Nick Noorani Website

I spend my days lately travelling between Toronto and Vancouver, and a lot of that time is spent talking to immigrants working as taxi drivers, waiters and hotel staff who are doing jobs well below their skills. Many of these immigrants I meet are talking about the new proposed immigration bill in hushed tones — almost like they are scared that what they whisper will turn into a reality! They’re worried immigrant numbers will go down, they’re wondering if they will be able to sponsor their mother over next year, they’re worried about a lot of things.

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Here’s your chance to hear founder and creator of Canadian Immigrant magazine and author of Arrival Survival Canada speak about his seven success secrets for Canadian immigrants
Naeem “Nick” Noorani, founder and publisher of Canadian Immigrant Magazine, will be delivering a series of speaking engagements in Toronto, June 2-6, entitled Seven Success Secrets of Canadian Immigrants.
Along with lecturing, Noorani is concurrently touring his new book, Arrival Survival Canada: A Handbook for New Immigrants, co-authored by his wife, Sabrina Noorani. The book includes a foreword written by Adrienne Clarkson, former Governor-General of Canada.
Arrival Survival Canada provides new immigrants with a wealth of knowledge and resources to help them with the settlement process, including facts about Canadian culture and history, success stories and experiences from immigrants, definitions of commonly used key words and phrases, answers to commonly asked questions and more.

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Canada’s fastest-growing ethnic groups are top grocery buyers
Vancouver resident Siva Sivaguranathar and his son Shangar head out of the Real Canadian Superstore on Southeast Marine Drive one recent afternoon with a cart full of the usual list of things: milk, bread, cereal, meat, eggs . . . .
It wouldn’t be worth interrupting them except for newly released stats showing that South Asian-Canadian families spend a whopping 23-per-cent more on groceries than other households in Canada.
“I’m not surprised. We probably do. We always cook at home,” said the elder Sivaguranathar as the younger loaded the car. “The relatives come over, and it’s always a minimum of three but closer to a maximum of five dishes per meal.”
Joanne Lee-Young
Vancouver Sun
Monday, May 26, 2008

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Ahmed Ramahi first applied to come to Canada as a skilled worker in late 2001. At the time, he was 28, single and had just finished his MBA at Sam Houston State University in Texas.
Today, the Jordanian-born mechanical engineer is 35, a married father of a boy – and still waiting.
“The more time goes by, the more difficult it will be for me to make up my mind and start over in Canada,” Ramahi said in a phone interview from Doha, Qatar, where he is the general manager of an oil and energy company. “I have a wife. I have a kid. I have a career. The opportunity cost would be too high.”
It is Ramahi’s story, along with the nearly million other cases caught in this country’s huge backlog, that has prompted what Immigration Minister Diane Finley called “urgent action” to modernize a dysfunctional immigration system. The government’s proposed changes to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act are to be voted on in the coming weeks.
May 26, 2008
Nicholas Keung
Immigration/Diversity Reporter

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Just how Canada’s immigration backlog ballooned to almost one million applications today is indeed a million dollar question.
If Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s prediction is accurate, at the current rate, the backlog will skyrocket to 1.6 million by 2012, and the waiting time will grow from six to 10 years. Factors that have contributed to the situation:
May 26, 2008 04:30 AM
Nicholas Keung
Immigration/Diversity Reporter

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BRILLIANT! THANK YOU COLIN!!!
Immigration Minister Diane Finley argues that the Harper government is promoting its new immigration bill because of a commitment to reducing the backlog of some 900,000 applicants for Canadian permanent residence and reduce wait times.
She also claimed in a recent letter to the Financial Post (May 16) that Canada welcomed 429,000 “newcomers” last year, the highest number in history. This is incorrect. Newcomers, even in the government’s own literature, are comprised of only permanent resident visa holders. The number 429,649 includes about 195,000 temporary permit holders, including study visas and work visas.
Current immigration levels, moreover, are actually lower than they were in the early 1990s as a percent of population. Ms. Finley is the first to lump all three categories into one statistical measure. Why would she do this?
Colin R. Singer, Financial Post Published: Wednesday, May 21, 2008

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