Baggage Claim

Canada has one of the highest immigration rates in the world, welcoming approximately two hundred fifty thousand people into our country each year (“Cancom Global,” 2006). The 2006 Canadian Census (2011) found that 14.3 percent of Manitobans were foreign-born people. Immigrants are socially disadvantaged for some obvious reasons: they are foreign to culture, social norms and roles; government laws, rules and regulations and they are often beginning a life in a new country with few relatives or friends, making the transition much harder.

Once someone has entered Canada, the hard part is not over. If they wish to stay in Canada they must become a permanent resident of Canada, and must maintain residency by staying in Canada for a minimum of two years within a five year period. During the time that, permanent residents do not hold the right to vote, and may not be able to hold certain jobs that require high-level security clearance (“Citizenship and Immigration Canada,” 2011).

Once permanent residency has been achieved and maintained, if one wishes to become a Canadian citizen, there are three main steps that must be taken in order to do so. First, an application for citizenship must be completed. This is a small, five page form. After that, a citizenship test must be taken. This test evaluates two main things: knowledge of Canada, and language abilities. Finally, and assuming all eligibilities are met, a citizenship ceremony occurs; the pending citizen takes an oath of citizenship and receives their certificate of citizenship.

According to Statistics Canada (2011) and the 2006 census, 15.2 percent of all Canadians are persons with disabilities. Though I’m confident the full 15.2 percent of these people are not all immigrants, a fraction of them are, so what would kind of barriers would be set out for a person with a physical disability to achieve Canadian Citizenship? The Winnipeg location of immigration offices is Immigration Promotion and Recruitment Branch of Manitoba Labour and Immigration is located on the 7^th floor of 213 Notre Dame Avenue (“Citizenship and Immigration Canada,” 2011), and the branch hours are limited to standard office hours. This places limitations on anyone who has a physical disability and may rely on the assistance of others to get around, or are fortunate enough to hold a job with regular office hours and no flexibility to get time off. 

Once someone with a physical disability is a Canadian Citizen, they may become overwhelmed with responsibility for their own well being. Canada prides itself on being multicultural, diverse and… Conservative. Yes, Canada is federally governed under the neoconservative paradigm which allows for many individuals to get ahead and achieve great successes in their own professional lives, but that ideology also leaves some of our less fortunate Canadians in the dust.

Being new to a country presents the opportunities for one to find their own place in their community. This may be leisurely for some, venturing out into the community on their own terms, but for a person living with a physical disability who may need to seek medical attention, they are loaded down with many important decisions. They must find a family doctor or clinic they trust, navigate their way around a new city, and find a place to get prescriptions filled and treatment and care. As you can imagine this is the top margin of a long list of challenges handed to new immigrants in Canada living with physical disabilities.

I am proud to say that the opportunity of being welcomed into a new land like Canada is a thing that two hundred fifty thousand people are grateful for each year, but sometimes it is a little bit scarier for those immigrants with a little extra… baggage.

-          Kelsey

Cancom Global. (2006). Home [Data file]. Retrieved from: http://www.cancomglobal.com/

Citizenship and Immigration Canada. (2011). Becoming a Citizen [Data file]. Retrieved from: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/citizenship/become.asp

Government of Manitoba. (2011). Manitoba’s foreign-born population [Data file]. Retrieved from: http://www2.immigratemanitoba.com/browse/news_resources/dept-stats.html