Permanent Indian residents can now be part of Canadian military
Darpan News Desk IANS, 14 Nov, 2022 12:06 PM
Toronto, Nov 14 (IANS) The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) has announced that permanent residents, which includes a large chunk of Indians, are now eligible to join the military.
The announcement came close to Remembrance Day, amidst reports that the Canadian military is struggling to recruit new members to fill thousands of vacant positions.
As of 2021, there were more than eight million immigrants with permanent residence living in Canada - roughly 21.5 per cent of the total Canadian population.
In the same year, nearly 100,000 Indians became permanent residents of Canada as the country admitted a record 405,000 new immigrants in its history.
As per data, Canada is likely to welcome more than a million new permanent residents between 2022 and 2024, which drastically widens the pool of candidates the military can choose from.
Permanent residents were previously only eligible under the Skilled Military Foreign Applicant (SMFA) entry programme, which was "open for individuals... that would reduce training costs or fill a special need... such as a trained pilot or a doctor," according to the Royal United Services Institute of Nova Scotia, a non-profit body.
The Department of National Defence (DND) is expected to make a formal announcement in the coming days regarding the change to the policy, the CIC News reported.
In March, Canadian Defence Minister Anita Anand said that the CAF needs to grow amid the changing global geopolitical landscape triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
In September, the CAF sounded the alarm over a severe shortage of recruits to fill thousands of vacant positions
The Toronto Star reported that Canada is about 12,000 regular force troops short of it's "full strength" of 100,000 regular force members.
Women make up 16.3 per cent of the Canadian military demographic; Indigenous peoples come in at 2.7 per cent; and visible minorities make up less than 12 per cent of the Canadian military. Three-quarters of its ranks are white men.
Recently, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) announced that they're changing their "outdated recruitment process" to allow permanent residents, who have lived in Canada for 10 years, to apply.
Immigration targets have shot up in Canada with nearly a quarter of the population aging out of the workforce by 2030.
The shortage is made more acute by the gradual rise in the number of deaths and the relatively low fertility levels in Canada.
In such a scenario, immigrants become prime candidates for the military as they typically arrive in Canada during their younger working-age years where they are likely to be more physically active, according to immigration experts.
The Sunshine Coast Regional District, District of Sechelt and shishalh Nation have declared a state of local emergency that takes effect Tuesday at midnight as the system that supplies water to about 90 per cent of the homes and businesses in the Sechelt area is at "imminent risk" of running dry.
Purdue Pharma Canada is one of 40 manufacturers and distributors named in the class action, but earlier this year, the province reached a settlement with the company to recover the health-related costs to the highly addictive opioids.
The former federal NDP candidate entered the contest to succeed retiring Premier John Horgan in August with promises of transformative change on environmental and social issues, but has yet to receive official approval of her candidacy.
The driver of the commercial vehicle was transported to hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries. Three occupants from the third vehicle involved were taken into custody. The circumstances leading up to the collision are still under investigation.
Ken Sim, who takes office Nov. 7, said Monday that adding the officers and the same number of mental-health nurses is one of the top priorities in his party's 94-point platform, alongside accelerating property permitting and making more daycare spaces available.
Sgt. Timothy Pierotti, with the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, says they responded to shots fired Monday and found a man suffering from gunshot wounds who later died. While police have identified the victim, Pierotti says they won't be releasing more details about him, other than to say he is 38 years old.
