Close Reading

Immigrated from Haiti to Montreal in 2001, I was 22. it was impossible getting work in what I studied but worked odd jobs for a few months. Then I went back to university and got a Masters. Husband went back to university as well and got an accounting degree. I have to say the diplomas worked. We ended getting good jobs in our field and now have very good careers. We have some Haitians friends and after years of effort they are all doing relatively well here in Montreal. So can’t complain work wise as long as you are patient, do what you have to do you should make it. For me the biggest drawbacks are the harsh climate and the difficulty to make Canadian friends but plenty of immigrants to befriend so. Also as an immigrant you need to adapt and a lot of people cannot adapt to a new country and want to have what they had back home here that is not realistic. Immigration is not for everyone. But no regrets.

I am an immigrant from Korea. I have a decent life here but i find that it is getting harder especially with housing price and cost of living. I am thinking about going back but Korea is as expensive as Canada. However, I found that Korea’s health care system is much faster and more advanced. I like the nature here in Canada a lot more though.

Thank you for making the video, however, it does not depict the entire picture of immigration and immigrants’ situation in Canada ( re jobs, re-education & immigrants moving back to their countries). I hope my comment is not perceived negatively, but it stems from personal experiences: I am an immigrant, I’ve been in Canada for 28 years; I work in the immigration field; my partner is a new immigrant from Europe, with a degree in the medical field..A lot of what you say can be true , but it lacks depth, analysts & most importantly the bigger picture. \n\nPlease widen the scope of your research & explain the rational as to why things may be the way i they are. \n\nRe. Taxes; please compare to so-called 1st world countries like Germany, France, etc...

Hello, I am an Armenian and I am very much interested to live in Canada. I don't have expectation yet cause personally I am not familiar with the life there. I have been in India for a long time. To be honest I haven't finished watching your video because a point came to my mind and before I forget, decided to ask you girls here. I understand that working for a company, restaurant or a hotel is tough, especially finding one. \n1)What about if an immigrant has a kind of business skill or experience say in a fast food sector and has all that it takes to run a small fast food shop, which i think is better and more lucrative than trying to find a job elsewhere. Does the government of Canada or the Municipality of a city the immigrant is in, lend a hand in such matters?\n2) From one of YouTube videos I came to know that people living there have to pay several taxes including federal taxes, provincial taxes, unemployment Insurance Premium (UIP). Does this apply to new immigrants as well? When do these taxes come into effect for the immigrants and under what conditions? thanks.......

Hard to believe that an Immigrant, with no Canadian Qualification and no Canadian Experience, is offered a position of VP in a reputable company. I was there in Toronto for 5 years as Canadian Citizen. I, as a graduate of bio-medical sciences with 37 years research experience, 31 research publications, applied in various institutions, never got reply from any for any job I applied for.

What a shame. I’m an immigrant myself and worked hard to get my citizenship. It took me 9 years to get it. These people need to be stopped as it desecrates the hard work that a lot of immigrants invested to obtain their status. I hope they all get caught and get deported.

Canadian immigration sucks. There is no control. I came as an immigrant and I witnessed many heart wrenching situations. Ghost immigrants and non resident Canadian citizens living in India, Dubai, Russia, Lebanon, USA, Israel, Turkey, HongKong etc. They barely lived in Canada, yet they have same rights like us, take child support subsidies, welfare, CPP, Old Age while we bust our a....s in the cold to pay taxes and build the Canadian system. Wake up.

As an immigrant I thank canada for the help, I will work hard and pay taxes to repay the favor. I love this country and will do everything to pay back to the community.

