The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act 2002 Essay

The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act 2002 - Essay Example The act replaced the Immigration Act of 1976 based on the need to eliminate discrimination and include refugees in the provisions of the act. The great depression, the ageing Canadian population, low levels of immigrants and economic benefits of immigrants are among the key reasons leading to the development of the act (Arakelian, 2008, pp.67-68). The transformation of the act to the new immigration and refugee protection act stems from the need to stamp out discrimination, encourage population growth and the need for skilled workers. The act has contributed immensely to economic development of Canada as well as promoting population growth and its use should be continuously supported (Beach, Green, & Reitz, 2003, p.167). This paper is going to look at the historical background of the act in terms of its development and values and ideologies that guide the legislation. It will provide statistics and global trends contributing to the act as well as other researches that have been done and which support and are in contrary of the act.it will then conduct a critical analysis of the legislation in terms of how well it serves the population, its strengths and any gaps that exist in service before finishing off with a conclusion that will provide a summary of what was discussed. Historical Background The first immigration act was passed in 1869 and this marked the foundation of Canada’s immigration policy. ... Immediately after the war, the nation experienced a number of setbacks and once again revised the act to a more exclusionary immigration policy aimed at encouraging harmony and control; although certain religions as well as ethnicities were barred from immigrating to Canada. This was followed by a further amendment in 1919 of section 38 prohibiting entry of certain races and nationalities (Westhues, 2006, p.20). After the Second World War, there was a change in attitudes as well as unprecedented economic growth. The senate in 1951 recommended the return of the open door policy stance on immigration which led to a new act in 1952 that did not include much of the proposed changes and continued to discriminate against races and people on economic grounds. A more inclusive policy was arrived at in 1967 that eliminated racial discrimination. 1969 saw the inclusion of refugees into the policy widening increasing chances of people who could immigrate to Canada. Amendments continued until 20 02 when the immigration and refugee protection act was established (Kelley & Trebilcock, 2010, p.11-13). Westhues (2006, p.23) argues that the rationale and ideologies at this time was to attract an influx of immigrants in order to boost the economic growth of the nation. Coming up with the immigration policy was seen as a way of increasing the country’s demand for domestic products and stimulate the nation’s manufacturing sector. At this time also, there were large tracts of land that were unoccupied and thus the need to fill this land with people. The idea of filling up the unoccupied land was as a result of the need to ensure sovereignty of the nation which was an important factor at this time. Therefore it is only through a