough now has a county-wide organized effort called the Peterborough Partnership Council on Immigration Integration.

Third year U of T law student Joel Hechter has had enough of dishonest immigration consultants taking their vulnerable clients for expensive ride.

Last summer while working for Downtown Legal Services, the community legal clinic for U of T’s Faculty of law, Hechter saw first hand the extreme violation of trust that some of his clients experienced with the immigration specialists they had hired in order to help them navigate the confusing system of Canada.

In Chandigarh, (October 24), the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has meted out punishment to an immigration company in the form compensation of Rs one lakh. The reason behind this was incapability of this company to send a resident (from Ludhiana) to Canada. The company has also been ordered to pay amount of litigation charge i.e. 5,000.

Innumerable programs have been implemented by Ottawa and Ontario, from language training to mentoring to help newcomers integrate into the Canadian labour market, but what matters is the result. So, are they really working?

Under current circumstances, tying in holy matrimony might turn out to be a rather unholy expedition. Some knots are tied to be simply untied in less than a month’s period, just after the ‘happily ever after’ bliss would begin. The 13th to 16th edition of The Epoch Times, the world’s free newspaper reports that Canadians who bring their spouses from overseas are sometimes ditched by their beloved immediately after completely the arrival procedures at the airport. It also commented that even the ‘lucky ones’ are able to live with their loved ones for three weeks or so, and sometimes, just a week, before the end arrives. It is a whole swindle that is planned and executed by family members who are eager to start a new life in North America.

Canada has become the ultimate choice of many people, who come here to give a new start to their life and contribute for the goodness of Canada. Added to enthusiasm of heading for a new life in a new country (Canada), the hurdles that are to be confronted by all immigrants are to meet the challenges of settling and adjusting in the new environment.

A Victorian mother lived in separation from her Ethiopian son for the long duration of nine years, and the reason behind this was delays in respect of Canada immigration. The immense backlog is one obvious reason why the applications take an undue extra time in getting processed. Selam Ayele took seven years and six months to become a landed immigrant of Victoria, and the process of bringing her son (Yohannes Zewed) took another two and a half years.

The Article in Toronto Star states the experience and difficulties faced by some immigrants who are caught in the entanglement of unregulated and fake immigration consultants. The article is specifically about Sophie Boutzis and her firm (Scot and Associates). The Toronto Star presents an outstanding piece of work dealing with unscrupulous immigration advisors.

People who are all set to migrate to Canada must start their making the list of important items which would make their life easier in the new place. As the immigrant would be new to Canada, he/she must always be handy with a good street map, the Yellow Pages and a telephone book. The immigrants should take care to inform the mailing address to the Citizenship and immigration Canada within 180 days of arrival, so that they get the permanent resident (PR) card mailed at their address.

The faith in the system of the country is the strongest bond of attachment of any citizen to his/her country. The present scene of India is very conspicuous that it has become puppet in the hands of unworthy politicians. Everyone is aware of the suffering that is caused due the unprincipled politicians, but no one comes up to change the system for good.