As waves of immigrants from the developing world remade Canada a decade ago, the famously friendly people of Manitoba could not contain their pique.

What irked them was not the Babel of tongues, the billions spent on health care and social services, or the explosion of ethnic identities. The rub was the newcomers’ preference for “M.T.V.”  Montreal, Toronto or Vancouver  over the humble prairie province north of North Dakota, which coveted workers and population growth.

Demanding “our fair share,” Manitobans did something hard to imagine in American politics, where concern over illegal immigrants dominates public debate and states seek more power to keep them out. In Canada, which has little illegal immigration, Manitoba won new power to bring foreigners in, handpicking ethnic and occupational groups judged most likely to stay.

This experiment in designer immigration has made Winnipeg a hub of parka-clad diversity  a blue-collar town that gripes about the cold in Punjabi and Tagalog  and has defied the anti-immigrant backlash seen in much of the world.

Rancorous debates over immigration have erupted from Australia to Sweden, but there is no such thing in Canada as an anti-immigrant politician. Few nations take more immigrants per capita, and perhaps none with less fuss.

Is it the selectivity Canada shows? The services it provides? Even the Mad Cowz, a violent youth gang of African refugees, did nothing to curb local appetites for foreign workers.

“When I took this portfolio, I expected some of the backlash that’s occurred in other parts of the world,” said Jennifer Howard, Manitoba’s minister of immigration. “But I have yet to have people come up to me and say, ‘I want fewer immigrants.’ I hear, ‘How can we bring in more?’ ”

This steak-and-potatoes town now offers stocks of palm oil and pounded yams, four Filipino newspapers, a large Hindu Diwali festival, and a mandatory course on Canadian life from the grand to the granular. About 600 newcomers a month learn that the Canadian charter ensures “the right to life, liberty and security” and that employers like cover letters in Times New Roman font. (A gentle note to Filipinos: résumés with photographs, popular in Manila, are frowned on in Manitoba.)

“From the moment we touched down at the airport, it was love all the way,” said Olusegun Daodu, 34, a procurement professional who recently arrived from Nigeria to join relatives and marveled at the medical card that offers free care. “If we have any reason to go to the hospital now, we just walk in.”

“The license plates say ‘Friendly Manitoba,’ ” said his wife, Hannah.

“It’s true  really, really true,” Mr. Daodu said. “I had to ask my aunt, ‘Do they ever get angry here?’ ”

Canada has long sought immigrants to populate the world’s second largest land mass, but two developments in the 1960s shaped the modern age. One created a point system that favors the highly skilled. The other abolished provisions that screened out nonwhites. Millions of minorities followed, with Chinese, Indians and Filipinos in the lead.

Relative to its population, Canada takes more than twice as many legal immigrants as the United States. Why no hullabaloo?

With one-ninth of the United States’ population, Canada is keener for growth, and the point system helps persuade the public it is getting the newcomers it needs. The children of immigrants typically do well. The economic downturn has been mild. Plus the absence of large-scale illegal immigration removes a dominant source of the conflict in the United States.

“The big difference between Canada and the U.S is that we don’t border Mexico,” said Naomi Alboim, a former immigration official who teaches at Queens University in Ontario.

French and English from the start, Canada also has a more accommodating political culture  one that accepts more pluribus and demands less unum. That American complaint  “Why do I have to press 1 for English?”  baffles a country with a minister of multiculturalism.

Another force is in play: immigrant voting strength. About 20 percent of Canadians are foreign born (compared with 12.5 percent in the United States), and they are quicker to acquire citizenship and voting rights. “It’s political suicide to be against immigration,” said Leslie Seidle of the Institute for Research on Public Policy, a Montreal group.

Some stirrings of discontent can be found. The rapid growth of the “M.T.V.” cities has fueled complaints about congestion and housing costs. A foiled 2006 terrorist plot brought modest concern about radical Islam. And critics of the refugee system say it rewards false claims of persecution, leaving the country with an unlocked back door.

“There’s considerably more concern among our people than is reflected in our policies,” said Martin Collacott, who helped create the Center for Immigration Policy Reform, a new group that advocates less immigration.

Mr. Collacott argues high levels of immigration have run up the cost of the safety net, slowed economic growth and strained civic cohesion, but he agrees the issue has little force in politics. “There’s literally no one in Parliament willing to take up the cudgel,” he said.

The Manitoba program, started in 1998 at employers’ behest, has grown rapidly under both liberal and conservative governments. While the federal system favors those with college degrees, Manitoba takes the semi-skilled, like truck drivers, and focuses on people with local relatives in the hopes that they will stay. The newcomers can bring spouses and children and get a path to citizenship.

Most are required to bring savings, typically about $10,000, to finance the transition without government aid. While the province nominates people, the federal government does background checks and has the final say. Unlike many migrant streams, the new Manitobans have backgrounds that are strikingly middle class.

“Back home was good  not bad,” said Nishkam Virdi, 32, who makes $17 an hour at the Palliser furniture plant after moving from India, where his family owned a machine shop.

He said he was drawn less by wages than by the lure of health care and solid utilities. “The living standard is higher  the lighting, the water, the energy,” he said.

The program has attracted about 50,000 people over the last decade, and surveys show a majority stayed. Ms. Howard, the immigration minister, credits job placement and language programs, but many migrants cite the informal welcomes.

“Because we are from the third world, I thought they might think they are superior,” said Anne Simpao, a Filipino nurse in tiny St. Claude, who was approached by a stranger and offered dishes and a television set. “They call it friendly Manitoba, and it’s really true.”

One complaint throughout Canada is the difficulty many immigrants have in transferring professional credentials. Heredina Maranan, 45, a certified public accountant in Manila, has been stuck in a Manitoba factory job for a decade. She did not disguise her disappointment when relatives sought to follow her. “I did not encourage them,” she said. “I think I deserved better.”

They came anyway  two families totaling 14 people, drawn not just by jobs but the promise of good schools.

“Of course I wanted to come here,” said her nephew, Lordie Osena. “In the Philippines there are 60 children in one room.”

Every province except Quebec now runs a provincial program, each with different criteria, diluting the force of the federal point system. The Manitoba program has grown so rapidly, federal officials have imposed a numerical cap.

Arthur Mauro, a Winnipeg business leader, hails the Manitoba program but sees limited lessons for a country as demographically different as the United States. “There are very few states in the U.S. that say, ‘We need people,’ ” he said.

But Arthur DeFehr, chief executive officer of Palliser furniture, does see a lesson: choose migrants who fill local needs and give them a legal path.

With 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States, he sees another opportunity for Manitoba. “I’m sure many of those people would make perfectly wonderful citizens of Canada,” he said. “I think we should go and get them.”

The Canadian Immigrant Investor Program supports the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act objective “to support the development of a strong and prosperous Canadian economy, in which the benefits of immigration are shared across all regions of Canada” by attracting experienced business people and their economic resources to Canada.  Candidates for the Immigrant Investor Program must demonstrate business experience and, prior to June 26, 2010, a Personal Net Worth of $800,000 CDN and make an “investment” of $400,000 CDN in the Canadian economy in the form of a five-year, zero-interest loan to the Government of Canada, which is fully refunded after the five-year period.

On June 26, 2010, the Government of Canada imposed a moratorium on new Investor Applications.  Now, it has been announced that the moratorium will be lifted on December 1, 2010.  As of December 1, 2010, the Government of Canada will once again accept Investor Applications; however, the Personal Net Worth and investment amounts have been doubled.  Applicants must have a Personal Net Worth of $1.6 million CDN and they must make an investment of $800,000 CDN in the form of a five-year, zero-interest loan to the Government of Canada, which is fully refunded after the five-year period.

Why was this done?  According to the Government, thresholds for Personal Net Worth and investment amounts, specified in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, had remained unchanged since 1999 and were outdated. The relative impact of a $400,000 “investment” CDN on economic development in 2010 compared to a decade earlier, along with changing client profiles, international competitiveness, and increased provincial/territorial participation in the program, underscored the need for updated Personal Net Worth and investment amounts to reflect today’s global wealth.

What does this mean to you?

If your eligibility to immigrate to Canada as an Investor was favourably assessed by Abrams & Krochak and you did not file your Application for Permanent Residence in Canada before the moratorium on new Applications was imposed and you meet the $1.6 million CDN Personal Net Worth requirement, you can now proceed with your proposed Canadian Immigration plans.  Should you wish to engage our services, please visit http://www.akcanada.com/resources/bus_inv.cfm.  We can have your entire Application package prepared and ready for filing on or after December 1, 2010 so that you do not lose valuable time.

If you do not know whether you meet the eligibility requirements for the Investor category of the Business Class but are interested, please visit http://www.akcanada.com/assessment.cfm and choose “Business” from the drop-down menu for a free assessment of your eligibility within one business day.

If you applied for Permanent Residence in Canada as an Investor before the moratorium on new Applications was imposed, these changes do NOT affect you.

On Saturday, June 26, 2010, Citizenship and Immigration Canada announced major changes to the Federal Skilled Worker Class with no advance notice. Unless an applicant has arranged employment, he/she must now have at least 1 year of continuous full-time paid work experience or 2 years of continuous half-time paid work experience in at least 1 of 29 occupations to even be eligible to apply.  Citizenship and Immigration Canada also imposed a quota.  A maximum of 20,000 Federal Skilled Worker applications will be considered for processing until July of 2011 AND within the 20,000 cap, a maximum of 1,000 applications will be accepted per eligible occupation (i.e. any 1 of the 29 occupations that appears on Canada’s General Occupations (Demand) List).

On Monday, November 1, 2010, Citizenship and Immigration Canada released approximate figures as to how many Federal Skilled Worker applications were received as of that date and…of those…how many were received in each of the 29 eligible occupations.