Canadian here. I want to make one thing clear: *WE ARE A REAL COUNTRY WITH VERY STRICT IMMIGRATION LAWS!* I myself am an immigrant, although I came here as a baby. People seem to be under the impression that Canada is some sort of utopia that welcomes every single immigrant with open arms and sings “Hakuna Matata” with them. No, we are an actual country with stricter immigration laws than the US. Yes, we love diversity. Yes, it is our strength. But that doesn’t mean everyone is fair game. I’m not even specifically referring to this man here. All so-called refugees who already had made it to the US. If you were a refugee in the US and then come to Canada, OF COURSE we’re not gonna automatically grant you refugee status. Jesus Christ.\n\nTrudeau is not being a hypocrite. Of course we appreciate and welcome immigrants. But We. Have. Laws. End of discussion.\n\nEdit: I want to make it clear that I support immigrants. I voted Liberal and I will again. Either them or NDP. I’m just so sick of people thinking they can waltz into Canada and become a resident. “If Trump gets elected again, I’m moving to Canada!” Please ?

As a Canadian we are more open to immigtation . There are still laws. I myself am an immigrant. This piece shows one story out of thousands yearly. Without knowing specific details it is tough to judge. I know and have met quite a few refugees that have gained legal status within the past few years. We are not perfect by any means but the government does a good job, in my opinion. There must still be a vetting process. I hope this family has found stability

My problem with women covering their faces is that that men are not allowed by law to cover their faces, so why would a certain group of women have this right. Women SHOULD NOT BE GIVEN A HIGHER STATUS because we should be EQUAL to men. People easily use freedom of choice as an argument to defend every single thing they do. I WISH, I WISH, I WISH they would advocate for freedom of choice in their country of origin. I wish they would fight for human rights the way they do when they come to the Western World. And saying that covering your face doesn't define you is complete bulls*** because when we ask you to take it off suddenly it becomes who you are as a person. As a Canadian Christian woman of Lebanese origin (second-generation immigrant), I love everyone... jews, muslims, hindus, ... you name it. But what I don't like is HYPOCRITES.

This is just peace me off I came to Canada as an immigrant I earned my citizenship with time and i never get a penny from the government...

To answer him about sharia\nNo muslim immigrant said muslims want sharia law in canada, as muslims we are told to follow the rules of whatever country we are in excpet when the law tells us to not obey god, for exampl, forcing us to drink alcohol.\nSharia law is in islamic countrys, which myself i completely agree with, but in countrys that took us in as refugees we can not and will not and have not the authority to call for sharia law, and I doubt anyone is doing it, so this guy is clearely an idiot who thinks he knows something but he doesn t.

To be honest, we have WAY too many immigrants coming in especially under Trudeau's pandering. I don't mind immigration but this is way too much, we're not a door mat and we DON'T have enough job creation right now as it is. And before you bring up past injustices, those people are mostly dead now. There's a difference between an immigrant and a pioneer.

Let's face it ! We all are racists or at least insult other ethnicities without realising how bad it hurts them ! I as an immigrant am being blamed almost for anything that goes wrong where I live .

They KNOW they'll get away with it.. I see how they do business here.. Some of them are very brazen.. And authorities allow it to happen.. If their just looking for a better life for their families, i totally understand their desperation, & I'm all for helping families that want a better life for their kids. But some of them have ulterior motives, & we need to establish their true motives.. To wreak havoc on our housing market, to solicit terrorism on our soil of ANY kind, should NEVER BE TOLERATED.. To be caught being violent, socializing with known terrorists, should warrant IMMEDIATE DEPORTATION!!! A man comes here as an immigrant, & becomes violent, should be sent back, and a child in need (& a chance at a better life), can have his spot.. Same with their teenager's.. You're not coming here to start gangs.. You're here because you wanted to get away from that nonsense.. Don't start that ish over here..

Is that supposed to be a scandal?\n\nWe accept illegal immigrant crossing the border from USA and we put them in hotels, give them even more money than we give to people who paid the government all their life.\n\nWe put an immigrant as the immigration minister.\n\nAnd after that we are supposed to be surprised about something like that?\n\nI would send Ahmed Hussen back in his original country. \n\nI would send those who cross the border illegally directly in prison in shackles and leave their belonging where they stand. I would give them a treatment similar the country they come from, not a five star hotel treatment. Then send every illegal immigrant in their country. Strip immigrant, facilitating illegal immigration, from the citizenship and ban them from entering Canada for 10 years and ban them from ever getting citizenship.\n\nBut we don't ever strip someone of his Canadian citizenship if they committed crimes.\n\nBUT COMMON SENSE IS NOT THE STRENGTH OF THE LIBERALS. \nWE HAVE A CRIMINAL AS A PRIME MINISTER.

I can't imagine being an illegal immigrant especially as a child. Its you against the world. Crazy. So happy to be born where i was born. Because u dont chose ur body or where u get put it just happens crazy

Stop portraying illegal immigrants as victims. I have friends who waited more than 10 years, some even 20, just to migrate to the US. They came from poor countries too, but they still followed the law. And these types of people should stop using their length of stay in the US an excuse not to get deported when they entered illegally in the first place. Also, 15 years in the US and still no English? Immigration should be a a win-win on both the country and the applying immigrant.

As an immigrant, legal one, I feel sorry for your family and you but you have to come to the USA LEGALLY. I want you to pay taxes like I do and fees that the government asked me to pay back. You don't get a free pass because you have kids nor crying. Respect USA Law.

As a Canadian, I have to say that I'm very proud that we are able to take so many immigrants. Our first Prime Minister was an immigrant. Our country was built on immigration. Ask yourself who built this country? Immigrants did. But with every wave of immigration comes prejudice. Irish, Ukrainians, Polish have all seen there share of prejudice. Now its brown people from Syria that escaped with the cloths off their back. Maybe you should be thankful for what you have, that you are able to live in a country where you dont have to worry about your fundamental freedoms.

I feel bad for his innocent children to have to go through this. You want to live in another country, you need to follow the law like every else. You learn the language, get the same I.D. We all have to have , and be treated the same as if any American were to illegally cross boarders! What we have to go through just to have identification here should be no different for anyone else! You can’t just live off our tax dollars and government ins., food stamps etc.. While we pay for you to live here!! I don’t reap those benefits, yet I’m paying yours!! I can’t feel bad! When I go to a dr. Or dentist and an immigrant or a lazy able bodied parent gets everything done free and I’m struggling to pay with full ins.. I literally walk out so pissed off! These are straight facts!! He had fifteen years to make it right. Instead he took a shot doing it his way to reap the American benefits and the feel bad for me card!If they ever let him come back and he collected any kind of help in those last fifteen years, “if” , he should have to get proper I.D., citizenship, and pay back anything he was given! It’s only fair! He was able to save all that money tax free, hmmm must be nice! I don’t feel bad he had to spend it. That’s real life!I’m tired of watching my citizens no matter race or color, work hard paying taxes and giving their hard earned money away!!If we just let anyone walk right through our boarder than what’s the point of any American needing any I.D.??? Don’t people get why it’s so important to keep track for so many obvious different reasons!! I believe certain citizens with outrageous offenses should be chipped!In every race!I don’t care who the president is any president that doesn’t believe this is the right thing to do sucks! I didn’t vote for a Trump! I think he’s smart and a moron at the same time!

I'm sorry to hear this - Lost cases are so Rare in Canada - We're usually much more welcoming. However, is it really lost - I have a feeling that's he's an illegal immigrant, which I don't support - Everyone, wherever they are from, needs to go through the system. And The Basics, such as knowing the English language, is a must! Especially if you got a family, no one is going to hire someone without the basics.

