Canada’s immigration public policies

1. Roberto Rodolfo Georg Uebel, MSc. Federal Universityof Rio Grande do Sul Canada’s immigration public policies and possible applications in the State of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil)

2. Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

3. State Information Capital: Porto Alegre Governor: José Ivo Sartori Area: 281,748 km² Population: 11.2 million GDP: US$ 84.1 billion HDI: 0.832 Divided into 35 microregions and 28 development regional councils.

4. Outline • Research Topic • Issues, Objectives, Scenario • Conceptual and Comparative Framework • Canadian Immigration Policy • Analysis of Results • Final Considerations

5. Research Topic

6. Research Topic • Immigration public policies in Canada  migration policies. • Concepts of immigration, public policies and immigration policy in Canada and in Brazil. • Public Management and the migratory issue. • Applicability of Canadian model in different contexts, as the case of Rio Grande do Sul.

7. The Research

8. Research Issues • Growth of migratory flows towards Brazil and Rio Grande do Sul in the last two decades. • Lack of an immigration policy for the management and selection of skilled immigrants in the Brazilian federal level. • Demand for semi-skilled and skilled labour in specific sectors of Rio Grande do Sul's economy. • Canada's immigration public policies as a global reference.

9. Immigration contingent (stock) in Rio Grande do Sul according to the country of origin – 2007/2014.

10. Table 1 - Ranking of immigration groups in Rio Grande do Sul by country of origin - Total stock 2007 - 2015.

11. Scenario • An increase of 198.8% between 2000 and 2010 and 125% between 2010 and 2014 in the immigration flows towards Rio Grande do Sul. • Flows from different countries and continents, just like the Canadian case. • Decentralization and multiculturalism. • The choice of Canada, as a reference country for this feasibility study of the application of public immigration policies, derives from its historical experience as an aggregator of immigrant communities, especially of Asians, Africans and Latin Americans, such as the current case of Rio Grande do Sul (Moura & Uebel, 2016). In addition, there has been the systematic implementation and renewal of such policies since the year 1870, as Green & Green (1996) point out in their study, imbuing there the adoption of new approaches from the Management.

12. Research Objectives • Discuss the concepts of immigration in Public Management, as well as the conceptualization of public policy and immigration policy in Canada and in Brazil. • Discuss the Canadian Skilled Worker Selection Grid and adapt it to the needs and limitations of Rio Grande do Sul. • Describe the immigration public policies in Canada, as well as their federative management. • Point out the possibility of applying Canadian policies in the specific case of Rio Grande do Sul, as an autonomous federal unit in the management of social and labour policies. • Contribute to the optimization of the state's immigration situation and to the debate about the role of Public Management regarding the immigration issues in a federative environment.

13. CONCEPTUAL AND COMPARATIVE FRAMEWORK

14. Summary of concepts of immigration in Canada and Brazil • Immigration • Canada: • Normative and official terminology: immigrant, permanent resident, temporary resident, economic immigrant, refugee, asylum seeker. • Terminology for statistical purposes. • Legal terminology: foreigner and permanent resident. • Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, 2002. • Brazil: • Terminology influenced by French école. • Terminology from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics: foreigners. • Foreigners Statute, Law No. 6,815, 1980. • New Immigration Law, pending on Presidential approval, approved by Congress in April, 2017.

15. Summary of the concepts of public policies and immigration policy in Canada and Brazil • Public Policy and Immigration Policy: • Canada: • 1) vertical relations between the constituent units (provinces and federal territories) and the central government. • 2) horizontal relations between the constituent units. • Provincial action: Quebec, British Columbia and Ontario. • Statist approach (state-centred policy-making). • Brazil: • Public polices as a result of political activity. • “Put the government into action” and/or analyse this action (independent variable) and, when necessary, propose changes in the course of these actions (dependent variable). • Multicentric approach.

16. CANADIAN IMMIGRATION POLICY

17. Table 2Selection and scoring table of immigrants in the Canadian system. Skilled Worker Selection Grid.

18. Analysis of Results • Similar growth of the number of immigrants in the period 2000 to 2010: in Canada was 120.03%, while in Rio Grande do Sul was 98.93%. • Each micro-region of Rio Grande do Sul has distinct economic and demographic needs (Moraes & Alvim, 2012), as well as a deficit of workers in certain sectors of the economy. • Demographics in decline: the economically active population of Rio Grande do Sul grew by only 15.69% between 2000 and 2010, the aging rate increased by 31.34%, and the total population grew by only 506,000 inhabitants  similar situation to the Province of Quebec.

19. Table 3Proposal of a selection and scoring simple table of immigrants in the Rio Grande do Sul’s system.

20. Analysis of Results • The score was changed to a limit of 130 points in order to maintain the same weights for the points of education and give greater relevance to the qualification in foreign languages and professional experience. • This system could be applied through embassies and diplomatic missions of Brazil abroad, especially in those countries with the greatest potential for immigration to Rio Grande do Sul, following the historical series, and by the internet, as in the Canadian case, with the formalization of the process later in one of the diplomatic offices. • Such a public policy would optimize the migratory entry, meeting the demands of the state, and reduce the costs of the federal government with the issuance of work permits, deportations, inspections and documentation, as in Canada. • The proposal we presented with the points system would already be included in the National Migration Strategy, drafted by the Ministry of Justice during the government of Dilma Rousseff, who was irregularly impeached in 2016. However, reading the Proposals Book of 1st COMIGRAR, we can identify some common points (MINISTRY OF JUSTICE, 2014).

21. Analysis of Results • The proper points of this strategy converge towards the adoption of the Canadian-Rio Grande do Sul proposal of our paper, namely: • Portuguese classes, professional training and counseling aiming the productive inclusion (Ibid., p. 16); • Inclusion of the immigrant population in public and private agencies of labour intermediation, that offer professional orientation services, job placement, Portuguese courses and professional qualification, among others (Ibid., p. 31); • Creation of access mechanisms and expansion of criteria for the inclusion of migrants and refugees in national and local policies (Ibid., p. 38); • Creation of specific reservation quotas for this public, including a unified system of selection for migrants and refugees (Ibid., p. 40).

22. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS

23. Final Considerations • Convergences and points of applicability were observed between the normative systems of Canada and Brazil, both countries that have a federative system, besides equities in the growth of migratory flows in the last two decades and the necessity of workforce and demographic growth in the case of Rio Grande do Sul specifically. • In the second section, we showed possible contributions and gaps that the State Public Management could use for the formulation and application of the proposal of the article. • In the third section, we sought to adapt the Canadian system of selection of immigrants by points to the reality and needs of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, regarding the demand for semi-skilled and skilled workers in different microregions of the state. • It was also sought to meet the requirements for a possible medium and long-term growth prospects, since population growth is also inherent in the formulation of public policies in Brazil.

24. Final Considerations • Finally, the paper does not close the debate on the comparison and applicability of exogenous policies - immigration, labour, social, population policies - to the context and case of Brazil and Rio Grande do Sul, but rather presents a possible solution to the immanent needs arising from the economic and social situation in which Brazil and, more especially, Rio Grande do Sul, has been experiencing over the past two decades. • Instead of proposing walls, it was intended to build bridges based on the Public Management and through the policy’s cooperation between Brazil and Canada.

25. Thank you! Merci! Obrigado! roberto.uebel@ufrgs.br robertouebel@hotmail.com