Whats New in Canada-Update on CA

[mayankpandya]

Jobless rate of Alberta is lowest

Canada, 22nd April: Unemployment rate in Alberta has gone down significantly in the month of March this year with the creation of new jobs.

Labor market of Alberta had started strengthening in the previous year as well with marginal but noticeable decline in the rate of unemployment. Gains in international as well as interprovincial migration had been steady past year. The rate of unemployment in Alberta went down from 6.3 percent to 6.1 percent in February this year, Statistics Canada has stated.

New jobs created in Calgary--There has been an increase of 5,900 job positions in Calgary on month-over-month basis. The rate of unemployment in Calgary in March a year ago was 7.3 percent. The number of new jobs created in Calgary this year is stated to be 9,900 than the previous year. The signs of strengthening employment market of Alberta are clear from the 2010 Annual Alberta Labor Market Review which states that a loss of 29,000 jobs in the year 2009.

Decline in average search period for jobs in Calgary—No wonder, falling unemployment rates together with creation of new jobs in Alberta have led to a significant decline in the average searching period for jobs. The search time has gone down to three or four months from the earlier waiting period of six months or so, states a professional career coach in Calgary, Eileen Dooley.

She contributes this to upbeat mood in the local labor market. Firms on a hiring spree—Many Calgary firms seem to be searching for right candidates even as people are engaged in changing their jobs, she asserts. It’s a sharp contrast to the earlier phenomenon during the recession when the candidates preferred to keep sticking to whatever jobs they had in their hands, she maintains.

Overall job scenario across the nation---The rate of unemployment in Alberta happens to be the third lowest behind 5.2 percent of Saskatchewan and 5.5 percent of Manitoba.

Unemployment rate in Canada fell down to 7.7 percent from 7.8 percent and jobs have been rising in the nation by a total of 304,600.

Increase in full-time jobs in Calgary—Full-time jobs in Calgary have gone up in March by 10,900 and this is a cheerful news for people. No wonder, this has also resulted in offsetting the losses incurred in part-time jobs(14,200)

 

[mayankpandya]

Canada Post to layoff large number of employees

Canada, 24th April: Canada Post is all set to layoff several employees working in call-centers shortly.

The expected layoffs by Canada Post are going to start with effect from 24th July 2011 onwards.

Nearly 200 Canada Post employees to lose jobs---Employees of Canada Post working in Fredericton will be among the total 200 employees working on contract basis working nationwide and facing layoffs in July this year. The layoffs are expected to start at Winnipeg center followed by Ottawa, Nova Scotia, Antigonish and Fredericton till year-end.

Workers disappointed and anguished by layoff notices—Anguish and disappointment was writ large on the faces of the employees receiving layoff notices from Canada Post just a day prior to Easter weekend.

Reacting to the sad news, Atlantic representative for the Union of Postal Communication Employees, Mike Moeller, stated the notice as utterly mean and rotten. Its sheer heartlessness, stated executive vice-president of Public Service Alliance of Canada, Patty Ducharme, while speaking about the layoff notices sent to the call-center employees.

Job security intact for many Canada Post workers--Anick Losier, an official spokesperson for Canada Post, said the exact number of jobs to be shelved in Fredericton was not known yet. She, however, maintained that a significant number of employees of Canada Post will have security of jobs and will continue to work in the call centers.

Layoffs aimed to cut costs—Planned layoffs by Canada Post of its call-center employees working on contract basis is due to high operating costs of call-center, Canada Post has maintained in a release. Operating costs of in-house call center are quite high than the standard industry costs and hence there was an imminent and a compelling need for making such a move, the statement added.

Employees were informed about the imminent layoffs by Canada Post-- An announcement had been made by Canada Post regarding laying off of its call-center employees working on contract basis in March 2010 as an external provider will be hired for the job. The announcement stated that the reason for lay off of its employees working in call-center was due to the outsourcing of these jobs.

The statement by Canada Post further stated that Minacs had been chosen as the third-party service provider for handling of contact center operations in Canada.

