Transcript Immigration and Circulation of Members of Christian

Immigration and
Circulation of Members
of Christian Religious
Communities to Canada
Liisa Cormode
University of Saskatchewan
Categories of foreign
religious workers
• Clergy and related workers
• Volunteers without
remuneration doing nonreligious duties for a religious
organization
• Mormon missionaries
• Persons carrying out nonspiritual roles
Clergy/related workers
• Those employed “as a
clergyman, a member of a
religious order or a lay person
to assist a congregation or a
group in the achievement of its
spiritual goals…duties…will
consist mainly of preaching of
doctrine, presiding at liturgical
functions or spiritual
counselling.”
Clergy/related workers
• Temporary foreign workers and
applicants for permanent
residence
• Temporary foreign workers:
– Exempt from employment
authorization
– Additional duties require
employment authorization
– Can apply for student
authorization in Canada
Clergy/related workers
• Permanent residence
applications:
– Apply as independent applicants.
Receive 10 points under
“arranged employment” for
having a job offer of a permanent
salaried position.
– Confirmation of Offer of
Employment not required
Volunteers without
remuneration
• Perform non-religious duties
for a religious organization
without remuneration
• Require employment
authorization, but exempt from
validation. Can apply within
Canada.
• Do not pay fee for employment
authorization.
• Camp counsellors must meet
medical requirements.
Mormon missionaries
• Temporary foreign workers
• Those in full-time missionary
service for Mormon church
meet requirements of R19(1)c.
• Do not require employment
validations.
Persons who carry out
non-spiritual roles
• Secretaries, bookkeepers,
support staff, organists, Sikh
drummers, etc. employed by
religious organizations
• Temporary foreign workers
• Require employment
authorization and validation
• Pay fee for employment
authorization
Importance of religious
worker immigration
• Preserves and strengthens
religious/cultural identity
• Provides clergy - and religious
leadership - not always
available in Canada
• Gives access to linguistic and
specialized skills
• Provides volunteer workers
• Enhances missionary activity
Issues concerning
religious workers
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Cults
Definition of “religious work”
Definition of “clergy”
Religious organizations as
employers
Job validation
Fraud
Security issues
Effective policy in multicultural,
multi-religious society
Christian religious
communities
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Roman Catholic
Eastern Rite Catholic
Eastern Orthodox
Oriental Orthodox
Anglican
Protestant
Christian religious
communities
• Number of Roman Catholic
sisters, brothers and religious
priests in Canada 50% less than
in 1976
• Aging of many communities
• Few Canadian applicants
• Growing internationalization of
many communities
• Provision of leadership
• Canada as mission field
Research Questions
• Why do some communities
bring foreign members,
postultants and people from
other communities to Canada?
Who comes, for how long?
• What are communities’
experiences with immigration?
• What are the benefits and costs
of this movement?
• What are likely future trends?