I'll lay it out for you: Me: typical middle of the road liberal oriented Canadian. Non white, immigrant (I wasnt born here) I worked in a Refugee housing for over 4 years in Ontario. Most were not war areas refugees (Yes I know there are other types of refugees). I only encountered few refugees from war areas. ONLY 1 person from Iraq, about 2 families were from Afghanistan, 1 couple from Pakistan(I doubt they were real refugees they spoke fluent English, maybe political refugee), and a most from African countries. Its too far for real refugees to get here. Its Easier for them to go to other countries nearby or Europe. MOST SEEM TO BE ECONOMIC REFUGEES. Most were coming from Africa. Some are coming from Latin America, which shouldn't be happening. Once they showed up at our doorstep and we processed them into the system, they were immediately in the same class as a Canadian resident homeless person if they were making a refugee claim. We get money to house and feed them (from the government), and they are given a stipend for basics from the government processed through the Social Assistance/ Welfare system (they get less than a resident/citizen I think.). They then have to get their case processed by the refugee board, and most seem to get in. I've only heard of few getting sent back. One person I know at our facility, was given a subsided social housing apartment after a year in our facility. So they went straight from a shelter to a government/city owned subsidized apartment. (Didn't seem like it was a issue for the housing worker...they didn't report it (if they were not the ones that helped the person to get it), they were white, the housed person was Latin. This refugee claimant, and then month or two new Canadian resident person was given an apartment in a prime area of the city, instead of the 1000's of Canadians, those who came before them, and born Canadian citizens on an extremely long waiting list. How this was allowed to happen I don't know. The person was probably sucking on someone's straw. I'm just trying to think the barriers these people have to go through to get a job here. We are far removed from the time of the 80's and 90's., and housing and jobs are so hard to get. Lol the "Canadian government asks them to repay the traveling cost to Canada if they are sent back"....I wonder how much the government recoups?.....more like 0 probably. What a bunch of crap. How do you demand someone to repay their flight cost when they get back to their country?

I agree with a lot of the things said in the comments. He didn't properly look into what is required for refugee status and came illegally so shouldn't receive preferential treatment. However, his not speaking English...where could he go to learn as an illegal immigrant? And likely he had to work long hours to save money for lawyers, etc. The language thing to me seems a bit harsh. He may even know passable English, but the reporters may have wanted the interviews to go more smoothly and so spoke in his native language.

She made cultural remarks to defend herself from immigrants who still haven't adapted to the Canadian Culture. Her boss fired her because he or she is an idiot. She is right! If you want to live in a country, you must adapt to the customs and rules of that country. If you insist on behaving according to your original culture, you should catch your bags and go back to where you came from. I entered Canada as an immigrant and have always toed the line. Kudos to Kelly Pocha, for her courage to defend herself and the Canadian lifestyle.

So, after 15 YEARS as an ILLEGAL (not undocumented) he never learned a word of English and never tried to become a LEGAL immigrant in the U.S.? Well if I was illegal (not undocumented) in any other country and not speaking their language, I would be tossed out immediately. Our country was built on immigration, you can NOT say that immigrants are not welcome. Legal and illegal is the difference.

For me, as a black person ive been told I should wear braids or dreadlocks whenever my hair is chemically straight. When I wear my hair naturally-winter season-I get a ton of compliments. I've also been followed by cops thinking I was an illegal Mexican immigrant because I'm really light skinned. I even had a customer speak Spanish to me a few weeks ago when he thought I was Mexican.

There are many problems with anti-immigrant rhetoric and one of them is the classification who is and who isn't an immigrant and the question of when does a person stop becoming an immigrant and become a Canadian? A significant portion of people living in Canada are first/second/third generation Canadians and so, how do we classify these people, are they immigrants or are they not? And what of their parents/grandparents who immigrated, are they? It's very important to note that without their ancestor parents, all these first/second/third gen Canadians will not be here and they are now 'Canadians' today because we had pro-immigration laws. Also, the idea of accessing services is by itself, very problematic. I spent the first 4 years of my life here paying high tuition fees as well as tax that are used to subsidize fellow Canadians' tuition fees yet I'm not able to access any government services. Following graduation, I worked as a worker on visa where my tax was no less than an average Canadian yet government services were very much inaccessible to me. It was only after I became permanent resident, that somehow everything suddenly became available to me. I have been tax paying 6-7 years before I became a PR here yet all those years, I wasn't able to access a single thing yet somehow, after I became PR, I'm eligible for everything? The tax argument doesn't make sense at all. I will be eligible to apply for citizenship in like a year and does that mean now I am one of you, Canadians?

+Joe Smith explain? When you join a new country it's generally to start a better life. The moment an immigrant comes here they're as Canadian as I am. I'm no Native so what does the time matter? Immigrants sacrifice leisure time for work/school and other opportunities. People born in western countries do t appreciate what they have whereas immigrants can make magic happen with minimum wage. They work so much harder than an average westerner born and raised. No question.