The head of Canada's immigration services, Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander, underscored some of the key issues to be addressed at the 2015 National Metropolis Conference through a series of questions and answers.

Q. This year the Metropolis Conference will look specifically at the growing competition for foreign students. How does Canada ensure it remains a destination of choice for the world's top talent? With this goal in mind how do you see the role of government, the education sector, the private sector?
A. The number of international students choosing Canada continues to grow.

When our statistics for 2014 are finalized, they will show that Citizenship and Immigration Canada issued upwards of 120,000 study permits in 2014 alone -- by far the highest number on record. This reflects the quality of Canadian schools, colleges and universities, as well as Canadian research and innovation. It also represents a huge contribution to the bottom line of the Canadian economy: foreign students now represent close to $10 billion in GDP annually. We have granted full-time international students open work permits so they can gain experience in the Canadian labor market that many use to transition to permanent residency. The growth of the Canadian Experience Class in recent years and the successful launch of Express Entry on January 1 show that international students in Canada have a more prominent place and more pathways to succeed in our immigration system than ever before.

Q. What is the impact of the Government of Canada's taking back control over the direct management of settlement services in Manitoba and British Columbia?
A. Repatriating settlement programs in British Columbia and Manitoba allowed us to create a consistent delivery system across the country. Both provinces already receive funding based upon a national allocation formula, which is linked directly to their share of immigrant intake. We are committed to ensuring that each region of Canada receives a fair share of funding to delivering these services more effectively and efficiently and seeing to it that immigrants have access to the same level of services regardless of where they choose to settle.

Q. You've signaled a strong interest in investing additional settlement resources overseas to prepare newcomers to settle in Canada. How will these services connect with settlement services in Canada?
A. There is no doubt that we must rethink our settlement services to ensure we reach newcomers as early as possible.

By beginning the settlement process overseas, before immigrants arrive here, we can help ensure they arrive in Canada better set for success and better prepared to begin contributing to our society and to our economy.

Important work on fostering integration in our society can't only be done only through broad governmental policies.

In order to provide the best possible service, we need to work in partnership with those who are best placed in our communities to ensure immigration success - including employers, school boards and volunteers, groups of all levels.

Settlement services in Canada will continue to depend on strengthening and fostering good partnerships.

The organizations that deliver pre-arrival services work closely with domestic settlement service providers to ensure seamless delivery for immigrants as many newcomers, and their family members in particular, often access post-arrival services to help with their settlement and integration needs such as language training and employment supports once in Canada.

Q. There's currently a debate among those who work on immigration and integration regarding the anticipated impact of Express Entry on the kinds of settlement services that'll be required in the future. How do you anticipate this new approach will impact on the needs of applicants?
A. Express Entry is a faster, fairer and more flexible system for delivering Canadian immigration. The system is online, making it more accessible and easy to use.

Under Express Entry, more newcomers will come to Canada with jobs, which means they will likely transition into their new life sooner and integrate much more quickly. Employers will be connected to newcomers earlier than ever before.

We need to determine how integration and settlement services across the country can best adapt to this new reality.

There is no doubt that we will have to innovate and rethink our settlement services, including online delivery. It is also important to keep in mind that spouses and dependents will continue to make up the majority of immigrants under the economic category. As you know, unlike principal applicants, these immigrants are not primarily selected for their skills or language abilities. So we must continue to think about how we can improve the outcomes of all immigrants - including those who arrive through our family reunification and humanitarian programs.

Q. Integration Summits held across Canada this fall have been heralded as the most comprehensive consultations on settlement and integration in twenty years - can you share with us some of the key findings and/or priorities that emerged from these widespread consultations?
A. The summits included broad and diverse representation of settlement sector partners and stakeholders, including: host communities; all levels of government; and service providers; as well as non-traditional players such as employers, educational institutions, and non-CIC funded organizations.
Several overarching themes emerged from the summits, including:
· addressing barriers to access services, particularly in rural areas;
· stronger coordination amongst service providers to offer a more seamless experience for newcomers;
· engagement with non-traditional partners to help develop networks and opportunities for collaboration;
· we need to promote immigration and settlement, including francophone immigration in all parts of Canada.
· additional focus on pre-arrival services, and in managing newcomer expectations before their arrival to Canada; and,
· specific programming for vulnerable populations.

Q. Metropolis seeks to build effective bridges through which knowledge, experience, and analysis can be shared amongst researchers, government officials, and practitioners. How does Citizenship and Immigration Canada take advantage of the research of academics and experiences of members of civil society in the immigration and settlement fields? How do these conversations benefit the department?
A. In the past, we've been more focused on the type of services we provide and the number of immigrants they serve. But we need to know how well these services are helping immigrants and the degree to which they actually impact their success over time.

Through iCare, we are getting better and more robust data about what settlement policies and practices work best.

Metropolis is yet another effective way to coordinate all the actors together to provide experiences, data and expertise that helps the government in guiding its policies.

We recognize the vast research expertise that exists across Canada, and we want to effectively use that research expertise to inform and enhance our policies and programs. We work with researchers and the research community through a variety of means, from commissioning and disseminating research projects, through collaborative consultations with research networks and other partners for the development of better policies and programs.

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/ciim/Sponsored+Content+Minister+espouses+broad+partnerships+immigration/10916066/story.html#ixzz3VXmLLVz4