MetroVanIndependent.com
April 2015
A9
NEWS
Citizenship application drops as Conservatives
tailor immigration reforms vs. non-white
Former citizenship director-general
Andrew Griffith suggested that recent
Conservative reforms that raised barriers
to becoming a citizen could lead to immigrants’ into widespread disengagement
from Canadian public life.
He raised the alarm bells as he reported
a dramatic drop in citizenship conversion
among Canada’s permanent residents from
79 percent to only 26 percent based on
2008 data.
His analysis — part of his study presented at the National Immigration and
Settlement Conference at Sheraton
in Vancouver — on the impact of the
Conservatives’ reforms also suggests that
the new version of the citizenship test has
adversely affected applicants from visible
minorities more than those with European
roots.
“In the past, citizenship was viewed
as a stepping stone to immigrant inte ܘ][ۋ[