Lebanon’s nationality law prevents Halifa, who is Lebanese, from conferring citizenship to her children. “In Lebanon it was too difficult to get services especially health and education services”. [Halifa] Abdel was accepted into Canada’s skilled worker program as a software engineer. He, his wife and his children were granted permanent residency, have access to provincial health care, and their children are automatically entitled to Canadian education. They are also entitled to Canadian travel documents and have a pathway to Canadian citizenship providing they fulfil the relevant residency requirements. Despite the rights that Abdel and his family have been granted, because Abdel lacks Canadian experience in his field Abdel and Halifa are struggling financially. In order to enhance their candidacy for employment both Abdel and Halifa have enrolled in postsecondary programs. “Since I arrived here I have applied for around two thousand companies. Three or four companies replied back… Most of the companies are working for the government, so they need the security clearance. Another point, they need Canadian experience sometimes they need you to be bilingual, to speak English and French at the same time. Canadian experience… sometimes they look at your degree that is issued in Canada or from outside Canada. I don’t know exactly, there is a mix. There is a mix of these things... most of [the companies] ask for this qualification, security clearance, bilingual, having degree from Canada, Canadian experience, all these mix together”. [Abdel] 2.1.2 Non-Economic Stream Stateless people may enter Canada through non-economic streams, such as being granted refugee or protected person status, being an asylum seeker, or by becoming a temporary resident. Some stateless people may fear persecution in their previous countries of residence and apply for refugee status in Canada. These individuals may apply for refugee status from within Canada. On the other hand, stateless refugees who are resettled to Canada are granted permanent residency. a. Recognized Refugees and Protected Persons Stateless persons in Canada who have obtained refugee or protected person status have the right to work and access health care, obtain a travel document,35 and apply for permanent residency. Those who are awaiting refugee status determination also have the right to access work and health care, but must wait until they are granted refugee status before they can apply for permanent residency status, and cannot obtain a travel document until this time. 35 Government of Canada. Types of Passports and Travel Documents. (14 July 2017). 7

Select target paragraph3

Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents