The Earth is a giant place with invisible lines that divide us. As free people, we should be able to go all around the planet freely instead of being limited by national borders. Human migration is one of the most obvious characteristics of the modern world. People migrate for all sorts of reasons and the way different countries deal with immigration varies a lot.

Immigration in Canada

Canada is well-known as one of the countries with the highest percentage of immigrants. It is said that one in four people in Canada was not born there and it is expected that a million more people will arrive in Canada in the next three years.

Political decisions are crucial to immigration. Trump’s administration has imposed restrictions on immigration into the USA, while Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has welcomed immigrants. This has led to an increasing number of immigrants in Canada. In fact, Canada has the highest number of refugees than any other country in the world. Many people have decided to seek asylum in Canada knowing that they would be treated better there.

Fear of newcomers

Even though a country officially welcomes refugees and immigrants and has laws that grant a decent life in the new country, there are likely to be some problems between the local population and the newcomers. The values, habits, lifestyles of the newcomers may be quite different from those of the local people, which can cause a lot of misunderstandings and conflicts in the country. Sometimes the differences between the local people and the newcomers are not that significant, but there still may be fear of the unknown that causes tensions.

Integration

If immigrants want to have a normal life in the new country, they need to be open to integration and conscious about social cohesion.

One of the first things that newcomers need to do is to learn the local language. Research shows that 93% of immigrants in Canada choose to speak French of English even at home. Difficult though it may seem, learning the language is one of the easiest steps every immigrant has to make while integrating into a new society. Another step every immigrant needs to make is pass a test that includes Canadian history and culture and swear the oath of citizenship to the queen of Canada, Queen Elizabeth II.  

More than half of all immigrants get a feeling of being Canadian while the rest feel strong connections to their home country. The former choose to support Canada over their home country when playing sports. Sometimes immigrants become no different than the people originally born in Canada.

Overall, although governments facilitate integration in different ways, the success of the process depends largely on the individual and their willingness to adapt to the new country.

Problems and solutions

Although Canada’s government goes to great lengths to support immigrants and secure a decent life for them, it can’t be said that everything is perfect. In fact, Canada has to deal with a lack of shelters for asylum seekers and the tensions between the local people and the newcomers. On the other hand, newcomers have access to the political system and high-paid jobs, which is very important for immigrants to feel treated equally as the people born in Canada.