One of the country’s top immigrant and refugee settlement non-profit groups is sounding the alarm as Canada faces an 18-month backlog of immigration applications caused by the pandemic.
According to SUCCESS CEO Queenie Choo, the organization is anticipating a huge wave of demand for immigrant and refugee services as international travel restrictions lift and the seriousness of the application backlogs accumulated since early 2020 becomes evident.
“I think it’s important for government to have a plan to address the backlog of 18 months of immigrants wanting to come to Canada being put on hold by the pandemic.”
Choo added that the country needs to retain these new Canadians over the long term to gain full social and economic benefits of immigration.
“If we don’t have a community that’s welcoming, people will leave.”
Permanent-residence applications have spiked about 70% to more than 375,000 cases since the Canadian border was closed in March 2020. The number of outstanding applications for temporary residence in Canada, meanwhile, is almost double the figure for permanent-residence applications, and citizenship applications itself have jumped 78% during the same year-and-a-half span.
Ottawa, in the meantime, has opened its immigration gates – and current projections for this year sit at an ambitious 401,000, which would tie a 1913 record for the highest number of immigrants arriving in one year.
Choo noted also that SUCCESS has been working hard to aid Afghan refugees who escaped from their country after the Taliban’s sudden return to power in August. Choo noted that staff have been working at the Vancouver and Toronto airports to help refugees settle in their new homes, and said programs like that need the continued support of government funding.
SUCCESS also operates several senior care homes in Metro Vancouver aimed at serving the Cantonese-Chinese community, and Choo said the organization sees the strains of COVID-19 on long-term care first-hand.
“Culturally appropriate long-term care is crucial in diverse cities like Metro Vancouver,” she said, adding that the last 18 months have been “traumatic.”
“With no visitations allowed earlier during the pandemic, seniors have been emotionally isolated – from their loved ones, from family, from most people.” Choo said the addition of a virtual visit program could not replace the physical contact with family – something that was restored only when facilities started reopening to visitors earlier this year.
There is also the ongoing rise in anti-Asian sentiments in the West, stemming from the belief that COVID-19 originated from the Chinese city of Wuhan.
Multiple officials and observers have noted a spike in hate crimes, hate speech and other actions against the Chinese-Canadian community in places like Chinatown, where SUCCESS is based.
Choo said the group has been working around the clock to engage with policy-makers, community leaders and the general public, launching education programs aimed at teaching people about how they should respond to racism and incidents of hate-driven activity.
The programs are needed to “equip people with the right knowledge and skill-set on how to address a situation when they come across one,” Choo said.
But while the pandemic has driven up the need for these programs, it has also disrupted the non-profit sector’s ability to raise funds. For SUCCESS, its anchor fundraising event – the Bridge to SUCCESS Gala each spring – has had to move to a virtual platform due to health regulations prohibiting large gatherings.
The event still raised $270,000 this year, but that total pales in comparison to the $509,000 raised in February 2020 – just weeks before Canada instituted pandemic lockdowns – and the $531,311 recorded in 2019.
“We need support in the community, support for people who are affected by racism that would empower them to report attacks and situations,” Choo said. “We also have to make sure people who are not involved directly in the situation to understand what’s going on, so the increase of that capacity within the community is what we have been working on for several months – but we need funding.” •