 

[mayankpandya]

China’s unregistered immigration consultants sending rich into Canada

Canada, 25th April: Many unregistered immigration consultants in China are providing a way to help rich Chinese enter Canada.

The issue has been confirmed even by Jason Kenney, Canadian immigration minister, that some unregistered immigration advisors in nations like China, Pakistan and even India are posing a big problem for the Canada immigration rules.

He added during a recent interview that aspiring immigrants to Canada are ready to shell out big bucks to get a way out for sneaking their entry into Canada.

China top source of immigration to Canada—It may be worth mentioned that China has been a major source of immigration to Canada for the last several years.

In the year 2009, Canada saw arrival of nearly 2,000 Chinese on Canada investor immigrant visas along with their families. Canada investor immigrant visas program happens to be a favorite among the Chinese since it provides a fast entry into Canada and enables immigrants to become permanent residents of Canada.

Canada allures many foreigners, including Chinese, to come and stay here due to its high quality of living, better health care and high education system.

Canada accuses China of assisting migrants play with Canada immigration rules—Canada has clearly maintained that China is not taking any action on the immigration consultants involved in sending wealthy Chinese to Canada.

According to figures available, there are nearly 400 companies in China involved in offering immigration services to Chinese clients. It has been found that such immigration consultants in China help their clients gain entry to Canada through fabricated documents. And the fees charged by Chinese immigration consultants from their clients ranges anything between $7,500 and $9,000(50,000 to 60,000 Yuan).

Chinese immigration consultants say they don’t have any option-Many unregistered immigration consultants in China have justified their actions saying the tough Canada immigration rules for immigrant investors compel them to abuse the system.

The documentation required for gaining a Canada immigrant investor visa can sometimes be impossible even for legitimate and rich Chinese, the consultants maintain. Among the clients of the immigration consultants in China wanting to immigrate to Canada include those having earned large sums through trading in stock market and there is no legal proof of the source of such money, they assert. Hence, they feel compelled to ask their clients to get fake documents prepared.

Kenney refutes China’s stand—The justification used by Chinese immigration consultants has been, meanwhile, rejected by Canada immigration minister. He says the current Canada immigration rules for gaining Canada permanent residency are much simpler than that of US permanent residency rules or UK permanent residency rules.

 

[chefchopra7]

True facts and Great collection Pandya Saheb

R u in Canada , I am In edmonton alberta

but beside these good things there is bitter side of canadian Community ,
My family was humilated abused threatened as my door was physically smashed by one of the white tenant alongwith our apartment Manager.

because we are brown !!!!!!!!

You may ask me for more real canadian experiences ,

Good Luck to all new Canadians in Transit.

 

[chefchopra7]

No u dont tell the true experience

 

[mayankpandya]

Faster Canada immigraton and more Canada study visas

Canada, 27th April: Canadian political leaders are alluring Indians living in Canada by promising increased number of Canada study visas and reduced immigration waiting times for Indians.

The Canadian parliamentary elections slated to be held on May 2 this year and the political parties of Canada are trying their level-best to woo Indo-Canadians to vote in their favor.

Their aim is to convince minority ethnic communities living in Canada that the concerned party is in their favor. Some of the top cream of opposition Liberal Party got together at the CIF(Canada-India Foundation) roundtable in Toronto.

Speaking at the CIF, the leaders reiterated their party’s commitment to improve bilateral ties between Canada and India beyond trade. The move will include increased focus on higher immigration as well as tourism from India to Canada, the leaders maintained.

In addition, efforts will be made for nurturing better cooperation for education and research between both the nations, the leaders stated.

Past achievements of the party reminded to Indo-Canadians—Toronto MP Bob Rae reminded the immigrants in Canada hailing from India about the efforts of Paul Martin, the former Prime Minister of Canada and the leader of his party in inclusion of India among the G20 nations. Rae also emphasized on the need for better nuclear relations between India and Canada.

