Who comes, and who decides

Word	What it means
Immigrant	A person who moves to a country to live there permanently.
Permanent resident	Allowed to live and work in Canada permanently, but not yet a citizen. Has mobility rights under section 6 of the Charter; cannot vote.
Refugee	A person who has fled their country because of a well-founded fear of persecution for their race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group.
Refugee claimant	Someone who asks for refugee protection after arriving in Canada.
Economic class	Immigrants chosen for the skills, education and experience they bring.
Family class	Immigrants sponsored by a close relative in Canada: a spouse or partner, dependent child, parent or grandparent.
Points system	Scores skilled applicants on education, English or French, work experience, age and job offers. Introduced in 1967.
IRPA	The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, in force since 2002: the federal law on who may come to Canada.
Provincial nominee program	Lets a province nominate immigrants it needs; the federal government decides. Alberta's is the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program.
Canada–Québec Accord	A 1991 agreement letting Québec select its own economic immigrants and run their settlement services.
Head tax	A fee charged only to Chinese immigrants, from 1885.

IRPA's main goals are to benefit Canada's economy, to reunite families, and to protect refugees. Each became a class, and everyone, in any class, must pass health, security and criminal checks.

• Priya, 29, an invented electrical engineer with a master's degree, strong English and four years' experience, scores high on points: economic class.
• Her father, 61, would score low on points because of his age. Once Priya is a permanent resident, she can apply to sponsor him in the family class, if she meets the income rules.
• Samir, 34, fled after being jailed for his political opinions. Points do not apply. If he is found to be a refugee, he is protected for what he faces at home, not for what he brings.

What shapes the rules. Economic reasons (labour shortages, an aging population), political ones (public opinion, relations with other countries), health and security. An immigration source is usually leaning on one of these four, and naming which is often the question.

Year	What happened	What it shows
1885	Head tax on Chinese immigrants: $50, raised to $500 by 1903	Chinese workers had just helped build the railway; the tax aimed to stop more coming
1896–1905	Clifford Sifton, the federal minister in charge, recruits farmers from Britain, the United States and central and eastern Europe, including Ukrainians	The Prairies were settled on purpose, on treaty land
1914	The Komagata Maru brings 376 passengers from India, most of them Sikh, to Vancouver; almost all are refused entry	A “continuous journey” rule was written to keep out immigrants from India
1923	The Chinese Immigration Act all but stops Chinese immigration until 1947	Exclusion by law, not just by cost
1939	Canada refuses the St. Louis, carrying Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany	Refugee policy shaped by prejudice
1967	The points system	Selection by education, language and experience, not race or country
1985	The Supreme Court's Singh decision	Refugee claimants are protected by section 7 of the Charter and owed a fair hearing
2006, 2016, 2018	Apologies for the head tax, the Komagata Maru and the St. Louis	Past policy judged wrong by the country that made it
2021	The citizenship oath changes	New citizens promise to observe a Constitution that recognizes Aboriginal and treaty rights

Reading the pattern. The points system removed race and national origin from selection. That is not the same as perfectly fair: critics note that points favour people who could afford an education and already speak English or French. A strong answer holds both.

Shared. The Constitution lets both levels of government make immigration laws, with federal law winning a conflict. Ottawa decides who is admissible and who becomes a citizen, and runs refugee protection.

Québec, under the 1991 Accord, selects its own economic immigrants, giving weight to French, and runs its own settlement services — the same aim as Bill 101. Alberta's nominee program picks people for jobs and communities the province needs filled, and Ottawa makes the final decision. Once nominees are permanent residents, section 6 of the Charter lets them move anywhere: a province can invite people, but it cannot make them stay.

Source. From an invented small-town Alberta newspaper: “Since the meat-packing plant began hiring through the provincial nominee program, our school has opened two new classrooms and the minor hockey league has a second team.”

Reading it. It shows immigration keeping a rural town's population, and its services, from shrinking. It is the town's own voice, and it leaves out housing, what the newcomers think, and whether their training from home is recognized. Asked which argument it most directly supports, choose immigration can benefit rural communities. The tempting wrong answer is about refugees, but these workers came through a nominee program, which is the economic class.

Still argued. Supporters point to filled jobs, a younger population and new businesses; critics to pressure on housing and services, and skilled newcomers working far below their training. First Nations voices add a question often left out: newcomers settle on treaty land, under policies First Nations had no part in making.

• Mixing up the classes. An engineer chosen on points, a sponsored parent and a refugee came through different doors for different reasons.
• Thinking provinces have no say. Québec selects its own economic immigrants; other provinces nominate some of theirs.
• Reading the history as a straight line of progress. Name what changed, when, and what critics still say.