At the moment the official number of Syrian refugees Canada is prepared to accept is 10,000, or at least that is the figure until the election. If the Tories are unable to rally then the number is likely to be much higher and enacted much quicker (the timeframe Conservatives are proposing is September 2016 which has been criticized by the Liberals and NDP as being too long).
The question that hasn’t been addressed, as far as Canada is concerned, is what effect will ten’s of thousands of refugee migrants have on Canadian society as a whole? The numbers obviously matter and should be examined with caution but outside of figures and frequency – not much has been speculated about what exactly refugees are to do once they land on Canadian soil.
Whether most of them are privately sponsored or not is a topic for debate but another pertinent question should be asked which is: do Syrian refugees have any realistic job prospects? Will the government finance their re-education? (mostly just ‘education’ because going by the data most Syrian refugees are not educated to begin with). How will they spend their remaining days in Canada and do any of them have hope of living normal lives after having to live through the unspeakable traumas of war and turmoil for more than 4 years?
While the world media has been busy being outraged and incensed by disturbing images of the humanitarian crisis, many Canadians are currently preoccupied with what most rational people have accepted as a recession (the second quarter growth numbers are irrefutable) and the invariable scarcity of jobs that go with it.
Job growth in Canada has been tepid for everyone but permanent residents (especially within the last 5 years) have had it the worst. For example – 14 percent of permanent residents living in Canada today who have recognized University degrees are not employed. For other migrants looking to someday achieve permanent residency (and eventually citizenship in most cases) who are without education or skills training – the unemployment/underemployment numbers are much, much higher. It would then seem that adding another ten thousand-plus refugees, who the majority of them are without skills or education, to an already fragile employment situation is unlikely to help things.
Right now Canada is still having to reconcile with its broken promises to thousands of permanent residents who followed the rules under the skilled-worker points system, paid their own way and yet are still either unable to find a career in their field or working at dead-end jobs no Canadian-born person would be willing to take themselves. Thousands of refugees will only make the underclass problem worse because clearly there is no market to absorb them which will likely result in an inevitable expansion of the welfare state.
However, If the Canadian government can somehow create a project that will offer migrants purpose as it concerns ‘work for pay’ then it is Canada’s duty to put a plan in place that will facilitate a realistic number of refugees who are fleeing desperate circumstances but in a responsible way – instead of no plan which will merely add to the desperation the country already faces.