More Canada student visas for Indians—Markham-Unionville, Toronto MP, John McCallum, hinted at increasing the number of Canada student visas for Indian wanting to study in Canada. He stated that the Canadian government needs to revise its immigration rules for attracting more Indians to come and study in Canada adding that Australia was busy grabbing Canada’s share of Indian students.

The number of Indians immigrating to Australia for studying there is stated to be around 40,000 while Canada attracts around 3,500 Indians on Canada student visas annually.

Reduced Canada immigration waiting times---The issue of family reunification seems to have become the hot button topic for political parties in Canada. Another Toronto MP, Rob Oliphant, reiterated his party’s commitment to significantly reduce the current immigration waiting times under the family class immigration to five or six years. Presently, the waiting times for family class immigration are stated to be anything between 11 to 13 years.

 

[mayankpandya]

International buyers boosting Vancouver housing market

Canada, 26th April: Vancouver housing booming once again, thanks to the increased interest being shown by foreign buyers.

Foreign investors pushing the market upwards--Prices of houses in Vancouver are soaring, especially in Metro Vancouver as foreign investors are roping in huge money in the Vancouver housing market. No wonder, the steep climb in the housing prices in Vancouver have led many to think about the imminent need for introducing any steps for curbing overseas ownership of houses in Vancouver.

Average selling price of homes in Vancouver touching new highs--Foreigners, especially Chinese, are grabbing a large chunk of the houses on sale in Vancouver region. And they are ready to pay quite high price for getting property in Vancouver. According to available figures, selling price of two-storey houses in Vancouver is stated to be nothing less than $1.1 million, an increase of 9.7 percent over the previous year, and nearly triple the price of houses in Canada.

The Canadian national average price for a similar two-storey house happens to around $379,388. Prices of detached bungalows and standard condominiums registered an increase of 4.3 percent and four percent year-over-year with each fetching $341,355 and $237,919 respectively.

Foreign investment will increase further in Vancouver real estate market--It may be worth considered that high demand for real estate from Chinese buyers coupled with low rates of interest and limited homes on sale are the reasons behind a recent steep in Vancouver housing market.

And its quite likely that the Chinese are going to lead the pack of foreigners in investing heavily in the housing market of Vancouver, feel local real estate dealers. They contribute increasing number of expensive homes in Vancouver to the inflow of increased cash from Chinese.

Chinese purchasing homes for investment--According to an estimate by consultants Bain & Co., China has around 600,000 people to be included in the high-net profile with a worth of a minimum of $1.5 million in 2011. And their aim for buying houses is not for living in Canada but for investment. Moreover, higher education standards, good environment and living standards are prompting Chinese to buy real estate in Vancouver.

 

[mayankpandya]

Seniors in Canada learn protection against mortgage fraud

Canada, 28th April: Canada recently organized a seminar for educating seniors about basic tips on making a learned decision on mortgage and avoiding any mortgage scams in Canada.

Spreading awareness among seniors in Canada in making right mortgage decisions--Titled S.A.L.T.(Seniors and Law Enforcement Together), the seminar was organized at the Milton Seniors Activity Center.

The aim of this seminar was to spread awareness among aging Canadians about protection of their birth certificates, passports, and social insurance numbers among other vital personal documents from being misused.

Seniors learn mortgage safety tips through media--Personal information documents and details are vulnerable to be lost, stated elder services co-coordinator with Halton police, Constable Wendy Moraghan. Hence, there is a need to exercise adequate care with regard to your personal information since Canada happens to the top place for misuse of personal documents for mortgage throughout the world.

Participants in the seminar were shown news clips and several videos to educate them about various aspects of mortgage in Canada. Several guest speakers revealed incidents of identity misuse in Canada to help seniors learn from such incidents and take adequate protection against such happenings in the future.

Participants informed about different aspects of mortgage—Many a times, majority of people, especially seniors, don’t have adequate knowledge about the ins and outs of mortgage. Terms like ‘title insurance’ are unheard of by them.

