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Immigration: Dream or nightmare?
Newcomers to GTA find their experience depends on settlement assistance

Toronto Star, August 7, 2008

http://www.thestar.com/article/473659



Lesley Ciarula Taylor
Immigration Reporter

Eduardo and Anna Ojeda could be the poster children for Canada's immigration dream.

Young professionals from Chile with two children and speaking decent English, they're also a prime example of Canada's struggle to fix what the immigration industry calls "settlement issues" – what happens to immigrants when they get here.

Claudia Quiroga and Leo Ospina are the poster children for Canada's immigration nightmare.

Engineers with several degrees, languages and experience, they told the Star in 2004 they were considering a lawsuit against the federal government to get back some of the $20,000 spent trying to land decent jobs, a credit rating and health care.

Nothing has changed, Quiroga said at her Pickering home, except they became citizens this year and baby Miranda is due any day.

"We are not working in our professions. My husband is not in a survival job, but he is not working in his field. His salary is very low," she said recently. "I don't think Canadians want to give us an opportunity when they hear our accents."

Here 4 1/2 years, Quiroga says they have "nothing to go back to" in Colombia. "We can't afford to go back and start again. ...We have tried our best but we are not really happy here at all."

Unlike Quiroga and Ospina, the Ojedas may have timing and location on their side.

Global lust for skilled immigrants helped spur Canada, not quite three years ago, to recognize the old sink-or-swim approach wasn't working. The federal government signed a $920 million deal with the province called the Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement, the first of its kind. A year ago, the one-stop Welcome Centre opened in Vaughan, where the Ojedas live.

The Welcome Centre in the Vaughan Mills mall has five executive directors, one each from COSTI, Catholic Community Services of York Region, the Centre for Information and Community Services, Job Skills and York Region Neighbourhood Services.

"It was a huge piece of work," said Nella Iasci, Job Skills' executive director. "People needed to check their egos at the door. We needed a way to reconcile turf wars."A three-day summit in early 2005 brought together the five agencies and 35 others. The goal: To ensure "there is only one file – a newcomer only has to tell their story once when they get here," Iasci said.

So, after the Ojedas arrived, Anna, a nurse, was able to enroll in an English class in a state-of-the-art language lab, and get school information for Gabriela, 8. Eduardo, a pharmacist, learned how to study for and take a re-qualifying test, put together his resume and handle a Canadian job interview.

The Welcome Centre offers weekly clinics on legal aid, income taxes, family counselling. There are specialized English classes such as a 10-week session for people in the financial field. People from all five agencies sit down with the family's file and figure out what they need.

"At first, it was really hard," said Anna, at the Maple townhouse they share with her aunt, who emigrated 25 years ago.

"But we knew it would not be easy," said Eduardo. "Many things have been really good."A chance conversation at Gabriela's school two months ago led to Eduardo finding a part-time volunteer job with a drug distributor that gives him Canadian experience in his field.

A pediatric nurse who also taught at university, Anna is three levels away from the Level 6 English she wants before she looks for work here. The Ojedas used the four years between their application and their visa to immigrate to prepare for the hurdles, stockpile their resources and study English.

"We really love this country; there are lots of opportunities," Eduardo said. "I have a good job at a good place. Once our diplomas are evaluated, we can look for work in our field."Even so, their enthusiasm has limits. If they don't get professional jobs, "we will have to rethink. Otherwise, why stay?"

Consultant Lyle Makosky, who did a review of how the agreement is working, is aware immigrants are asking that question.

The agreement launched new "bridging" programs to help immigrants ease into good jobs with targeted training and English classes.

But big gaps remain: Nothing is being done to help immigrants spend the years waiting for a visa to learn what they'll need. Once here, they still face a maze of referrals, from one agency to another.

Immigration is "arduous, difficult, complicated and costly," Makosky said. "It's possible, in the five years they are waiting to come here, the newcomer never actually talks to anyone."

The numbers spell out the stakes: In 2007, 87,136 new permanent residents landed in the GTA.

Evelyn Myrie, director of the Peel Newcomer Strategy Group, knows her corner of the GTA needs a Welcome Centre-style revolution to keep people like the Ojedas.

"We are receiving more immigrants than Toronto. We don't want them to leave," she said.

But going from strategy to bricks-and-mortar will take time – in Peel, another year and a few months.

For Toronto's 70-year-old Woodgreen Community Centre, it can be even harder. "We have 5,000 clients with 5,000 different needs," said director Maisie Lo. "Most of our clients now are very, very educated. Because of the Internet, they don't need information, they need specific services."

They don't have bridging programs or English classes for all professions. Lo is pragmatic. "We have jobs in Alberta. We tell people they may have to move away. The frustration is very real," Lo says. "Sometimes it is very difficult to go back to their professions, so, yes, there are engineers working in Tim Hortons."

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