Lesson 11 — Activity 2: Whom Do We Look For?


Warm Up


If you got to pick who was able to live in our country, what criteria would you follow? Would it be important to you that the immigrants were well educated, hard workers, or a certain age?

There have to be criteria with the immigration process because if we let everyone into Canada, we may experience overpopulation.

Overpopulation puts a lot of strain on areas like health care, education, food supply, and housing. For these reasons, the government has a major role to play in immigration to Canada.

The Canadian government has certain conditions that they consider when they look for their "ideal" immigration candidates:

  • an age range from 21 to 44
  • a proven ability to communicate in either English or French
  • a college degree or higher
  • one or more years of work experience
  • anyone who fits into a profession or specialty — such as people for the computer industry, various types of engineering, scientific, medical and social researchers, accounting, and various types of technicians


Of course, they won't turn you down immediately if you do not fit into all of these categories, but you just may not be as likely to get in as someone who does fit all the criteria.


To immigrate to Canada, you need to:  
 
  • complete a formal application and submit it to Citizenship and Immigration Canada
  • pay an application fee
  • pass a medical exam that shows you do not have any illnesses that could endanger Canadians or strain Canada’s health care system
  • pass a security check that shows you have no criminal record and are not a security risk to Canada

@istock

In 2002, the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act was passed in Canada.

The objectives of this act were:

  • to pursue social, cultural, and economic benefits for all Canadians
  • to support the development of minority official language communities
  • to reunite families in Canada

When it comes to the criteria Canada uses when accepting immigrants and refugees, the government has to think about the economic factors. For example, immigration plays a key role in Canada and has helped to build the population Canada has today.

When accepting immigrants into Canada, the Canadian government uses a point system chart where you have to score at least 67 points out of 100 to be accepted into the country. Prior to 1910, this point system encouraged immigrants of British ancestry to immigrate into Canada, but now the point system encourages educated immigrants instead. There are only two immigrant classes that are excluded from the point system, and they are refugees and the family class. You will learn more about the selection process in the next lesson.

Self-check!

Try This!

Try the question below on your own first, and then click on the tab to check your answers! You can look back in the lesson to find the answer.

Name at least two conditions that the government of Canada looks for when choosing their "ideal" immigration candidates.



  • an age range from 21 to 44
  • a proven ability to communicate in either English or French
  • a college degree or higher
  • one or more years of work experience
  • anyone who fits into a profession or specialty — such as people for the computer industry, various types of engineering, scientific, medical and social researchers, accounting, and various types of technicians