And it is this lack of knowledge that makes them vulnerable to mortgage fraud. Buying ‘title insurance’, which is different from home insurance, for as low as $350 to $1,000 can help in protecting mortgage related losses, revealed Michael Morgan, a local property lawyer, before the packed group of audiences comprising mainly of seniors. Title insurance offers protection against losses occurring from title loopholes with the only condition being that the house is owned by you, he added.

Using shredder can protect against misuse of personal papers-Shredder is an important item to protect against misuse of personal identity documents, said Moraghan. He maintained that all important personal documents like bills of credit cards need to be destroyed using a shredder rather than simply throwing them away.

Never reveal your personal information—Personal information like social insurance number, credit card details etc. should not be revealed to anyone online or through phone. This can help in protecting personal identity.

 

[mayankpandya]

Immigrant program helps sharpen soft skills of immigrants in Calgary

Canada, 29th April: New immigrants coming to Calgary are being assisted by an immigrant initiative by Calgary Catholic Immigration Society for getting prepared for jobs in Calgary.

The immigrant initiative in Calgary named ‘Environmental Immigrant Bridging(EIB) program’, the scheme was launched by the catholic immigration society of Calgary in February.

It was provided support from ECO Canada.

Immigrant program helps sharpen soft skills of newcomers in Canada—The EIB program is of great help for the new immigrants in Canada since it prepares them for the job market in Canada, admits Ruth Ibemesim, who immigrated from the UK to Canada in October 2010 after getting her PhD in biology along with a couple of years’ experience in the public sector as well as academia.

Ibemesim, who had worked in the environment sector in the UK before coming to Canada, had a good proficiency in spoken English.

However, after her immigration to Canada, she found a sea of difference in the work cultures of the two nations, namely the UK and Canada. Moreover, lack of work experience in Canada also proved a hurdle in the way of getting job in Canada, admits Ibemesim.

Program teaches about workplace culture of Canada, helps in getting jobs in Canada—The EIB program through its training of six weeks helps newcomers in Canada give knowledge about the workplace culture of the nation. After successful completion of the EIB program, Ibemesim got her first job in Canada in her chosen field, that is, environmental sector. She was appointed as a senior project co-coordinator for environmental works for a firm.

First group gets jobs in Canada---Out of the first batch of immigrant professionals forming part of the group of 15, 12 got full-time permanent jobs within a short span of just two weeks after completion of the EIB program, informed a program coordinator with CCIS, Erin Donais.

She is hopeful that the remaining three will also get jobs soon.

EIB provides access to job fair, assists in polishing interview skills of immigrants---The immigrant initiative also helped newcomers in Canada attend a small job fair for knowing the latest happenings in the job market of Canada. In addition, it also taught them various ins and outs of j ob interview, resume writing and effective networking.

 

[mayankpandya]

Seniors in Canada learn Mortgage Rules

Canada, 28th April: Canada recently organized a seminar for educating seniors about basic tips on making a learned decision on mortgage and avoiding any mortgage scams in Canada.

Spreading awareness among seniors in Canada in making right mortgage decisions--Titled S.A.L.T.(Seniors and Law Enforcement Together), the seminar was organized at the Milton Seniors Activity Center.

The aim of this seminar was to spread awareness among aging Canadians about protection of their birth certificates, passports, and social insurance numbers among other vital personal documents from being misused.

Seniors learn mortgage safety tips through media--Personal information documents and details are vulnerable to be lost, stated elder services co-coordinator with Halton police, Constable Wendy Moraghan. Hence, there is a need to exercise adequate care with regard to your personal information since Canada happens to the top place for misuse of personal documents for mortgage throughout the world.

Participants in the seminar were shown news clips and several videos to educate them about various aspects of mortgage in Canada. Several guest speakers revealed incidents of identity misuse in Canada to help seniors learn from such incidents and take adequate protection against such happenings in the future.

Participants informed about different aspects of mortgage—Many a times, majority of people, especially seniors, don’t have adequate knowledge about the ins and outs of mortgage. Terms like ‘title insurance’ are unheard of by them.

