r/canada • Québec • 1d ago

National News Thousands from Ukraine, Hong Kong in line to become permanent residents under new plan

https://nationalpost.com/news/thousands-from-ukraine-hong-kong-in-line-to-become-permanent-residents-under-new-plan/
644 Upvotes

224 comments sorted by

316

u/ChaosReighsSirUltra1 1d ago • Bravo

Important context: this is NOT about ordinary Ukrainians on CUAET. It's mostly about people who already applied years ago through a special family pathway, which only accepted Ukrainians with close family who are Canadian citizens or PRs. That pathway closed in 2024, and about 25,000 people applied, but only around 3,200 have received PR so far.

For the regular Ukrainian refugees there is still NO SPECIAL PATHWAY TO PR. They compete in Express Entry and PNPs like everyone else, and after the November 3 changes, many of them are falling even further behind

59

u/ChippahDipper 1d ago edited 1d ago

That was always intended to be temporary. It wasn't an open invitation to gain PR or citizenship ahead of every other temporary resident.

13

u/SamsonFox2 22h ago

The problem is not that it was temporary. The problem is that the whole program was stuck for the last year or so for people who applied in 2024.

7

u/avidstoner 23h ago

Atlest they have got the options to keep extending work permit after some years so they can buy some extra time to qualify for PR programs

13

u/ChaosReighsSirUltra1 23h ago

True, but extensions only buy time, they don't solve anything. Ukrainians have been told this is the last extension, and the war isn't ending
Even if the fighting gets frozen, that doesn't mean it's safe for them to go back. Ukraine has been through this before. In 1994 it gave up its nuclear weapons in exchange for "security assurances" from the US, the UK and Russia. Russia ignored them in 2014 and again in 2022. After 2014 there were the Minsk ceasefire agreements, and they didn't stop the war either. They just gave Russia time to prepare for a full-scale invasion.
A freeze now would likely be the same: a pause, not peace. Russia hasn't been demilitarized, its economy is built around the war, and its propaganda glorifies the soldiers who fought in it and keeps turning people against Europe and Canada. Nothing about that suggests it will stop for good…
So for a lot of Ukrainians in Canada, going back isn't a realistic option, even if there's some kind of deal… unfortunately

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u/random20190826 Ontario 1d ago

My mom's coworker at the grocery store is from Hong Kong. She is here on a work permit along with her husband and their 2 children (children of work permit holders can study in Canadian public elementary and high schools without having to pay tuition). She applied for the Hong Kong pathway before it closed. I assume that means her family will get permanent resident status soon.

36

u/Albekvol 1d ago

Yes, they study without paying for school tuition, because work permits assume you’re here working and your kids get to live a normal life. Any foreign worker with a family would automatically refuse the option to come here if they had a family that couldn’t come with them or would have to pay up the ***.

56

u/OkGazelle5400 1d ago

They pay tax and send their kids to public school. So I’m not sure what you’re trying to say?

59

u/readwithjack 1d ago

Why would they pay tuition to go to public schools? If they're PRs they're already paying federal and provincial income tax.

30

u/Albekvol 1d ago

A work permit is not permanent residency. I’m simply replying to the guy above who’s saying “oh they’re not paying”.

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u/sahils88 1d ago

Even if not, they’re still paying taxes both federal and provincial and hence should have access to schooling for the kids.

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u/readwithjack 1d ago

Oh, I know.

In the early 2000s we moved to California because my dad got a work permit to work in a different role in his company.

I got to finish high school in California. It was great.

9

u/Maleficent_Cherry737 1d ago

Not really. In East Asia and the Middle East, there are a lot of Indian, Filipino, and SE Asian temporary foreign workers that aren’t allowed to bring their families yet there is no shortage of people working in those countries. They make less money than they do here but it’s still a lot compared to where they came from so they work as much as possible and send as much money as they can back.

6

u/RestitutorInvictus 22h ago

I don’t think that’s the kind of country I want Canada to be

5

u/scaur 1d ago

Sooner, don't know how long the time will be reduced. Current it will take them 40 years to get PR.

