Canada Immigration News

Foreign students are attending Canadian universities in record numbers, more than doubling their enrolment in the last decade, says a report released 11 Oct.

Statistics Canada says foreign students accounted for 70,000 students, or about 7 percent of overall enrolment in 2003-4. That's an almost 17 percent increase over the previous year. About half of all international students come from Asia.

Sixty-eight percent of Canadians believe that multiculturalism helps to moderate extremist influences. However, 58% expressed concern that the loyalty of immigrants may suffer if they maintain too strong an attachment to their countries of origin while becoming Canadian.

Municipal staff in Halifax, Canada are recommending that the regional council endorse a proposed multi-year immigration strategy designed to attract more immigrants. The staff report contains suggestions to attract at least 2,800 new arrivals to the city each year, with a 70 percent retention rate. The report says since peaking 10 years ago at about 3,590 people, immigration levels in Nova Scotia have fallen by more than half.

Increased immigration gave Canada the second highest rate of population growth among G8 countries over a 10-year period, according to Statistics Canada.

The country's population jumped by 2.98 million people between 1994 and 2004, second only to the U.S., the agency reported yesterday.

The visa office of the Canadian Embassy in Conakry, Guinea, West Africa, will be closed to the public as of September 22, 2005.

After this date, people in need of temporary resident visas will have to apply at the visa office in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

The mailing address of the Canadian Embassy in Abidjan is:

The Canadian EmbassyImmigration Section01 B.P. 4104Abidjan 01Ivory Coast

The Canadian Embassy in Abidjan is located at:

Canada's Immigration Minister is pushing for major changes to the country's immigration system, according to government sources. If the changes are accepted, Canada will be bringing in more than 300,000 immigrants a year within five years, including more tradespeople such as pipefitters and truck drivers.

The plan would eventually mean an increase of about 35 percent from current levels of more than 220,000 permanent residents a year.