According to a Fraser Institute report, the cost of immigration for Canada reaches $20 billion per year.
As a stranger, I have to react. Since my permanent residency request begun last year (I’m married to a wonderful Canadian), I don’t cost a penny to tax payers: I’m forbidden to work, I have no health coverage, and medical costs are even higher for me.
Actually it’s all the opposite. The immigration process cost me so far $1,700, and nine months without income. And it’s getting worse as Citizenship and Immigration Canada just stopped processing cases sent from inside Canada. (The delay to fulfill the first step of permanent residency, which should allow me to work, has now reached 14 months, and is actually increasing month after month!)
In the meantime, I had to explain with deep regret to two businesses in Whitehorse that without time certainty, they should hire someone else.
I can already hear voices kindly advising to get back to my country.
Sure. But after two years in Canada, I consider myself to be a future citizen. I have ideas, worthy competencies, and the energy and envy to serve my community through hard work.
My Canadian spouse also has the right to make long-term plans with her husband, in Canada.
All of that is impossible, and so far without solution. My frustration is growing.
What could be done so that the administration’s disinterest gives way to a humane immigration processing?
Philippe Lavezzari
Whitehorse