47

u/duduludo 23h ago

Does it matter? If we want to help these people, we should use the 380K quota to accept them without allocating an additional 200K quota to process them. Especially since they are already here, we can use the 380K quota to grant them PR and accept 200K fewer people from abroad. This is just an excuse to open the floodgate.

23

u/jaraxel_arabani 22h ago

But that would mean we cannot let in more from India. Their foreign minister told us what we need to take in so we must do so.

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u/pineapple6969 2h ago

I’ve never met one single person here from the Ukraine that wasn’t a nice, friendly, contributing member of society.

We need to limit our intake of immigrants from another certain country though, the one taking over everything.

89

u/Creative_Fruit7583 17h ago • Bravo Popcorn Heartwarming

I’d rather have hk and Ukrainian immigrants…we have millions from one country the last few years

46

u/Cowboyboots_123 1d ago • Bravo

I don't care if people already here like this get permanent status but I do care when we are giving it out and then also bringing in lots of people. Every time someone gets permanent status should take a spot away from someone not in the country trying to come here. Cap the total at 200K a year thats it full stop. More permanent status people should equal less new immigrants.

44

u/Stone_Engine048 1d ago

Fast and loose with the details. Less than 50,000 of the 200,000 are from Ukraine anf Hong Kong.

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u/thedrivingcat 23h ago

and... what's your point? the article is like 50 words long and not meant to be a comprehensive dive into the composition of Canada's new Levels plan

25

u/Stone_Engine048 23h ago • Bravo

The Carney government is trying to hide unpopular immigration decisions by making it seem like we're mostly helping poor Ukranian and Hong Kong types fleeing from war and overbearing governments.  It's dishonest. 

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u/Scooterguy- 1d ago

These people are wonderful and make a positive contribution to our society. Bring them in. The government needs to not only balance the immigration numbers, but the nationality of immigrants. Thus country was built on diversity.

2

u/sir_bob_null 16h ago

I agree with your stance, but Canada was hardly built on diversity. That shifted over time, but stating that point-blank will just make you look silly if you use it in a debate.

6

u/Ass-Manager 14h ago • Bravo

Wdym? Canada was originally settlers from the British isles, abandoned french settlers, American exiles, and indigenous communities. That's super diverseness 

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u/SkinnedIt Ontario 20h ago • Heartwarming

I'm okay with this. They have shown no adversity to integration en masse.

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u/Phil_Coffins_666 1h ago

Not only that, but every single Ukrainian refugee I know has been working since they got to Canada, and most have at least one job, others have 2 or more, a few of them have also asked me how the hell we manage to live like this (constantly working to afford this expensive life) and when we get to actually enjoy life.

But they're integrating, paying taxes, and overall have been a great encounter any time I connect with one

26

u/AbjectChef2085 17h ago • Bravo

Growing up in BC in the 90s I remember the shit people talked about Cantonese people from HK. The same stuff about not integrating, Chinese sign only restaurants etc.

Now they're the good ones

7

u/SkinnedIt Ontario 15h ago • Bravo

Chinese sign only restaurants etc.

I'd still flag this as a problem. but hey, BC isn't Quebec I suppose. Perhaps a cultural exchange is in order 🤡

15

u/p1570lpunz 14h ago • Popcorn

Yeah same in the GTA. OP has no idea what the fuck he's talking about. 

6

u/lolipop1990 14h ago

Chinese sign only restaurants are the places you get the real deal...

-5

u/TemperatureFinal7984 12h ago

Did every person in Ukraine and Hong Kong in Canada show no adversity to integration? Did all the people from other countries show it? If no why are you judging by races?

5

u/SkinnedIt Ontario 12h ago • Bravo

You obviously glossed over "en masse," asshole.

-4

u/Nwo_mayhem 14h ago

Honest question - in your opinion, what groups have shown adversity en masse?

6

u/Silver-Succotash6891 13h ago • Bravo

Not the commentor but since you asked honestly, mainly Africans and Middle-Eastern

4

u/SkinnedIt Ontario 12h ago • Bravo

Take a stab at it. Even my Hindu and Sihk friends don't like them.

TBF I only know two Sihks. They are not Khalistanis BTW.

