Maytree Publications

Maytree publishes policy papers, open letters to government leaders, and summaries of speeches made by our senior staff. These publications, often in partnership with the Caledon Institute of Social Policy and Zephyr Press, primarily explore immigration policies and propose practical policy alternatives.

2010, 2009, 2008 and before

2011

• Maytree & Metcalf Foundation Release New Report on Immigrant Entrepreneurship

  Immigrant Self-Employment and Entrepreneurship in the GTA by Dr. Sarah Wayland explores whether self-employment and entrepreneurship is a viable option for lifting new Canadians out of poverty in the Greater Toronto Area.

• Charting Prosperity: Practical Ideas for a Stronger Canada – Policy Insights 2011

  In this annual publication, Maytree presents more than 50 recommendations intended to contribute to Canada’s prosperity while protecting the country’s most vulnerable. The recommendations make up the three important “I”s of public policy: ideas, instruments, and investments. They each identify a powerful idea to improve the life of Canadians, the instruments which will be effective in creating that improvement, and the investments that must be made to operationalize the instruments.

• Canadian MIPEX immigration data released

  A new study published on February 28, 2011 by the British Council and the Migration Policy Group compares and ranks Canada against 29 countries in Europe and the USA. It shows that while Canada has some of the strongest policies in place to ensure the integration of immigrants, there are still areas it can improve and learn from others.

2010

• Results Are in: Federal Skilled Worker Program Works

  Prepared by Maytree, this short document summarizes the recent evaluation of the skilled worker program conducted by the federal government. Following the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), occupation-specific criteria were removed from the point system, and the evaluation finds that this was largely successful. Still, the federal government returned to an occupation-specific model, and the skilled worker class continues to be one of the few economic classes which does not receive priority processing. Download the summary (PDF)

• More than Money: Mining the human and financial potential of Canada’s education savings programs for low-income families

  A Maytree Report by May Wong and Sheila Murray
  This report outlines a number of specific recommendations on how service providers and government can improve low-income families’ access to federal government education savings programs. Even modest savings can encourage these students to pursue post-secondary education, by helping them overcome the high costs of tuition and by encouraging them to perceive that post-secondary education is within their reach.

• Canada’s immigration score: Recommendations for a win-win

  By Ratna Omidvar (Policy Options, July-August 2010)
  How do the hundreds of thousands of immigrants who arrive each year in Canada fare in the immigration process? In an article in the July-August 2010 issue of Policy Options, Maytree President Ratna Omidvar examines the extent to which our immigration policy succeeds in the short, medium and long terms for both Canada and the immigrants. Using a number of economic, social and political indicators, she finds that Canada is doing well in the medium and long terms, but must do better in the short term: “Canada’s score on this front is abysmal,” she says. She makes several recommendations to increase the benefits of immigration in the first few years of arrival, notably by strengthening the federal Skilled Worker Program.

• Introduction of Refugee Reforms

  On March 30, 2010, the government tabled legislation in the House of Commons to reform Canada’s Inland Refugee Protection System, Bill C-11. The Bill sets out to make the refugee claim process faster and fairer. Notably, it implements a full appeal of the first decision on a refugee claim to a new Refugee Appeals Division. Peter Showler, Director of the Refugee Forum at the University of Ottawa writes that “The government has made a practical and legitimate attempt to balance fairness with prompt refugee claim processing. As usual, with such a complex system of refugee determination, the devil will indeed be in the details.”

• From Insecurity to Prosperity: Practical Ideas for a Stronger Canada

  This document is a must-read for policy makers and practitioners who are interested in ideas that reduce poverty and promote inclusion. The ideas have been prepared by Maytree’s policy partners on issues such as employment insurance, caregiver benefits, community engagement, diversity in the arts, immigration and refugee policy.

2009

• Recommendations for the Temporary Foreign Worker Program

  On November 3, 2009, Canada’s Auditor General, Sheila Fraser, released her Fall Report containing the chapter Selecting Foreign Workers Under the Immigration Program which includes an examination of how the government manages the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. In a recent three-part series investigating Canada’s program for bringing in temporary workers, the Toronto Star points out that the program “has been widely criticized for being poorly monitored and leaving low-skilled migrants vulnerable to abuse.” In July 2009, Maytree released Naomi Alboim’s report Adjusting the Balance: Fixing Canada’s Economic Immigration Policies, proposing a new national vision for economic immigration. Among the 15 recommendations, Ms. Alboim also listed three that dealt with the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.

• Fast, Fair and Final: Reforming Canada’s Refugee System

  September 2009, by Peter Showler, Director of the Refugee Forum
  Making refugee decisions is an incredibly difficult task. To meet this challenge, a reformed system needs to be based on the following three pillars: (1) A good first decision; (2) a reliable appeal; and (3) the prompt removal of failed claimants.” With the proposed changes, refugee claims would be decided in six months, reviewed in four months and removed within three months of a negative appeal decision. The new refugee system would produce accurate and fair decisions, and result in the timely removal of failed claimants.

• Making Their Mark: Canada’s Young Refugees

  This publication celebrates the 10th year anniversary of the Maytree Scholarship Program, with profiles of 22 past scholarship recipients. It also features an essay by Peter Showler.

• Adjusting the Balance: Fixing Canada’s Economic Immigration Policies

  A new Maytree Report by Naomi Alboim. Canada needs a national vision for economic immigration. A strong, cohesive, long-term vision will help Canada to be competitive in attracting people with the human capital it needs for an innovative, productive and knowledge-based economy.

• Tough Choices for Migrant Workers

  By Ratna Omidvar, President, Maytree
  “People look to Canada for good ideas and good lessons. How ironic then, that today Canada seems to be borrowing from failed lessons of the European ‘guest worker’ programs,” states Maytree President Ratna Omidvar in this month’s Opinion. In this piece she argues that we need to ensure that our labour market needs are met in a way that is responsive to both the employer and the worker.

• Diversity Matters: Changing the Face of Public Boards

  Diversity Matters sets out the benefits of board diversity and provides practical ideas for promoting more transparent and inclusive board processes. Diversity is more than statistics, ratios and numbers. Real diversity brings added value to organizations and to society at large because it allows us to tap into and benefit from broader perspectives, experiences, networks and knowledge. Diversity will also help public institutions by strengthening their ties with all stakeholders and in increasing their accountability to the public they serve.

• An Open Letter to the Prime Minister from Maytree

  Maytree believes that immigrants and refugees can play an important role in strengthening our nation. This letter represents the foundation’s thoughts on those aspects of immigration policy that deal specifically with skilled immigrants and the needs of our labour market. This letter is signed by Alan Broadbent, Chairman, and Ratna Omidvar, President, Maytree.

• Submission to the 2009 Ontario Budget Consultation

  In this document, Maytree suggests the provincial government invest in the labour market in these difficult economic times. We call for more services and better enforcement of employment standards for temporary workers. We also ask the provincial government to continue to invest in bridge training, mentoring, internships, and a public loan program.

• Evaluation of the Maytree Alterna-Savings Immigrant Employment Loan Program

  The Maytree Foundation – Alterna Savings Immigrant Employment Loan Program provided loans up to $5000 to permanent residents and refugees who required short-term training, certification or registration in a profession in Ontario. This report examines the impact of these loans on the lives of skilled immigrants.