This is the RSS feed for Global Economics Ltd http://www.global-economics.ca/index.shtml Sat, 8 Sep 2012 12:00:00 -0500 This article provides the evidence showing that the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program is not the great success it is cracked up to be by its supporters. In fact, since the introduction of the program in 1999, the relative performance of recent immigrants has deteriorated in Manitoba. And a Federal evaluation shows that the performance of Manitoba PNP principal applicants was the worst in the country as measured by average employment income over all time horizons considered. http://www.global-economics.ca/immigration_manitoba_pnp.htm glo00014 Sat, 8 Sep 2012 12:00:00 -0500 This article critiques Fareed Zakarias CNN special "The GPS Roadmap for Making Immigration Work". It questions some of his facts and presents evidence on the continuing deterioration of the performance of recent immigrants in the Canadian labour market. It also shows that in spite of the praise heaped on Canada's immigration policy by Zakaria, Canada's productivity has continued to deteriorate relative to the United States. http://www.global-economics.ca/critique_zakaria_immigration.htm glo00013 Mon, 18 Jun 2012 12:00:00 -0500 This study published by the C.D.Howe has received much acclaim, but it is problematic from the point of view of an economist concerned about the poor performance of recent immigrants and the need for immigration policy reform. While it provides a very useful overview of immigration policy and history and has had an influential impact on recent immigration policy changes, its analysis, which provides support for those who want to increase immigration levels substantially such as the Globe and Mail editors, is questionable. http://www.global-economics.ca/critique_cdhowe_immigration_study.htm glo00012 Mon, 11 Jun 2012 12:00:00 -0500 Division 54 of Part 4 of the Bill C-38, the Budget Implementation Act, amends the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and the Budget Implementation Act, 2008 to provide for the termination of certain applications for permanent residence that were made before February 27, 2008. This Division also amends the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to, among other things, authorize the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to give instructions establishing and governing classes of permanent residents as part of the economic class and to provide that the User Fees Act does not apply in respect of fees set by those instructions. Furthermore, this Division amends the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to allow for the retrospective application of certain regulations and certain instructions given by the Minister, if those regulations and instructions so provide, and to authorize regulations to be made respecting requirements imposed on employers in relation to authorizations to work in Canada. In my appearance before the House Finance Committee, I expressed support for these measure, but also argued that the Government still needs to reduce the numbers of immigrants admitted if it is going to make real progress in improving the performance of new immigrants in the labour market and ensuring that immigration benefits Canada economically. http://www.global-economics.ca/speaking_notes_c38.pdf glo00011 Thu, 31 May 2012 14:00:00 -0500 English Canadians need to know that at least some knowledgable Quebeckers are questioning the conventional wisdom that Canada needs immigrants to deal with the aging of the population. Concerned that practically no specialists were intervening in the Quebec debate on the immigration question in general and public consultations held by the Quebec Minister of Immigration in 2007 in particular, Benoit Dubreuil, a philosopher, and Guillaume Marois, a demographer, have written this lively polemic to present the hard facts and to counter the widespread misperceptions encouraged by government, business, labour unions, the academic elites, and especially the media. Canadians concerned about immigration policy who can read French should read this book. Those who can't will have to wait for something to come out in English, which is equally hard-hitting and cuts to the heart of the problem without worrying about the constraints of political correctness. http://www.global-economics.ca/remede_imaginaire.htm glo00010 Wed, 25 Apr 2012 15:00:00 -0500 Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has announced his intention to reform Canada's dysfunctional immigration system by redesigning the Federal Skilled Worker program around a job offer requirement. This would be a major step in the right direction, but there are still a large number of issues that must be addressed, which are discussed in this commentary. http://www.global-economics.ca/job_offer.htm glo00009 Tue, 10 Apr 2012 16:00:00 -0500 Immigration Minister Kenney announced the elimination of the Federal Skilled Worker Backlog. While this is a good start, deserving of two hearty cheers, the final cheer must be reserved for the time when he cut backs the number of immigrants admitted from the unsustainable quarter million level of the last six years. http://www.global-economics.ca/two_cheers_kenney.htm glo00008 Fri, 30 Mar 2012 15:00:00 -0500 Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has recently received "kudos" from a Globe and Mail editorial for reforming the immigration system. However, this praise is premature until Minister Kenney bites the bullet and legislates away the backlog and cuts the numbers of immigrants admitted by introducing a good-paying job requirement. Only then will there be a reasonable chance that the economic performance of immigrants will improve substantially. http://www.global-economics.ca/no_kudos.htm glo00007 Tue, 20 Mar 2012 17:00:00 -0500 In 2011, Herbert Grubel and Patrick Grady estimated that in 2005 Canada's immigrant selection policies resulted in an average fiscal burden on taxpayers of $6,000 for each immigrant. Later that year, Mohsen Javdani and Krishna Pendakur from the economics department at Simon Fraser University presented an alternative estimate of this fiscal burden of $450. This study concludes that Javdani and Pendakur's lower estimate is due mainly to their choice of a different immigrant cohort and assumptions about the immigrants' absorption of government spending on pure public goods, education, and public housing. http://www.global-economics.ca/fiscal-transfers-to-immigrants-in-canada.pdf glo00006 Thu, 15 Mar 2012 08:00:00 -0500 This is an interview on Madely in the Morning with host Steve Madely on February 23, 2012. The topic is the costs of the parents and grandparents immigration program and the Government's proposal to raise the number of parents and grandparents admitted to 25,000 per year and put a two-year pause on new applications while consulting with the public. http://www.global-economics.ca/parents_CFRA_Feb23.12.mp3 glo00005 Thu, 23 Feb 2012 13:30:00 -0500 This article is an op ed piece that presents the case against the current very costly Canadian Parent and Grandparent Immigration Program made in a research paper.It also summarizes the estimates of the cost of the program contained in the longer paper. http://www.global-economics.ca/parents.htm glo00004 Mon, 6 Feb 2012 19:00:00 -0500 This paper critically examines the parent and grandparent program, which allows immigrants to sponsor their parents and grandparents for immigration to Canada. The rationale for the program to be weak given advances in communication and travel. And there are significant problems and costs associated with the program. As a contribution to the Government's consultations, this paper offers a proposal to make the program more fiscally sustainable. http://www.global-economics.ca/parents.pdf glo00003 Sun, 22 Jan 2012 07:30:00 -0500 These were prepared for Patrick Grady's testimony before the House Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration on Tuesday October 25, 2011. http://www.global-economics.ca/backlog_speaking_notes.pdf glo00002 Sun, 22 Jan 2012 07:30:00 -0500 Youtube video for Patrick Grady's testimony before the House Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration on Tuesday October 25, 2011. http://www.global-economics.ca/backlog_testimony.htm glo00001 Sun, 22 Jan 2012 07:30:00 -0500