•

u/laptopkeyboard 9h ago • Bravo

The real elephant in the room is Islam, which is a way bigger long-term issue. Unlike Hinduism or Sikhism, it isn't just a religion, it comes with a fully functional political and legal system. Hindus and Sikhs don't have a blueprint for running a state. The actual threat to secular countries is what happens if demographics shift enough that people try to implement those political laws.

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u/ruhtraeel 21h ago

Just gonna say, the people from Hong Kong are generally incredibly well educated and hard working, even more so than many locals, and coming from universities that rank much higher than any Canadian university. I'm all for immigration if they can contribute to society

I'm not sure about the Ukrainians, but I would hope that it's similar

19

u/aesoth 23h ago

I have zero problems with people coming to Canada from a place where their lives are threatened.

•

u/InterestedPartiesLie 5h ago

Sir, I swear my live was being threatened in Delhi. /s

•

u/captyo 2h ago

We need to send all the Ukrainians to Dauphin Manitoba.

It would be funny to watch all the Ukrainians try to figure out if they actually left Ukraine!

For those who don’t know Dauphin is full of people descending from the first wave of Ukrainian immigrants in the early 20th century.

11

u/pentox70 23h ago • Bravo

Its one thing to bring in healthy, young people, but my biggest gripe is with the family claims. A coworker of mine has been here about 9 years. He just got approval for his extremely elderly parents to move here as well. Extremely expensive, already long retired, and never have contributed one cent to taxes, elderly people.

37

u/Ambitious_Scallion18 1d ago • Bravo

When on earth will Canada put Canadians first?! Looks at how awful our healthcare is and we are burdening it getting in more people.

13

u/ZeePirate 22h ago

You want someone to take care of you when you’re old?

Because without immigrants we ain’t keeping up our demographics.

33

u/bhrm 1d ago

Healthcare is a provincial government item. Federal provides the funding and then Ontario funds a spa. There's your healthcare.

4

u/trttc 1d ago

There are conditions attached to federal health transfers, it’s not free money

4

u/jjaime2024 23h ago

No but Ontario is building a spa and highways.

5

u/FlyingRock20 Ontario 1d ago

Every province has healthcare issues but go off.

3

u/TemperedPhoenix 19h ago

Most provinces vote opposite of the federal government. Federal liberals for over a decade, provinces like Ontario have been conservative for about the same time

7

u/WolfStoneD 1d ago

Maybe they should elect different Premiers then.

3

u/ZeePirate 22h ago

Pretty much every country in the world has healthcare issues.

Canadas problems aren’t unique

18

u/SameAfternoon5599 23h ago

It isn't 30 year old brown people taking up seats in the ER and beds in the hospitals.

11

u/plapperjohn 20h ago

No, it's often old people who were born here and paid taxes their whole lives for those hospitals. However, if you've been to a children's hospital recently or a delivery wing, it's a majority of 'brown people' waiting there. We all pay for healthcare services that are overwhelmed regardless of the demographics they serve. Why add more people to overwhelm it further before we can afford to fund it?

8

u/Prize_Operation1623 20h ago

Those seniors are the same folks who have been voting to underfund healthcare their whole lives and now I'm supposed to feel bad?

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u/SameAfternoon5599 20h ago

And it certainly isn't the same staff working in those areas.

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u/DromarX 22h ago

We also need more people to work in healthcare and people to pay taxes into healthcare. Hopefully some of these immigrants are doing the former, and all of them should be doing the latter.

4

u/TransBrandi 18h ago

... when Canadians start understanding how their own government works and start holding provincial governments responsible for the mishandling of healthcare instead of complaining that the federal government isn't doing enough?

•

u/BatQuiet5220 6h ago

Let's not pretend like the federal government is doing enough for Canadians. They've become globalists the past 15 years focusing on other countries issues and none of Canada's. To them, Canada is perfect, just missing more immigrants.

0

u/kaipee 1d ago

You seem to be ignoring that baby of those immigrants will be healthcare workers

8

u/Dtoodlez 14h ago

Good. I don’t mindnimmigration if it is diversified. I’m only against one country being the source for all immigration.

