Immigration and Circulation of Members of Christian Religious Communities to Canada

1. Immigration and Circulation of Members of Christian Religious Communities to Canada Liisa Cormode University of Saskatchewan

2. Categories of foreign religious workers • Clergy and related workers • Volunteers without remuneration doing non-religious duties for a religious organization • Mormon missionaries • Persons carrying out non-spiritual roles

3. 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.”

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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

9. 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

10. Issues concerning religious workers • Cults • Definition of “religious work” • Definition of “clergy” • Religious organizations as employers • Job validation • Fraud • Security issues • Effective policy in multicultural, multi-religious society

11. Christian religious communities • Roman Catholic • Eastern Rite Catholic • Eastern Orthodox • Oriental Orthodox • Anglican • Protestant

12. 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

13. 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?