Defying Trend, Canada Lures More Migrants

Demanding our fair share, Manitobans did something hard to imagine in American politics, where concern over illegal immigrants dominates public debate and states seek more power to keep them out. In Canada, which has little illegal immigration, Manitoba won new power to bring foreigners in, handpicking ethnic and occupational groups judged most likely to stay.
...
"When I took this portfolio, I expected some of the backlash that's occurred in other parts of the world," said Jennifer Howard, Manitoba's minister of immigration. "But I have yet to have people come up to me and say, 'I want fewer immigrants.' I hear, 'How can we bring in more?' "
...
This steak-and-potatoes town now offers stocks of palm oil and pounded yams, four Filipino newspapers, a large Hindu Diwali festival, and a mandatory course on Canadian life from the grand to the granular. About 600 newcomers a month learn that the Canadian charter ensures 'the right to life, liberty and security' and that employers like cover letters in Times New Roman font. (A gentle note to Filipinos: resumes with photographs, popular in Manila, are frowned on in Manitoba.)

"Bruce_the_vii" said
I checked the statisitcs and Winnipeg is experiencing low unemployment and Regina even lower. I believe Saskatchewan and Manitoba did not go into recession with the world down turn. These are natural immigration places at this time. With low unemployment comes the threat of wage inflation, the problem of bottle necks in the economy and the possibility to improve the bottom. It's very interesting, exciting to me, that these cities become the bell weather of a better economy and a better society.

�From the moment we touched down at the airport, it was love all the way,� said Olusegun Daodu, 34, a procurement professional who recently arrived from Nigeria to join relatives and marveled at the medical card that offers free care. �If we have any reason to go to the hospital now, we just walk in.�

�The license plates say �Friendly Manitoba,� � said his wife, Hannah.

�It�s true � really, really true,� Mr. Daodu said. �I had to ask my aunt, �Do they ever get angry here?� �

�Because we are from the third world, I thought they might think they are superior,� said Anne Simpao, a Filipino nurse in tiny St. Claude, who was approached by a stranger and offered dishes and a television set. �They call it friendly Manitoba, and it�s really true.�

Most are required to bring savings, typically about $10,000, to finance the transition without government aid. While the province nominates people, the federal government does background checks and has the final say. Unlike many migrant streams, the new Manitobans have backgrounds that are strikingly middle class.

�Back home was good � not bad,� said Nishkam Virdi, 32, who makes $17 an hour at the Palliser furniture plant after moving from India, where his family owned a machine shop.

He said he was drawn less by wages than by the lure of health care and solid utilities. �The living standard is higher � the lighting, the water, the energy,� he said.

Another force is in play: immigrant voting strength. About 20 percent of Canadians are foreign born (compared with 12.5 percent in the United States), and they are quicker to acquire citizenship and voting rights. �It�s political suicide to be against immigration,� said Leslie Seidle of the Institute for Research on Public Policy, a Montreal group.