To deter abuse, Canada’s refugee system has changed.
People who have arrived with groundless claims for asylum are removed faster (then before).

The Government of Canada has started a billboard campaign in Miskolc, Hungary's third biggest city, to inform people about the changes of its immigration law. (Many who previously immigrated to Canada used to live in this city and its surrounding area.)

Also, two Global News reports from Canada:

The Outsiders. The harsh realities of being a Hungarian Roma refugee in Canada.

(Previously)
posted by bdz on Jan 29, 2013 - 149 comments

The history of the Sikh Diaspora in USA and Canada goes back to Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 1897. Emerging as a casteless alternative to the ongoing Hindu Muslim wars in India, the Sikhs have always been known as a martial tribe, their prowess and courage respected by the British and others alike. Colloquially addressed respectfully as Sardarji, the men take Singh (lion) as their middle name while the women bear the name Kaur (princess). This custom further confirmed the equality of both genders as was the tradition set by the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak. The first Sikh Organization was The Pacific Coast Khalsa Diwan Society organized in the spring of 1912. [more inside]
posted by infini on Aug 6, 2012 - 34 comments

With the Ontario provincial election campaign still extremely close (warning: PDF link) in its last days, the Conservative party sends out a gay-baiting and trans-baiting direct-mail ad. [more inside]
posted by mightygodking on Oct 3, 2011 - 70 comments

Recognize Immigrant Credentials is a series of Canadian PSAs that are at once funny and heart-breaking.
posted by Cool Papa Bell on May 19, 2011 - 62 comments

Though mentioned intermittently, Mr. Harper's determination to muzzle critics will not be a “ballot box question” for most Canadians when they vote. Yet the implications for a Canada ruled by an unrestrained Harper majority government are obvious, and terrifying. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has now published an excellent commentary by Maria Gergin called “Silencing Dissent: The Conservative Record”. [via Gerald Caplan for the Globe and Mail] [more inside]
posted by ServSci on Apr 24, 2011 - 34 comments

What does it mean to be Canadian? It isn't about an ethnicity, a religion, a language, or a shared heritage or history. From CBC's Ideas comes the two-part radio documentary, Being Canadian. "From east to west, public intellectuals and private citizens (both new and old Canadians), tell film-maker Sun-Kyung (Sunny) Yi about the concerns, the questions, and the challenges of living together in a multicultural and diverse society." It is also the story of how and why a Korean family became Canadian, first in the law, and then in their hearts.
posted by Hildegarde on Dec 29, 2010 - 120 comments

The Toronto Star looks into the shambles that Canada's guest worker program finds itself in. [more inside]
posted by reenum on Jul 7, 2010 - 36 comments

Recent troubles with Muslim women's clothes have lead to the Quebec Government to begin proposing legislation on the issue of face covering and access to public services. The niqab has become a central symbol in the anti-muslim rhetoric of nationalist parties in Europe (political poster examples: France, Switzerland, and Britain) about the threat Islam poses to tolerant secular societies. [more inside]
posted by ServSci on Mar 30, 2010 - 153 comments

Are you a Democrat who drinks lattes? eats arugula? Does the thought of another Republican president fill you with dread? Canada's E.L.I.T.E. immigration plan is right for you! [more inside]
posted by afu on Oct 25, 2008 - 102 comments

"It's the first time since Japanese Internment that we've imprisoned children" -- from a post displaying a letter written by a 9 year old Canadian.
posted by mathowie on Mar 10, 2008 - 72 comments

"Dear Mr. Prime minister haper, I don’t like to stay in this jail. I’m only nine years old. I want to go to my school in Canada. I’m sleeping beside the wall. Please Mr. Priminister haper give visa for my family. This place is not good for me." Two Iranian parents and their Canadian-born son Kevin have been detained in a Texas detention centre after trying to escape their torturous and dangerous situation in Iran. Hear the interviews.
posted by Menomena on Mar 5, 2007 - 96 comments

Join Canada? Okay, many of you feel you've been disenfranchised by the recent election, maybe even to the point of hating the heartland. We've heard lots of "I'm moving to Canada" and discussion of immigration requirements. But some are now talking about a merger of the Blue States and the Great White North. Joining Canada isn't a new idea, either for Americans or others. C'mon, do you really think it would work?
posted by Turtles all the way down on Nov 6, 2004 - 64 comments

America....love it or leave it?
posted by gimonca on Jul 19, 2003 - 120 comments

Just a defacto "Nope". "Refugees" from the US seeking asylum in Canada will no longer have any hoops to jump through. The hoops are to be replaced by impenatrable legal barriers, otherwise known as "inking the deal".
posted by crasspastor on May 7, 2002 - 6 comments

I'm sure the U.S. would have given them money for rooms at the Holiday Inn. Canadian immigration officers say a lack of detention space forced them to release a dozen men into the Toronto area who are suspected of having links to al-Qaida terrorists. Good friends, those Canadians.
posted by nobody_knose on Dec 2, 2001 - 38 comments

Canada Denies Eminem Entrance. I'm sorry if it's already been posted, i've been out of the loop.
posted by dominic on Oct 26, 2000 - 17 comments