And it is this lack of knowledge that makes them vulnerable to mortgage fraud. Buying ‘title insurance’, which is different from home insurance, for as low as $350 to $1,000 can help in protecting mortgage related losses, revealed Michael Morgan, a local property lawyer, before the packed group of audiences comprising mainly of seniors. Title insurance offers protection against losses occurring from title loopholes with the only condition being that the house is owned by you, he added.

Using shredder can protect against misuse of personal papers-Shredder is an important item to protect against misuse of personal identity documents, said Moraghan. He maintained that all important personal documents like bills of credit cards need to be destroyed using a shredder rather than simply throwing them away.

Never reveal your personal information—Personal information like social insurance number, credit card details etc. should not be revealed to anyone online or through phone. This can help in protecting personal identity.

 

[mayankpandya]

Alberta targets older workers for curbing upcoming labour shortages

Canada, 29th April: Alberta is looking to control the future labor crisis through a plan to allure mature employees.

The government of Alberta wants older workers to shelve their plans of retirement in a bid to curb the imminent labor shortage in the coming times in Alberta.

Alberta on the brink of acute labor shortage---According to Thomas Lukaszuk, Alberta’s Employment and Immigration Minister, Alberta is likely to face shortage of labor in the coming times. Hence, the strategy of the government is aimed to invite more older employees to keep staying on their jobs in Alberta, he stated during Alberta Human Resources Conference on 27th April, 2011.

Shortage of 77,000 workers in next decade--Speaking about ‘Engaging the Mature Worker: An Action Plan for Alberta’, the minister said that Alberta is going to face a huge exodus of aging workers in the year 2011. In the next ten years period, Alberta will face shortage of nearly 77,000 workers including doctors, day care workers and many more.

Focus on underrepresented groups in Alberta--Hence, the aim is to shift focus on older people, immigrants and aboriginals in Alberta, the groups most under-represented in the labor force in Alberta, he stated. Currently, the number of older workers in the total workforce is stated to be around 16 percent.

However, the number of employers having plans to tackle the problem of older workforce is just around one in four. As many as 190,000 workers will retire in Alberta in the next decade. The previous year saw exit of 17,400 Albertans moving out of the workforce due to retirement.

Tapping of older workers willing to work—The government of Alberta wants to catch the older workers in the age group of 55 and above who are willing to keep working even after they reach the retirement age. Lukaszuk stated that majority of mature employees are ready to keep engaged in some form of work, although it could be on casual or part-time basis or even switching to some different work altogether.

Linking of Alberta’s minimum wages with other provinces--Lukaszuk also hinted at the possibilities of linking minimum wages of Alberta with the minimum wages in Saskatchewan and British Columbia (B.C.). Alberta is going to see a hike in the minimum wages in Alberta shortly, the minister affirmed.

Talks with the minister from B.C. and the minister from Saskatchewan are going on in a bid to make minimum wages more aligned and related with different provinces, he said. This will facilitate firms with offices in all these three Canadian provinces having to deal with different minimum wage rates, he stated.

 

[mayankpandya]

How Canada's Election May Affect Canadian Immigration

On May 2, 2011 Canadian citizens will be casting their vote in an election to either re-elect the governing Conservatives, or to elect a new party and Prime Minister. The outcome of this election may have important implications for Canadian immigration.

Canada has five major parties running for election. While many parties agree on certain issues, such as the need to improve the efficiency of the immigration system, they each have their own views on what changes need to be made to Canada's immigration system. The following are some promises made by each party during the election campaign:

Conservatives

If re-elected, the Conservatives have promised to:

Get tougher on human smuggling;
Streamline the process for deporting foreign criminals;
Impose a two year conditional Canadian permanent resident status for applicants who are sponsored by a spouse or common-law partner and who have been in that relationship for less than two years; and
Have foreign credentials recognized in Canada faster and more easily.
Liberals

If elected, the Liberals have promised to:

