Immigration to Canada

Rankings for overall quality of life

Mercer’s overall quality of life survey has revealed that Zurich remains the world’s top city, providing the best quality of life, with 106.5 points. Geneva (previously scoring 105.5) moves up from fourth to second place to join Vancouver and Vienna, with a rating of 106.

Cities in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand continue to rank highest in the table. Copenhagen, Frankfurt, and Bern share joint fifth place with Sydney and Auckland, and score 105 points.

The analysis was based on an evaluation of 39 quality of life criteria for each city including political, social, economic, and environmental factors; personal safety and health; education; transport; and other public services.

The world’s least enticing city remains Brazzaville in Congo, despite its score rising by one point from last year, to 28.5. Other poor-scoring cities for overall quality of life include Bangui in the Central African Republic (30), Baghdad (30.5), and Pointe Noire in Congo (32.5).

“The gap between the cities at the top and bottom of the table is still large. Indeed, economic and political unrest in Africa and Latin America has pushed many cities down in the rankings this year. Personal safety and internal stability factors have had the greatest impact on overall quality of life in these regions,” said Mr Parakatil.

Notes to Editors: New York has been used as the base score for quality of life with a score of 100 points. Data was largely collected between September and November 2002.

Scandinavian cities have been reassessed this year on the basis of evidence relating to seasonal affective disorders caused by shorter daylight hours.

The worldwide ranking’s list is produced from the most recent worldwide quality of life survey, conducted by Mercer Human Resource Consulting.

CANADIAN ECONOMY AT FULL THROTTLE

After performing just marginally better than the United States in the first quarter, the Canadian economy is on track to nearly double the pace of growth of its southern neighbour in the second, according to a new forecast from the Toronto-Dominion Bank.

The bank expects Canada to post annualized growth of 4.9% in the second quarter, after expanding by 6% in the first. The United States, meanwhile, is headed for growth of 2.5% in the second quarter after growing by 5.6% in the first.

TD said that with almost all sectors of the economy getting back on track, Canada will likely produce growth of 3.5% on average in 2002, more than double last year's 1.5%.

The United States will have a tougher time as the consumer sector slows and business investment remains soft. For a more detailed analysis look up an article by Jacqueline Thorpe of the National Post.  

Please take a few minutes to fill out our free Canadian immigration assessment, to see if you qualify for immigration to Canada.

Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm                  --Ralph Waldo Emerson

Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.     --Ralph Waldo Emerson

Canadians are now at the top of the class, holding the highest percentage of university degrees and college diplomas among major industrialized countries.

Canada has the highest proportion of educated people among the 30 countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, according to new census numbers released yesterday, with 41 per cent of the working-age population holding a degree or diploma. That is followed by 37 per cent in the United States and 36 per cent in Ireland.

"In Canada, we have two parallel systems that are both very strong," said Lisa Shipley, senior analyst at Statistics Canada. "We're doing very well."

Indeed, there was a tremendous surge in the number of Canadians who graduated with either a diploma or degree, a trend that began at the end of the Second World War, the 2001 census revealed yesterday.

In the decade between 1991 and 2001, three developments set the stage for advances in higher education: a labour market that had a preference for skilled workers to compete globally and in a technologically advanced economy, immigration rules designed to attract the highly skilled, and a recession in the early 1990s that was particularly difficult for young Canadians.

In total, the ranks of the educated grew by 2.7 million or 39 per cent, more than 2.5 times as fast as the adult population over 25.

And a postsecondary education was red hot. The census tracked trends in education of Canadians aged 15 and above. For the first time in 2001, more than half the population had an education beyond high school, compared with a mere 2 per cent in 1951.

The census showed that students like Sarah McCarter are going the distance.

Ms. McCarter, who is working toward a PhD in medical biophysics at the University of Western Ontario in London, believes that pursuing a higher education will provide her with more employment opportunities down the road. She already has a job lined up to do medical research.

"To get the jobs that are really enjoyable, more education is needed now than 20 years ago," the 26-year-old said. "I think if you're choosing to do graduate studies, it tends to be more out of a love of the field than a desire to make more money."

Whatever that drive may be, a whopping 1.1 million working age Canadians had doctorates, master's degrees or any other qualification above a bachelor's degree by the end of the decade. Census figures showed that the largest increase was at the master's level, which was up 60 per cent in 2001. Those who earned doctorates rose 48 per cent over 1991.

Glen Jones, a professor of higher education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, said employers are demanding a higher level of education.

"Education is regarded as a very good investment in one's future employment," Mr. Jones said.

During the high-tech boom of the 1990s, men at the university level showed a strong interest in studying in technological fields such as engineering and computer science, while in colleges, they were mainly studying data processing. Women, on the other hand, primarily focused on subjects related to business, commerce and finance both at the university and college levels.

Regardless of what they studied, getting a postsecondary education was key to Canadians.

"When little Johnny comes home with the very poor report card in Grade 10, the Sunday night dinner conversation is not 'How are you going to get out of high school with grades like this?' It's 'How are you going to get into university with grades like this?' " Ms. Shipley of Statscan said.

Education standings
Canada has the most educated population of all the member-countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, according to statistics in 2000.

Rank  Country         University

 1. Canada               41%

 2. United States        37

 3. Ireland              36

 4. Japan                34

 5. Finland              32

 5. Sweden               32

 7. Australia            29

 7. New Zealand          29

 7. Norway               29

10. Belgium              27

Most highly educated provinces and territories
Top five provinces and territories with university-educated populations aged 25 to 64.

