KELOWNA – More than 100 people took part in an Immigration Symposium at UBC Okanagan on Saturday. The event is aimed at discussing the impact of Canadian policy on temporary foreign workers, refugees and immigrants.
UBC Okanagan graduate student Emad Awad was one of many in attendance. He immigrated to Kelowna two-and-a-half years ago from Jordan but says the process took three times longer than the Canadian government initially estimated.
“When I applied, I applied based on the fact that the application processing time should take not more than one year and I applied based on that fact,” says Awad.
“My application was approved after three years, not one year.”
He says the application delays are an all too familiar plight for those wanting to immigrate to the country and for Canadians trying to sponsor an individual or family from abroad.
It was one of many issues discussed at the symposium.
“The concern is that when the churches started to sponsor the refugees, they just couldn’t get the government interested,” says Murray Oppertshauser, a retired Canadian Immigration Officer who spoke at the symposium. “It has been very frustrating and it hasn’t been resolved completely yet.”
READ MORE: Kelowna group says not enough Syrian refugees are being approved for sponsorship program
Another topic discussed was employment. Awad says new immigrants face discriminatory barriers when looking for employment.
“Because of either their accent, maybe skin colour sometimes or because some people don’t believe that if somebody is educated outside Canada, that they think they’re not really qualified,” he said.
Participants of the symposium spent the second half of the day in break out group, discussing potential solutions to the problems they identified for immigrants, temporary foreign workers and refugees.
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