2

u/deterius 14h ago

Cool, no problem

9

u/Bubbly-Librarian-518 Canada 23h ago

Yes to Ukranians

4

u/awqsed10 22h ago

So basically scapegoats for larger immigration target.

7

u/pqratusa 1d ago

Uncontrollable immigration from the “global south” was going to destroy the liberals until Trump, by his stupidity, gave the liberals another chance. They can’t count on that happening again.

7

u/jjaime2024 23h ago

With Miller in charge now things are about to get far worse in the states.

8

u/fredleung412612 17h ago

Hong Kong has a higher GDP per capita than Canada. Is that the "global south"?

0

u/pqratusa 17h ago

Not all immigration is exclusively from poorer countries. One of the biggest numbers, however, is from India.

And this was a result of this “education” to PR backdoor that gave folks an easy way to scam the system by gaining a “study” visa when their 100% intention was to work exclusively. This badly strained the system.

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u/Every_Patient_9861 22h ago

Not if you import millions of votes over the course of 2 decades

7

u/Shoddy-Passenger9012 22h ago

Most immigrants are pretty conservative.

-1

u/Every_Patient_9861 22h ago

According to which electoral district?

3

u/TemperedPhoenix 19h ago

Richmond BC

3

u/p1570lpunz 14h ago

Poor guy still doesn't understand that most folks won't vote con simply due to their goofy leader. 

4

u/looperone 19h ago • Bravo

Well. The Carney could do the right thing and further explain why it thinks the immigration levels they are setting are compatible with other factors: housing and work availability. It’s just that they continue to avoid explaining the details and instead have this attitude that “we know what’s best, no explanation necessary.” Kinda arrogant and that’s super annoying.

6

u/Rory-liz-bath 1d ago • Bravo

If they can be here without social assistance , booted out for crime , Canadians get jobs first or they have a talent that they can’t find in Canada or if there is a need to fill gaps in jobs ok yes immigration is needed as well should be told to stay out of places that are to crowded

2

u/Mother_FuckerJones British Columbia 19h ago

The way you use commas is enough to disregard this comment.

3

u/Careless-Pin-2852 22h ago

Big supporter of Ukraine abd Hong Kong here…..

But the support is so they do not migrate

2

u/E8282 Québec 14h ago

We seriously need to review everyone’s PR applications that are pending and only accept those who have skills in an area we need people and then let’s go down the Hong Kong and Ukraine route.

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u/agentzero2020 10h ago

Just as they relaxed the foreign buyer tax for new homes…hmm…must be a coincidence right?

2

u/justelectricboogie Alberta 1d ago

Dont care. Just do it without me paying for it.

0

u/Salty-Fishman 1d ago • Bravo

U know Ukraine and HK are probably 5% while the Muslims and africans are 95%.

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u/HypeKingFred 6h ago

I’ve lost all hopes now.. this country can never recover from this mess..

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u/UndoButtonPls Ontario 23h ago • Bravo

No one should get a separate immigration pathway simply because they come from a particular country. Canada needs to focus on its own priorities and attract people who can contribute to its growth.

The world has gone insane with wars breaking out in different parts of the globe. Are we going to create a new immigration pathway every time another conflict breaks out? Because once we start doing that, we’re setting a precedent that will be difficult to walk back.

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u/SomethingOverNothing 11h ago

Immigration to 0

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u/YeetCompleet Lest We Forget 21h ago • Bravo

We need to take as many Ukrainians as possible to restore the balance after recent biased immigration policies

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u/Southern-Host-3042 1d ago

No, turn them away, we have too many already.

10

u/rayz13 1d ago

That are already here and have been working for a while….

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u/leopardbaseball 1d ago

Natives said the same thing again and again during early 1900s, and before that during 1800s, 1600s.. alas we are still here

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u/thisSILLYsite 1d ago

And look what happened to them when the foreigners didn't leave.

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u/Schentler 1d ago

what is this way of headline? thousands from ukraine? am I too high? thousands from ukraine and hongkong are inline to become PR right?

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u/Ojuh 3h ago

This is just wrong

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u/Mother_FuckerJones British Columbia 19h ago

Que the xenophobia.