Rank..Province / Territory...University

 1. Ontario                     24.7%

 2. British Columbia       23.9%

 3. Yukon                       23.4%

 4. Quebec                    21.6%

 5. Alberta                     21.4%

SOURCE: CENSUS CANADA

Ethnic and Racial Diversity in Canada

Multiculturalism is a fundamental characteristic of Canadian society. Our society has always been pluralist and diverse and is bound to become even more so. 

Already approximately two-fifths of the Canadian population has one origin other than British, French or Aboriginal

Recent immigrants had higher levels of education than the Canadian-born population.  Vancouver has North America's second-largest Chinese community. 

In addition, more than 60 000 of B.C. inhabitants are from India and over 16 000 from Japan. British Columbians of Asian heritage have contributed tremendously to the province's economic and cultural vitality. 

Canada has two official languages: English, the mother tongue of about 59% of Canadians; and French, the first language of 23% of the population. 

A full 18% have either more than one mother tongue or a mother tongue other than English or French, such as Chinese, Italian, German, Polish, Spanish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Ukrainian, Arabic, Dutch, Tagalog, Greek, Vietnamese, Cree, Inuktitut, or other languages. 

In a recent report of the UNESCO World Commission on Culture and Development, Canada's approach to multiculturalism was cited as a model for other countries. 

In 1971, Canada became the first country in the world to adopt a multiculturalism policy.

Admission to Canada is governed by Canadian Immigration Act & Regulations, a complex set of rules which are subject to interpretation by Visa Officers, who by law are authorized to issue visas to persons who wish to live and/or work in Canada. 

Immigration  Canada requires that an individual make a choice out of the following categories under which to apply for Immigration -

• Independent

• Assisted Relative

• Business

• Family Business

• Family Class

• Refugee

• Humanitarian and

• Compassionate grounds,

• Live in care givers (who have worked in Canada for two years).

A PERMANENT RESIDENT

A person who has been granted formal status through the process of landing is considered a Permanent Resident of Canada. A Permanent Resident has the right to come into, remain in Canada, live, and work in the country.

A Permanent Resident can:

THE HONOURABLE ELINOR CAPLAN, MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION

"The immigrant of yesterday and the immigrant of today chose Canada because of their belief that here, they could build a better life"

"Immigration has been a positive force in the life of this country for centuries now. It has made us who we are. And it will make us who we will be".

In the year 2000, Canada accepted between 200,000 and 225,000 immigrants, to meet our goals of economic benefit to Canada, family reunification, and humanitarian commitment. 

Canada is the world's second-largest country (9 970 610 km²), surpassed only by the Russian Federation. 

There are some two million lakes in Canada, covering about 7.6% of the Canadian landmass. Canada is rich in natural resources. 

It contains 37 national parks, more than 1000 provincial parks, and nearly 50 territorial parks. 

Canada's 37 national parks include Wood Buffalo National Park - which occupies more land than either Taiwan or the Netherlands.

For the seventh year in a row, Canada ranks first among 175 countries in the United Nation's quality of life survey. 

The Human Development Index (HDI) examines the health, education and wealth of each nation's citizens by measuring : life expectancy; educational achievement -- adult literacy plus combined primary, secondary and tertiary enrolment; and standard of living -- real GDP per capita based on PPP exchange rates.

The Geneva-based Corporate Resources Group compares more that one hundred major international cities in their annual 'quality of life' survey. Rankings are compiled by using 42 factors covering political and economic stability, crime, pollution, health, environment, education, infrastructure and leisure facilities. In the 1996 survey, Geneva placed first, but Canadian cities were well represented. In particular, the five Canadian cities surveyed all placed in the top 13:    

• Vancouver (2)     

• Toronto (4) 

• Ottawa (6) 

• Montreal (8)  

• Calgary (13)
  

According to Runzheimer International, a house in Toronto would have a home market value of US$180,800, while the same house in Boston would cost US$304,200, US$239,500 in Los Angeles, and US$225,100 in Chicago. 

According to the Union Bank of Switzerland's 1997 Edition of Prices and Earnings Around the Globe, the cost of a standard basket of goods in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles would be more than in Toronto. Using Zurich as the standard of 100 points, New York received 82.9 points, Chicago 81.1 points, and Los Angeles 78.7 points, while Toronto received 69.2 points. Toronto's cost of living index, as calculated by Fortune is 139.22, lower than Boston's 153.92, Los Angeles' 147, Chicago's 141.77, and New York's 163.35. 

The U.S. average is calculated to be 100. (Fortune)

A 1997 survey of people in 20 countries found that the majority placed Canada in the top ten list of countries where they would like to live. 

Most consider Canada a generous, peaceful and compassionate nation, while they see Canadians as honest, friendly and polite.

The Federal Government's Multiculturalism Program

In 1997, the department of Canadian Heritage restructured the federal Multicultural Program. The renewed program works towards three main goals:

• Identity.  Fostering a society in which people of all backgrounds feel a sense of belonging and attachment to Canada

• Civic Participation.  Developing citizens that are actively involved in shaping the future of their various communities and their country

• Social Justice.  Building a nation that ensures fair and equitable treatment and that respects and accommodates people of all origins

In case you are interested in migrating to the USA under the Lottery System please click here.

Independent Skilled Category Statistics - 1999 

Principle Applicants  from Top Ten Countries  

You may click here to view the 'Immigration Practitioners Course Outline. This is a course that I have completed, which is taught at the University of British Columbia. There are approximately six three hour written exams held over a year and classroom lectures on Campus and participants are tested for their in-depth knowledge of each Category of applicant with reference to Canadian Immigration Law and Immigration Procedures.

• Independent Skilled Worker

• Business Category

• Investor Category

• Family Class

• Refugee

• Humanitarian and Compassionate grounds,

• Live in care givers 

• Visitor Category

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