Mexico to Canada for Work

Jesus Salazar confesses to knowing little about Canada, but this polite man with leathery skin and blackened hands, who shines shoes in a shady corner outside the Chamber of Deputies in Mexico City, wants to move there. In one of the ubiquitous tabloids that litter the country's shoe-shine stands-the ones notorious for photos of blood-soaked crime scenes and topless pin-up girls-he saw an ad about working in Canada and it piqued his curiosity.

Image:Tebin

An estimated 17,00 temporary workers are expected to work in Canada this year.

Salazar's interest in Canada is economic. He used to make a decent livelihood driving a local bus, until the concession operator went bankrupt. Now, he shines about fifteen pairs of shoes daily for fifteen pesos each. Tips are scarce. "Four politicians will come by ... and maybe leave an extra five pesos between them," he says.

So, Salazar dreams of heading far north, where he figures, "The quality of life is so much better... a lot better than here."

He's hardly alone in expressing such sentiments. Mexican migration to Canada has surged in recent decades as people in this country-which has long bled citizens seeking opportunity in the United States-show increased interest in a place that is perceived to be both prosperous and welcoming to Latinos. As the US border becomes increasingly fortified and immigration reviews become more stringent, the interest grows even stronger.

The Canadian government has helped promote movement between the two countries by expanding its oft-lauded program for farm laborers and introducing another for unskilled workers designed to fill labor shortages in regions with (until recently) fast-growing economies. An estimated 17,000 temporary workers are expected to work in Canada this year through these programs, according to the Canadian Embassy in Mexico City. They have also eased the visa restrictions for students wishing to pursue studies in Canada. The overall numbers are still small compared to migration to the US, but over the past forty years, Mexican immigration to Canada has nearly doubled every decade. According to Statistics Canada, some 16,500 Mexicans moved to Canada between 2001 and 2006. Philippe de Varennes, Immigration Program Manager at the Canadian Embassy, estimates that 1,400 Mexicans will move to Canada in 2009 as permanent residents.

"Every year, we keep increasing our targets," he says.

Motives

Motives vary for going to Canada. De Varennes cites "push" factors for Mexicans, such as security and economic concerns at home, along with the "pull" of sponsoring relatives already living in Canada, who spread the word about their experiences.

"The more we have Mexicans in Canada ... the more they want to bring their families," he explains.

Others discover Canada through education: over the past ten years, Canada has become a fashionable destination for Mexican students wanting to learn English or French or pursue high school and university studies.

Miguel Cortines first went to Calgary through a student exchange sponsored by UNAM. A native of Cuautitlán, Estado de México, he was tired of the daily grind and insecurity of Mexico City, so he applied to emigrate to Calgary, where he works as a business consultant. "My shoes are always getting dirty," he says, joking about the winter weather, but over his nearly seven years in Calgary, "I've always felt comfortable here."

Making things even more comfortable is the influx of Spanish speakers into Alberta, drawn by the oil boom: Colombians fleeing instability at home, Venezuelan oil workers fired by the state petroleum company, and Mexicans accompanied by a spate of new Mexican businesses that provide a taste of home.

"You can find everything [Mexican] now," he says. "There's even a tortillería." About the only things he can't find are tamarind and chili candies for his children.

Temporary trips

Even with the growing number of skilled immigrants going to Canada-people who score well on a government points system that puts a premium on things like education and language abilities-most Mexicans go with shorter-term objectives, and sometimes in a less legal fashion. "Fito," a 24-year-old philosophy student in Xalapa, Veracruz, spent last summer picking apples, cherries, and tomatoes in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, despite traveling on a tourist visa. He declined to use his real name, but like many young Mexicans, he considers trips to Canada "the cool thing," and a good opportunity to pocket a little cash.

"Here in Mexico, the possibilities for a young person to make good money without being exploited are minimal," he said.

To avoid exploitation in Canada, Canadian and Mexican officials have been promoting a seasonal agricultural workers program since the mid-1970s. More recently, they added a new program for unskilled laborers. The agricultural workers are hired in Mexico through the Ministry of Labor, but receive Canadian salaries (usually the provincial minimum wage), housing, and social benefits. Only 200 campesinos went that first year, but the program has grown to the point that de Varennes says that 17,000 workers were expected to be hired in 2009.

"Everybody wins in the program," he says, explaining its enduring appeal for both governments and the roughly 80 percent of participants who return year after year.

Indeed, entire villages in Estado de México and Tlaxcala are now known for seasonal migration to Canada as opposed to the United States, according to UNAM professor Maria Teresa Gutierrez Haces. But she expresses concerns about the program, saying that while workers generally speak well of their experiences, upon deeper questioning problems surface, including denial of benefits, getting nickel-and-dimed by stingy employers, and culture clashes with the farmers, themselves often immigrants from Asian countries.

Chilly relations?

Other problems are also surfacing in the broader immigration relationship between Canada and Mexico that go beyond some allegations of abuses in the farm worker program. The number of Mexicans being denied entry into Canada has soared, according to Canadian Embassy officials. Border guards are putting Mexicans under tighter scrutiny as, over the past five years, Mexico has become Canada's primary source of refugee claimants. The Globe and Mail reported in October that 9,070 Mexican refugee claims were waiting to be dealt with. The claims were made for reasons that ranged from drug war persecution to alleged discrimination for homosexuality. The acceptance rate has been just 11 percent.

Jody Rosen Spearing, whose Guadalajara business Passportal helps send students and temporary workers to Canada, says that earlier this decade, "Maybe one in 50 would be turned back," but that number has skyrocketed. Nowadays, he declines to work with anyone that might raise a red flag with Canadian border officials-those perceived as having strong reasons to not return to Mexico. Rosen Spearing said that recent divorcés often encounter more problems at the border than students fresh out of university. Border officials, he adds, now routinely give his education clients visas for only the paid period of studies, as opposed to the six-month maximum previously the norm.

Scams have also surfaced with unscrupulous immigration advisors advertising "seminars" on immigrating to Canada-even though all of the information they dispense can be obtained from the Canadian Embassy free of charge. Some ads have even promised jobs at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games.

News of the increased scrutiny hasn't reached Jesus Salazar, the shoe shiner with Canadian dreams. And the opportunity still beckons. Some of his friends have gone to the United States, where he says, "The ‘migra' is always looking for Mexicans." In Canada, he says, "I'd be free as a bird."

David Agren wrote about US and Canadian politics among expats in Lake Chapala/Ajijic, Guadalajara in the September 2007 issue of Inside México. He is a reporter for The News, and can be reached at david.agren@gmail.com.