{"id":140529,"date":"2017-12-19T06:55:00","date_gmt":"2017-12-19T11:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=140529"},"modified":"2017-12-19T06:55:00","modified_gmt":"2017-12-19T11:55:00","slug":"canada-marks-international-migrants-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2017\/12\/19\/canada-marks-international-migrants-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada marks International Migrants Day"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Canada<\/a>
Canada joined the international community in marking International Migrants Day on December 18. (Shutterstock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Canada joined the international community in marking International Migrants Day on December 18.<\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Ahmed Hussen, noted the occasion along with Foreign Affairs Minister, Chrystia Freeland, and Marie-Claude Bibeau, Canada\u2019s Minister of International Development and La Francophonie.<\/p>\n

In a joint a statement, the ministers referred to the day as \u201can opportunity to remember the rights, contributions and needs of migrants worldwide.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThroughout history, migration has been a means for people to overcome adversity and seek a better life for themselves and their families,\u201d the ministers said. \u201cThere are currently more than 244 million migrants around the world, and one in 10 are under the age of 15.\u201d<\/p>\n

That is a story Hussen for one knows well \u2014 his parents fled war in Somalia and sent him to Canada in 1992 at the age of 16 to live with family there.<\/p>\n

\u201cCanada has a long proud tradition of immigration, and one in five Canadians is born abroad,\u201d the statement continues. \u201cMigrants contribute to the identity and long-term prosperity of our country, enhance the cultural richness and diversity of our communities, bring new skills to our labour force, and contribute to innovation and the economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ministers praised \u201csafe, orderly, and regular migration\u201d and said Canada must continue to protect migrant human rights and \u201cto eliminate all forms of discrimination, including against women, girls, and persecuted minorities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nearly one million new immigrants will settle in Canada between 2018 and 2020 under Canada\u2019s ambitious new\u00a0multi-year immigration levels plan<\/a>,\u00a0which Hussen unveiled in November<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Montreal Attorney David Cohen, senior partner at the Canadian immigration law firm of Campbell Cohen and the founder of CIC News, added his voice to those marking International Migrants Day.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday is an important day of the year when we should all take a minute to consider the role immigrants play in making Canada a better, more successful society,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cCanada was built by immigrants and its future depends on the talents and essential contributions of newcomers.\u201d<\/p>\n

To find out if you are eligible to immigrate to Canada permanently, fill out a\u00a0<\/em>free online assessment form<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a9 2017 CICNews All Rights Reserved<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Canada joined the international community in marking International Migrants Day on December 18. Canada\u2019s Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":140531,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[398,39613],"class_list":["post-140529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-immigration","tag-canada","tag-international-migrants-day","mauthors-stephen-smith","mauthors-cic-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140529"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140529\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}