Reduce wait times for immigration applications and increase efficiency of the current Canadian immigration system;
Increase the number of visas that are issued in the Family Class Category;
Increase federal funding for language training programs in Canada for those wanting to improve their English or French proficiency; and
Improve the system of recognizing foreign credentials in Canada.
NDP

If elected, the National Democratic Party has promised to:

Improve immigration wait times and fast-track family reunification;
Reduce the backlog of applications at the visa offices;
Develop better procedures and appeals for those applying for visitor visas;
Accelerate the recognition of foreign credentials in Canada;
Reinstate federal funding for immigrant settlement agencies, especially those cut in Ontario;
Implement the “Once in a Lifetime Act” which would allow Canadians a one-time opportunity to sponsor a relative who is not a member of the family class to come to Canada; and
Ensure tough laws against crooked consultants are enforced.
Green Party

If elected, the Green Party promises to:

Allocate greater funding for language training programs in English and French in Canada;
Establish a program for people living in Canada without official status that will lead to full landed immigrant status;
Improve the integration of newcomers into Canadian society;
Toughen and enforce regulations governing the practice of immigration consultants; and
Amend the Anti-Terrorism Act and the Public Safety Act so that formal charges can be brought against all those detained.
Parti Quebecois

Throughout the election campaign, the Parti Quebecois have been fairly quiet on issues regarding immigration. They recently released a document which proposes several changes to their own immigration programs within the province of Quebec (full story can be found here); however they have not discussed changes they would make to federal immigration policies.

The 2011 election is important to potential immigrants and Canadians alike as a new government can mean changes to current immigration policies, but whether all of these promises will actually be kept remains to be seen


Read more here:

http://www.cicnews.com/2011/04/canadas-election-affect-canadian-immigration-04837.html

 

[mayankpandya]

Higher levels of Canada immigration must for strengthening economy-Study

Canada, 2nd May: Canada must work towards increasing its annual immigration levels if it wants to boost its economy, findings of a latest study by University of York, Vancouver have maintained.

Canada requires an additional 1 million foreigners between the year 2011 and 2021 for giving a stimulus to the GDP (gross domestic product) of the nation by around 2.3 percent, the university research asserts.

100,000 additional immigrants needed by Canada annually—Canada needs to attract an additional 100,000 new immigrants every year. Doing so will result in fetching a revenue of $14 billion to the tax revenue of the federal government.

Moreover, it will also lead to higher demand for various goods and services in the country and give a big stimulus to the investment here, stated lead author of the study, Professor Tony Fang.

Higher levels of Canada immigration will benefit the nation--The economy of Canada is yet to emerge completely out of the global economic crisis and attracting higher levels of immigrants will help the nation in a speedy recovery, asserted Fang, who is an associate professor of human resources in liberal arts and professional studies.

Various factors taken into consideration by the study for knowing their effects on Canada economy--For the study, the researchers of the University of York in Vancouver looked at several factors like funds coming to Canada by immigrants, spending of the Canadian government on extending infrastructure and other services to immigrants coming to Canada, participation of immigrants in the Canadian work force and differences in the labor market of Canada for analyzing the effects of higher levels of Canada immigration on the native-Canadian workers.

This was revealed by the press release on the research.

Canada boasts of highest immigration rate per capita—Canada happens to have the highest rate of immigration per capita out of various major nations. Moreover, there are a range of different skilled immigration programs in the nation that are of significant use in filling the shortages of skilled workforce felt by Canada from time to time.

Non-immigrants benefit from training and development programs by employers in Canada—Fang has stated during his earlier studies that it’s the non-immigrants, rather than immigrants, who happen to benefit greatly from various training and development projects extended by employers for providing promotions and higher payouts.

Hence, employers must focus towards reforming policies that leverage the talents and skills of immigrant professionals in Canada, he quipped.

 

[mayankpandya]

Nova Scotia intends to double immigration levels by 2020

Canada, 2nd May: Canadian province Nova Scotia has expressed its plans for doubling the number of immigrants coming to the province annually by the year 2020.

