News Release

Minister Kenney’s visit to France, India, China, and the Philippines to focus on greater international cooperation on shared immigration concerns

Ottawa, September 3, 2010 — Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney leaves tomorrow for an official visit to Europe and Asia.

On the Minister’s agenda are visits to Paris, New Delhi, Chandigarh, Hong Kong, Beijing and Manila. He will participate in meetings as part of the Government of Canada’s commitment to work with foreign governments to improve international cooperation on shared immigration concerns. Minister Kenney’s trip will focus on encouraging countries that are major sources of immigration to Canada to implement and enforce meaningful regulation of fraudulent immigration activity, such as marriages of convenience and crooked immigration consultants.

The visit will begin in Paris, where the Minister will meet the French minister responsible for immigration and various European ministers and discuss issues of common concern, including illegal immigration, border security, human trafficking and smuggling, and the resettlement of refugees.

In Chandigarh, India, Minister Kenney will meet with senior officials from Punjab to discuss progress made on anti-fraud initiatives since his January 2009 meeting with the Chief Minister of Punjab.

“In 2009, our Chandigarh mission was seeing a large volume of fraudulent documents being submitted as part of immigration applications, including fake marriage licenses, fake death certificates, fake university admission letters, fake wedding photos, fake bank statements, fake visa counterfoils, fake newspaper articles, and fake letters of endorsement from Members of Parliament,” said Minister Kenney. “At the time, Punjab officials indicated they shared my concern with this illegal activity and committed to crack down on crooked consultants. Since then, there have been media reports of a number of arrests in Punjab of crooked immigration consultants. I look forward to discussing progress made to-date and our continued cooperation on this issue.”

In Chandigarh, Minister Kenney will also give a presentation on how, since 2005, both the approval rate for Temporary Resident Visas in Chandigarh and the volume of applications processed have increased significantly.

Minister Kenney’s visit to New Delhi, Hong Kong, Beijing, and Manila will focus on how the Government of Canada’s recent announcement to increase intake of skilled immigrants will affect them. In his meetings with government officials, Minister Kenney will also raise the subject of cooperation on the prosecution of crooked immigration consultants, highlighting legislation he has introduced to crack down on crooked consultants.

He will also discuss opportunities for collaboration on anti-fraud initiatives, such as attempts to use marriages of convenience to circumvent Canada’s immigration laws. This follows Minister Kenney’s recent cross-Canada tour where he met with victims of immigration and marriage fraud to discuss the magnitude of the problem, as well as how the government can better confront it.

In Beijing, he will also participate in a joint announcement with the government of Manitoba and the Association of Canadian Community Colleges. Minister Kenney will also make an announcement concerning international students.

In Manila, Philippines, Minister Kenney will also explain what the Government of Canada is doing to protect live-in caregivers, including giving them the most generous pathway to permanent residence in the developed world. He will also highlight that the Philippines has become one of the largest source countries of immigration to Canada. Minister Kenney will also seek government cooperation on the prosecution of crooked consultants and recruiters, many of whom victimize individuals who dream of immigrating to Canada as live-in caregivers.

Members of the media as well as cultural communities interested in receiving photos from the trip, or being notified of media availabilities, should send an email to CIC-Media-Relations@cic.gc.ca with their contact information.

For further information (media only), please contact:

Alykhan Velshi
Minister’s Office
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
Alykhan.Velshi@cic.gc.ca

Media Relations
Communications Branch
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
613-952-1650
CIC-Media-Relations@cic.gc.ca

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/releases/2010/2010-09-03.asp