According to Citizenship and Immigration Canada, approximately 3,309 Federal Skilled Worker applications were received as of November 1, 2010.  The maximum for the category is 20,000.  Of the 3,309 Federal Skilled Worker applications received, the breakdown, according to eligible occupation, is as follows:

Applications received toward the overall cap: 3,309 of 20,000 as of November 1, 2010

Applications received per eligible occupation

(by National Occupational Classification [NOC] code) Number of Complete Applications Received*

0631 Restaurant and Food Service Managers  134
0811 Primary Production Managers (except Agriculture)  32
1122 Professional Occupations in Business Services to Management 1,000 (No Longer Available – Quota Reached)
1233 Insurance Adjusters and Claims Examiners  45
2121 Biologists and Related Scientists 158
2151 Architects 181
3111 Specialist Physicians  138
3112 General Practitioners and Family Physicians   167
3113 Dentists 208
3131 Pharmacists   284
3142 Physiotherapists    57
3152 Registered Nurses  461
3215 Medical Radiation Technologists 11
3222 Dental Hygienists and Dental Therapists   4
3233 Licensed Practical Nurses  21
4151 Psychologists   37
4152 Social Workers   95
6241 Chefs 17
6242 Cooks  48
7215 Contractors and Supervisors, Carpentry Trades 26
7216 Contractors and Supervisors, Mechanic Trades  58
7241 Electricians (except Industrial and Power System)  34
7242 Industrial Electricians  40
7251 Plumbers  8
7265 Welders and Related Machine Operators 10
7312 Heavy-Duty Equipment Mechanics  14
7371 Crane Operators  0
7372 Drillers and Blasters – Surface Mining, Quarrying and Construction   2
8222 Supervisors, Oil and Gas Drilling and Service   19

*The number of complete Federal Skilled Worker applications received as of November 1, 2010, is approximate.

NOTE: Because application intake fluctuates, these figures are meant as a guide only. There is no guarantee that an application sent in now will fall within the cap.

What does this mean?  It means several things.

1.      Canada is still accepting skilled workers and has not yet met its 20,000 quota for the category.

2.      If your work experience is in occupation 1122 Professional Occupations in Business Services to Management (whose quota has been reached), you must either find another occupation on Canada’s General Occupations (Demand) List in which you have a minimum of one (1) year of paid full-time work experience within the past ten (10) years to satisfy eligibility requirements OR you must wait until the new General Occupations (Demand) List is released on July 1, 2011 to see whether 1122 Professional Occupations in Business Services to Management is still on the list OR obtain Arranged Employment.

3.      If your work experience is in an occupation in which many applicants have already applied (i.e. 3152 Registered Nurses), you should proceed with your proposed Canadian Immigration plans as soon as possible and move quickly to file your completed Application package before the quota for your occupation is filled.

4.      If your work experience is in an occupation in which not many applicants have already applied (i.e. 3215 Medical Radiation Technologists/3222 Dental Hygienists and Dental Therapists), that is not a reason to delay or defer your proposed Canadian Immigration plans to a later date.  The overall quota for the Federal Skilled Worker category is 20,000.  Once that number is met, no further applications will be accepted, regardless of whether your particular occupation has met its own 1,000 applicant quota or not.

*Because application intake fluctuates, these figures are meant as a guide only.  There is no guarantee that an application sent in now will fall within the cap.

If you are an existing client of Abrams & Krochak and have any questions, regarding this information, please send your questions, in the form of an e-mail, to info@akcanada.com

If you are not yet a client of Abrams & Krochak but had your eligibility to migrate to Canada as a Federal Skilled Worker favourably assessed by the firm and you have questions, regarding this information, please send your questions, in the form of an e-mail, to askus@akcanada.com

If you are not yet a client of Abrams & Krochak and have not yet had your eligibility to migrate to Canada as a Federal Skilled Worker assessed by the firm, but you wish to receive such an assessment, please visit http://www.akcanada.com/assessment.cfm

We look forward to representing you and to seeing you soon in Canada.

OTTAWA – Canada’s immigration minister is travelling to Australia to see what can be learned about dealing with boatloads of illegal immigrants and refugee claimants.

Jason Kenney is currently on a 10-day trip through India, China and the Philippines to deal with the issue of overseas immigration fraud.

On a conference call with reporters on Thursday he announced that he would add a trip to the Australian capital of Canberra.

In addition to meeting with Australian officials, Kenney will also tour a detention centre for passengers on migrant boats.

Australia adopted a policy of processing these boats on remote Pacific islands back in 2001, a year that saw more than 5,000 people arrive by sea claiming refugee status.

The policy was discontinued in 2007 but brought back after more than 60 boats landed in 2009. The issue was a major factor in the Australian election last month that saw the Labour Party lose several seats and only hang onto power with the help of independents.

In addition to visiting Australia, Kenney announced that former CSIS director Ward Elcock has been asked to review the human smuggling situation.

The former spymaster will travel to Sri Lanka, Thailand and Australia to see what can be done to prevent more boats from heading to Canada.

Officials at the foreign affairs department say they are already working with other countries to prevent a repeat of the MV Sun Sea, which carried about 500 Tamil asylum seekers when it arrived in British Columbia last month.

The government acknowledges that more boats are likely but will not confirm rumours regarding how many. Estimates range from one ship to five heading to Canada over the next few months.