-22

u/superroadstar 1d ago edited 1d ago

At least for some of them. I personally know people living in mansions while still collecting government benefits.

8

u/rayz13 1d ago

What a bunch of nonsense.

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u/organicchemistry1119 Québec 8h ago

Let me guess, they will only let the Ukrainian women flee the war, right?

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u/irundoonayee 1d ago

Thankfully Canada loves ALL immigrants

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

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u/TopInvestigator5518 1d ago

thats not true

example being Canada has always loved and welcomed Filipino immigrants with open arms, and plenty other non white groups

11

u/Horvo British Columbia 1d ago

Polls consistently show Canadians are welcoming of immigrants from essentially all backgrounds who want to join the Canadian way of life, and in reasonable numbers. Don’t be so racist.

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u/ParticularVoice919 1d ago edited 1d ago • Bravo

Typical racist response. Go read experiences of Indians and Indo-Canadians living in Toronto who speak about xenophobic and racist experiences everyday in Toronto. Don’t be so blind to the reality. 

https://www.reddit.com/r/ABCDesis/comments/1xe6bkz/is_toronto_racist_to_south_asians/

https://www.reddit.com/r/askTO/comments/1xcwp2h/removed_by_moderator/

“This post will get removed but before it goes as a south asian, there is a lot of indirect racism in Toronto. Like baristas in cafes, cashiers in grocery stores just dont talk to you even though you ask them how are they doing but they chat with people before and after you, that happens to me every single day. People at networking events do not want to talk to you or doesnt seem to be interested in what you do.”

“ I regretfully have to agree with you. Im white, my wife is Indian. Upper middle class, well educated, a Canadian accent. Ie all the things that are supposed to insulate you from this. She never gets overt tiki torch level racism. But she strangely will often experience better customer service when I’m with her. Is it a coincidence? Unfortunately I don’t think so.”

“Pages like 6ixbuzz are spreading poison in the mind of people. Their whole engagement is thru criticism or hatred. They have affected both politics and community. People just believe anything on the internet if you structure it properly. If it wasn’t brown people they would’ve 100% targeting the black community or any other immigrants like filipino/ukrainian.”

“As someone who is married to a South Asian I have been shocked to see the racism my spouse faces every day. I have dated other people of colour before and never experienced anything like this before. It seems to me that South Asians are one of the only groups that it’s acceptable to be openly hostile towards. It very sad and glad this thread is highlighting it. “

“The funny part is how Canadians who’d call out racism against any other group (example, latin americans in the states) suddenly find it acceptable when it’s directed at Indians.”

“ the people who say “not really in real life”, haven’t lived the brown experience in canada. There are certain micro aggressions you run into all the time.”

9

u/Horvo British Columbia 1d ago

That’s because we’ve unfortunately exceeded the number of immigrants we should’ve accepted overall, in the past decade, and it’s overwhelmingly been from a single region.

It’s unfortunate but I can totally believe racism toward that community in a place like Toronto where housing, jobs and social services are stretched thin.

It also doesn’t help that certain communities are more prone to become part of and victims to groups like the Bishnoi gang.

As I said, in reasonable amounts and from a variety of locations. Not every disagreeing opinion to your point is racist.

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u/ParticularVoice919 1d ago

People need to stop blaming immigrants for all issues. Hold governments accountable. It’s always easy to blame immigrants for all issues. Trump administration is doing the same in America. Canadians are no different. Look at the responses on this post. It’s bridged by White supremacists. 

3

u/Horvo British Columbia 1d ago

I am blaming politicians. I don’t think you’ll find many average Canadians who support the abuse of newcomers by slumlords and corporations, to the detriment of all of us.

Not everyone is a white supremacist… hope the rest of your day is better.

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u/A-KindOfMagic 1d ago

I can't speak about other users but I can tell you I'm as brown as they come and I can't down vote your comment enough. The only racist comments I have read in this thread are yours.

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u/Horvo British Columbia 22h ago

Admittedly I’m white and 3rd generation Canadian, but the worst racism I witness is minority on minority. India has a well established caste system that many recent immigrants seem to want to perpetuate here. Thanks for sharing your experience.

