All of the myths in this article are based purely off my own experience. These are things that I have personally heard people say or read in other blogs/web forums. These myths might not be representative of everything that is out there. Please comment on anything you feel was omitted in the comments section, on twitter, via email, or youtube.
Myth #1: “Immigrants get a free ride at Canadian universities and then go back to their home countries and use all that free education to benefit their home country instead of Canada.”
There are so many things wrong with the above statement. I’m going to have to break this myth down piece by piece:
-It seems that the people who say things like this are a little bit confused about the basic definition of an immigrant. They seem to be forgetting that immigrant implies “settling” in a new country instead of temporarily staying somewhere while going to school. They also do not seem to understand the distinction between an International Student (who comes to Canada on a student visa) and an Immigrant (who may come to Canada on a variety of other visas).
-International students do NOT get a “free ride at Canadian universities”. In fact, they have to pay higher fees than Canadian citizens do. Few Canadians that I have encountered, particularly here in Alberta, realize how heavily the government subsidizes post-secondary education for Canadian citizens. At many universities local students only pay a fraction of the tuition that international students do. The figures vary based on each province and university, but if you’re curious you should ask an international university student what their tuition is and compare it to the amount paid by a local student at the same institution. The results might surprise you. Now, to be absolutely fair in this discussion, I should point out that international students might have more scholarship and subsidization opportunities available to them. However, there are also many scholarship and loan/grant options available to non-international students. The whole point of scholarships, loans/grants, subsidies is to try to level the playing field as much as possible so that all qualified individuals can attend post-secondary education.
Here are some figures I found from a sampling of Canadian Universities:
My sources:
http://www.students.ubc.ca/coursesreg/tuition-fees-deposits/tuition-fees/
http://www.registrarsoffice.ualberta.ca/Costs-Tuition-Feesaspx
http://www.mcgill.ca/student-accounts/tuition-charges/fallwinter-term-tuition-and-fees/undergraduate-fees
As you can see, based on a data from these three well known Canadian Universities, the average international student pays $13, 044.00 more than a Canadian citizen or resident. That’s a far cry from a “free ride”.
Myth #2:“You let one immigrant in and then they bring over their entire family, who will just sit on welfare, use and abuse our healthcare system, and never get jobs or contribute to Canadian society!”
You see this myth emerge often in comments on news stories about immigrants who are trying to sponsor their families for Canadian residence. Now, with any system there will be people who take advantage of it, but there are measures in place to ensure that the family members that are brought over on sponsorship will not be a burden to Canadian tax payers. (People should also keep in mind that immigrants and permanent residents are also taxpayers in this country when they work here, so it’s not as though they aren’t contributing to the system.) These measures are (according to the CIC official website):
1. Only Canadian citizens and permanent residents can sponsor their spouses, common-laws, conjugal partners, and dependant children. This means that the immigrant in question has to have already worked in Canada, contributed to taxes, and jumped through all the other hoops in place. (BTW, this is “Family Class” sponsorship that I’m talking about here.)
2. When sponsoring a family member, the sponsor has to sign documents that commit them to provide for their family member/dependant financially. They must provide financial support for that person for 3 years after they become a permanent resident. If the person they are sponsoring is their child, they have to provide financial support for 10 years, or until the child turns 25 (whichever comes first). This means that “Joe taxpayer” isn’t supporting these people, the individual immigrant is.
3. If an individual signed the above agreement before to get a family member residency and failed to deliver (ex the family member ended up using social assistance before the 3 years were up) they are NOT eligible to sponsor a family member again.
4. A person cannot be a sponsor if they receive financial assistance (unless it is for a disability).
5. There’s a minimum income require to sponsor a given number of people. See here (search LICO): http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/5196ETOC.asp#table3 This means only financially viable individuals can sponsor relatives.
6. Currently there is a hold on applications to sponsor Grandparents and Parents. These applications are not being processed. So, contrary to popular belief young people are not coming here, and then bringing over their elderly relations to use up our healthcare resources. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/sponsor/index.asp
Myth #3: "Immigrants get let into Canada all the time and they don’t even speak our language(s)!”
This is another argument you often see in the comments section on news stories relating to immigrants.
However, if people making these comments read the news more carefully they would know about the recent changes that require immigrants to demonstrate a given competency level in either of our two official languages.
Also, why does it seem that many people are afraid of people speaking in languages they don’t understand? Do you honestly think the Russia mother and daughter on the bus are whispering about you or something? It’s pretty self-involved to think that just because someone can speak in a different language that they are conspiring against you/Canadians/English-speakers when they do it. Different languages shape the way we form our thoughts, so it might be much easier for someone to express a given though in their native tongue or in a second language other than English or French. Why do you think translation is hard to do? Some thoughts just don’t have an equivalent in all languages!
Myth #4: “Immigrants are destroying Canadian culture! We let them keep their cultures, and we lose our own. They are colonizing us!”
This is something I’ve seen on some right-wing blogs/sites/comments.
To bust this myth, there isn’t much I can provide in terms of hard evidence. I can only offer this argument against the myth:
If someone claims that “immigrants are destroying Canadian culture” I always find myself asking the question: What is Canadian culture anyway? Do we even have one unified culture that can be destroyed, in the first place? Just asking these kinds of questions chips a hole in the Canadian culture myth.
Canada is not a nation in the ethnic or cultural sense. We are a nation purely in the political understanding of the term. Since the time when the first non-Aboriginals settled here we have not been ethnically or culturally homogenous. Even before the Europeans arrived on the scene, the territory we now know as Canada was one of diverse religious beliefs, languages, and cultures. So, if we have ever had a “Canadian culture” to destroy it was always a culture comprised of many diverse cultures. And how does on destroy a culture of diversity? By imposing homogeneity on it. So, those who argue that immigrants are destroying Canadian culture by bringing their diversity with them, are really the one destroying our culture.
Secondly, if part of knowing and embracing Canadian culture is learning about our nation’s history, then immigrants are likely more up-to-date on Canadian culture than most born-in-Canada Canadians. Why? Well to become a Canadian citizen, permanent residents have to pass a Citizenship test which includes questions about our political and judicial systems, history, and “culture”. I bet many Canadians would do very poorly on this exam if they were to take it.
Myth #5: “Immigrants don’t contribute to Canadian society! They’re all about doing things for their home countries and even if they live here, they don’t care about Canada!”
This myth is usually something I hear uttered, and from that moment on decide to avoid that person completely. Saying something like this is a big mark of ignorance in my books.
So, to bust this terrible myth here’s a list of successful/famous Canadian immigrants and refugees:
1. Adrienne Clarkson: Refugee. Was the Governor General (the Queen’s top representative in Canada) and is reportedly good friends with British actor Alan Rickman.
2. Alexander Graham Bell: Immigrant. Invented the harmonic telegraph, which later became the telephone.
3. Peter Mansbridge: Immigrant. Famous Canadian newscaster.
4. Robert Herjavec: Immigrant. Wealthy businessman featured on the show Dragons Den.
5. Olivia Chow: Immigrant. Member of Parliament and wife of the late Jack Layton.
6. Mike Lazaridis: Immigrant. Founder of Research in Motion (RIM), the BlackBerry company.
7. Michael Ondaatje: Immigrant. Author.
8. Gideon Sundback: Immigrant. Inventor of the zipper.
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