Announcing the new immigration strategy for Nova Scotia (NS), Premier of Nova Scotia Darrell Dexter stated in Halifax Friday that NS will aim to allow entry for 7,200 immigrants to live and work in Nova Scotia.

Currently, Nova Scotia allows a maximum of 3,600 immigrants annually.

Additional investments by NS under new immigration plans—Nova Scotia has announced spending additional funds to the tune of 79,000 for attracting higher number of skilled immigrants under the revised immigration plans announced by Premier Dexter at the Canadian Immigration Museum at Pier 21.

The plan titled ‘Welcome Home to Nova Scotia’, the new immigration move happens to be the most ambitious strategy focusing on higher number of immigrant workforce for the province, stated Dexter.

Immigration strategy to invite immigrants with requisite skill-sets and experience in Nova Scotia—The foremost aim of the new immigration strategy of Nova Scotia is to attract immigrants with required skills and experience for working in the province, informed Marilyn More, the immigration minister.

The new immigration plan will help in making immigration programs of Nova Scotia in tune with the requirements of the employers in NS.

The immigration strategy of Nova Scotia aims to have a retention rate of 70 percent. Premier Dexter maintained that the immigration strategy will be complimenting employment opportunities in Nova Scotia by attracting foreign workers possessing foreign contacts as well as technical skills for enabling the province become competitive, innovative and more productive.

This will also result in success of new immigrants in Nova Scotia and will help them in staying permanently in this Canadian province, Ms. More asserted.

Other aims of new immigration plan of Nova Scotia—

• It will extend required information about job scenario including recognition of foreign credentials and settlement in NS to assist newcomers make effective plans for living and working in Nova Scotia even before they immigrate here.

• Help in quicker and easy recruitment of temporary foreign workforce for employers in Nova Scotia.

• Improvement in immigrant settlement projects like providing immigrant services to every region of NS.

• Strategic marketing for attracting foreigners as well as those already having immigrated to Canada.

 

[mayankpandya]

Rate of premature birth high among immigrant women spending years in Canada-Research

Canada, 1st May: Maternal health of immigrant women can suffer after living in Canada, findings of a latest research indicate.

The study conducted at Toronto’s St. Michael Hospital shows that the rate of premature births increases significantly among immigrant women living in Canada for a period greater than five years than the rate when they arrived in Canada.

Longer stay in Canada increases risk of premature delivery among immigrant females--Working as an epidemiologist at St. Michael Hospital’s Center for Research on Inner City Health, lead author of the study, Dr. Marcelo Urquia states that the study noticed that immigrant women living in Canada for a short period did not seem to have any noticeable risk of giving delivery to premature women.

However, with greater time spent in Canada by the immigrant women, rate of premature delivery goes up significantly among them, she asserted.

The research findings highlight the fact that rate of giving birth to premature babies is quite low in new immigrant women in Canada as compared to Canada-born moms.

Poor neighborhoods affect immigrant women in Canada--The study gives special focus to effects of poor neighborhoods on immigrant women in Canada, while considering various economic and social levels, states Urquia. The longer, an immigrant women stay in poor neighborhoods after immigration to Canada, higher is the probability of giving birth to premature babies, the research indicates.

Rate of premature birth among Canada-born women is stated to be 7 percent for those living in poor neighborhoods while for those living in affluent living conditions, the rate happens to be 5.7 percent.

In case of immigrant women living in Canada for less than five years, rate of premature babies is stated to be 4.5 percent for those in poorer neighborhoods and 4.7 percent for those in affluent conditions, the study maintains.

Maternal nation of birth- a good sign of premature birth risk---Dr. Urquia states that maternal nation of birth emerged to be a vital indicator of the risk of premature delivery for the initial fifteen years in Canada. However, after the expiry of this period, the pattern seems to get reverse with immigrant women reaching inequalities in terms of premature delivery witnessed at neighborhoods among Canada-born women.

The study published in the Journal of Urban Health conducted reviews of birth figures from the year 2002 to 2007 from Ontario health statistics.