Diversity : In The News

The federal government's proposed "startup visa” program for foreign entrepreneurs has captured some headlines overseas.
 
Both the Malaysian Star and the English-language version of China's Xinhua news agency reported on the efforts to create a program that would make it easier for entrepreneurs to immigrate to Canada and to match them up with potential investors.
 
"If it goes ahead, the program would run for five years, but be capped at 2,750 applications a year. If the five-year trial turns out successful, Citizenship and Immigration Canada could introduce it formally through regulatory changes."

Read the full stories here and here
Original Sources: Malaysian Star and Xinhua

The UK's Economist magazine reports on how Canada's MBA programs are trying to attract the world's top students—and keep them here as residents after they graduate.
 
"Several things have happened to persuade more overseas students to consider Canada. Firstly, the US, in response to a tough job market, has tightened up its visa policy, making it more difficult for foreigners to stay and work in the country once they graduate. The number of H1-Bs, as the relevant visas are called, is now capped at 65,000. In 2003 it was 195,000. This is a puny number given that in 2011 there were around 723,000 foreign students in the US, according to the Institute of International Education. Furthermore, students are only awarded an H1-B if they already have a job offer. To make matters harder, this must be directly related to their field of study. MBAs have been particularly affected by the clampdown because the raison d'être of many business students is to get a new job at the end of the course."
 
"While America works to keep well-qualified people out, Canada has moved in the opposite direction. As of 2008, all students who complete a two-year Master's degree automatically have the right to stay in the country and work for three years. They do not need to have a job lined up and are not restricted to working in a particular field."
 
"Charmaine Courtis, executive director of student services at York University's Schulich School of Business, says that around 80 per cent of foreign MBAs at the school choose to stay and work in Canada immediately after their MBAs. After that, she adds, most tend to return home, taking their newly honed skills with them. It is a similar story at Rotman, says[Jeff] Muzzarall. However, given that the average age of an MBA on its full-time programme is 28, by the time that they have studied for two years and lived in the country for a further three, many have settled down with a mortgage and new family, which can persuade them to stay for good."
 
Read the full story here
 
Original Source: The Economist

Mercer, the international consulting firm that annually releases one of the world's most comprehensive quality-of-life reports, has published it 2011 findings.

Once again, Canadian cities (including Toronto) dominate the North American rankings. As reported by the Globe & Mail,  four Canadian cities (Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa and Toronto) were the only North American cities to make the top 25. Vancouver tied for fifth spot, followed by Ottawa in 14th, Toronto in 15th and Montreal in 22nd.

"Canadian cities (Vancouver, Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal) hold the top spots in North America in quality of living and safety."

"Mercer looks annually at several measures, including the political and social climate, the economy, health and sanitation, education, public services, recreation and housing."

Toronto's LG Fashion Week—the five-day long biannual fashion event—has wrapped-up to unprecedented numbers. As reported by the Globe And Mail, the new centrally located venue in the city’s David Pecaut Square, and the convergence of the shows around the theme "Canadian Cool" are among the factors that made this latest edition such a standout success. 

The National Post reports on efforts by a group of French-speaking Torontonians hoping to create the city's first "French Quarter". The group--the Toronto chapter of the Association of Francophone Communities Ontario (ACFO)--are hoping to transform the area around College and Sherbourne into a vibrant strip that would showcase francophone culture, film, art and cuisine.

"It's an idea that has been kicking around for at least 10 years, according to Jean-Pierre Bou�, president of the Toronto chapter of the Association of Francophone Communities Ontario (ACFO). The group has partnered with local French radio station Choq-FM and, with funding from Canadian Heritage, is asking francophones in the GTA what they think about reviving a French district that used to be on Carlton, between Yonge and Parliament streets. Their response will determine if the group pursues it."

"Mr. Bou� said the original idea was to have it cover a rather large chunk of downtown, from University Avenue to the Don Valley Parkway, from Carlton to the lake. Now, they envision anchoring it around Sacr� Coeur Church, the city's first Frenchspeaking Roman Catholic parish established in 1887, at the corner of Carlton and Sherbourne. College Fran�ais is a few blocks west, at Mutual Street, while the Centre francophone, Boreal College and TFO, the province's only French-language educational public television network, are all at Yonge and Carlton."

"Mr. Bou�, who owns Lafayette Bistro on Queen Street, says part of the challenge is francophones have not settled in a specific place in Toronto. "When an Italian family comes to Toronto they ask where are the Italians and they go where they are," he said. French people will go in the opposite direction of their own kind, he says, because they're independent. "But I can tell you that after a while you are desperate for a confit de canard [duck confit] and you would be delighted if you could find an area where there is not one, but six, seven, 10 restaurants where you can choose."

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original source National Post