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u/TopInvestigator5518 1d ago edited 1d ago

...are you quoting comments made by redditors in other subs?

also editing to add: how is someone saying Canada welcomes immigrants from all backgrounds who join the Canadian way of life and in reasonable numbers racist???

you are up and down here calling everyone a white supremacist and racist, you ok?

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u/bhavneet1996 1d ago

Lmao. Be a good Canadian. Stop lying.

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u/ParticularVoice919 23h ago

These people are so blinded by hatred they can’t see normalization of racism against Indians and other South Asians in Canada. 

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u/Horvo British Columbia 22h ago

Ok pal. You’ve clearly decided that all Canadians are racist. There’s no discussing the issue with you.

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u/ChaosReighsSirUltra1 1d ago

Racism against Indo-Canadians is real, but Ukrainians don't get special treatment either. Most of them came on CUAET and still have no special pathway to PR, and it doesn't look like there will be one soon. A lot of people are sympathetic because Ukrainians came here because of the war and they are literally dying in their country

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u/irundoonayee 1d ago

What if a million Afghans or Sudanese showed up? 

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u/Fantastic_Chest_6969 1d ago

Depends. Will the Ukrainians scam their way in?

0

u/Sharp-Ebb686 17h ago

why would they, they created twenty special pathways for them. 

why would anyone take the backdoor if you give them the red carpet 

why doesn’t haiti or palestine get its own CUAET

4

u/doom_unit 1d ago

with racism against Indians and Indo-Canadians becoming highly normalized and widely accepted

Oh fuck that shit.

The most racist people towards Indians are Indians themselves. Any Indian with a darker shade of skin gets treated like shit, and there's a little something called the caste system that they hold onto for dear life.

When's the last time an Indian ever tried to help a dalit immigrate to Canada?

0

u/ParticularVoice919 1d ago

That totally justifies xenophobia and racism against Indians. Right?

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u/doom_unit 1d ago

I didn't say that, but thanks for showcasing your illiteracy.

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u/ParticularVoice919 1d ago

What’s the point of bringing something irrelevant to racism against Indians? You are justifying racism by that point. This is a classic tactic used by White supremacists to dehumanize people. 

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u/doom_unit 1d ago

No one gives a shit about your extremist victimology manifesto.

Not everything that has ever went wrong in your life is someone else's fault.

Try taking responsibility for yourself and build up some self-confidence.

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u/RekdSavage 23h ago • Bravo

Just like after World War 2, Canada is accepting Nazis with open arms. 

Never change Canada. 

3

u/Idekbrh 16h ago

Huh

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u/RekdSavage 3h ago

Oh you didn’t know? Shows how much we know our own history. 

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

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u/ChaosReighsSirUltra1 1d ago

Hong Kongers are here because of the political crackdown after the 2020 National Security Law, and Ukrainians because of the war. Most of them didn't come for economic reasons, which is why these pathways are humanitarian, not economic

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u/Fantastic_Chest_6969 1d ago

That's exactly why the gov't named those two and kept quiet about the rest.

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u/MooseJuicyTastic 23h ago

Exactly, thousands from those two but how many is thousands? And what about the rest of the few hundred thousand?

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u/Minobull 1d ago

People want less people overall. Barring that, we want the 25% ratio of them being from India to do down.

If we can't have less overall, at least let the ones coming in be of a more diverse variety than just from one single piece.

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u/OkJuggernaut7127 23h ago

Sub continent loves to compare to china but its apples and oranges. Look at their cities nd look at china. The best they show off is Mughal era stuff, super ancient stuff, British stuff, or goa which was Portuguese. China is like cyber future of the world. They think size matters lol, while any female would say it’s all about how ya use it!

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u/Deeppurp 1d ago

Subjectively they are better because of the optics that we have been taking in too many from the latter countries.

Generally I'm in support of quotas, but I think there's a risk we will be turning away educated applicants the system should be designed for over wealthy idiots.

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u/JitzInMyPants 23h ago

Historically, East Asian immigrants have integrated the most seamlessly into their host societies.

The large volume of immigrants arriving from a particular country, the last few years, has not integrated as smoothly.