Canada attracts 24% fewer skilled immigrants than expected

New statistics show Canada accepted fewer immigrants and refugees last year than at any time in the past decade.

A total of 174,100 newcomers arrived in Canada in 1998, representing a year-over-year decline of 20 per cent, and the lowest immigration level since 1988.

Numbers are down across all classes of immigration, particularly in the skilled worker and business categories, according to a document quietly released by Citizenship and Immigration Canada earlier this month.

The federal government has often said any brain drain to the United States, particularly in the high-tech sector, is compensated for by the number of skilled workers who immigrate from other countries.

The Immigration Overview, published by the department's planning and research office, shows the government missed its overall target by 23 per cent.

Federal immigration officials blamed the shortfall yesterday on the lasting effects of the Asian flu.

"We really believe the lower levels are primarily due to the effects of the economic downturn which were hard to predict," said spokesperson Huguette Shouldice.

At least 15,000 visas were issued last year that were never used, she added, presumably because the prospective immigrants could no longer afford to leave for Canada.

But Toronto immigration lawyer Mendel Green said the numbers prove the government's business immigration program is a shambles. "They haven't put the machinery in place to effect the immigration policy that the Parliament of Canada has approved," he said. "That's why they're not meeting their numbers."

The system is plagued, he said, by a shortage of qualified overseas visa officers and complicated security checks that cause long processing delays, especially for economic immigrants.

"It shows a total insensitivity to the economic benefit of business immigration and skilled workers, and it's Canadians who are losing the benefits of it," Mr. Green said.

More than $4 billion in capital has been injected into the Canadian economy by the 20,000 immigrants who have arrived as investors since the program was launched in 1986. At the same time, the number of skilled workers entering Canada has played a key role in counteracting the effects of this country's brain drain to the United States, Mr. Green said.

The number of business immigrants fell sharply in 1998 over previous years.

Last year, Canada attracted 13,778 business immigrants -- wealthy investors and proven entrepreneurs --compared to 19,278 in 1997 and 22,459 the year before that.

The numbers were 35 per cent below the target set by Immigration Minister Lucienne Robillard.

Skilled workers also found reason not to emigrate to Canada last year as the federal government missed its target by 24 per cent.

Ms. Robillard had hoped to attract as many as 106,000 skilled workers and their families -- people with engineering, computer and technical skills -- but only 81,146 arrived.

Ms. Shouldice said efforts to attract business immigrants and skilled workers were complicated last year by a shift in the source of immigration.

In recent years, Canada had concentrated its overseas resources in Hong Kong --once the major source of immigration --but the self-governing territory is now fourth on the list. China is now the primary source country; it was responsible 11 per cent of the total number of immigrants to Canada last year.

India and the Philippines are second and third on the list. Hong Kong is is followed by Pakistan, Iran, Korea, the United States, Russia and the United Kingdom.

Visa officers find it more difficult to obtain documentation in places such as China and Pakistan, compared with Hong Kong, and the processing of applications has slowed as a result, Ms. Shouldice said.

Canadian visa officers must verify the qualifications of skilled workers and, in the case of investors, track the source of their wealth to ensure it does not come from criminal enterprises.

Many of the immigrants who arrived last year -- 50,861 people -- were sponsored by other family members already accepted here as permanent residents.

The Immigration Overview gives a statistical snapshot of the newcomers.

More than one quarter of them arrived with bachelor's degrees and almost half were between the ages of 25 and 44. Many (47 per cent) could speak English and a few French (4.8 per cent), but 43 per cent had no facility in either official language.

Ontario remains the primary destination, attracting 53 per cent of all newcomers. The vast majority of those -- 73,560 people -- settled in Toronto; Ottawa received 5,174 newcomers and Hamilton 1,950.

British Columbia was the second- most popular destination, accepting 35,876 newcomers last year with 30,169 of them settling in Vancouver.

Quebec took in 26,221 immigrants and most -- 20,234 people -- chose Montreal. Alberta was the choice for 11,207 immigrants who mostly spread themselves between Calgary (5,846) and Edmonton (3,689).

The number of people offered Canada's protection also declined 1998.

A total of 22,644 refugees were landed in Canada, down from 24,100 in 1997 and 28,345 in 1996. For the third year in a row, Bosnia-Hercegovina was the largest source of refugees; more than 15 per cent of those accepted in Canada came from that war-ravaged country. It was followed by Sri Lanka, Iran, Croatia, Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq, India and Pakistan.