Immigration Biography
Essential Question: “How well do Canada’s
immigration laws and policies respond to
immigration issues?”
Your task: You are going to choose an immigrant and create a biography on that
person. This process will help you to see what life is like for immigrants today and
what their experience would have been like in the past. It will also help you to
answer the essential question “How well do Canada’s immigration laws and policies
respond to immigration issues?”
Read the instructions below carefully and make sure you complete all of the steps!!
Step One: Choose a Canadian immigrant! Think carefully about who it is that you
would like to learn more about. The person that you choose does NOT have to be
famous, however, they can be! You can choose someone in your family that is or was an
immigrant to Canada, someone else you know, or someone that is a famous Canadian
immigrant. I have provided you with a link in your resource section in the lesson if you
are interested in taking a look at the famous Canadian immigrants listed there.
Whomever you choose, make sure you are interested in finding out more about this
person!!
Step Two: Once you have chosen the person that you want to create your biography on,
it is time to begin your research!! The information you are researching is VERY specific.
You are not only looking for those general details of where they immigrated from, when,
why and where they settled; you are also looking for information to help you understand
what life is like for a Canadian immigrant and ultimately you need to be able to answer
the question “How well do Canada’s immigration laws and policies respond to
immigration issues?”
Key Factors I need to include in my biography and keep in mind as I research:
1. Who is my Canadian immigrant? Find a picture of this person and present the
general information such as where this person is from, originally (perhaps include a map
to illustrate this), when they immigrated to Canada, who did they come to this country
with? Where in Canada did they settle? What made them decide to leave the country of
their birth and make Canada their home?
This last question will require you to establish what type of immigrant this person is. Are
they an Economic Immigrant (55% of immigrants fall into this category of skilled
workers and business people)? Are they part of the Family Class (28% of immigrants fall
into this category of spouses, partners, children, parents and grandparents of people living
in Canada)? Are they classified as a Refugee (13% are people who are escaping
persecution, torture, or cruel and unusual punishment)? Finally, are they classified as
Other (4% are people accepted as immigrants for humanitarian or compassionate
reasons)?
2. What benefits of immigration does or did your person contribute to Canada?
Remember, immigration has helped to define what Canada is today! Present the
economic, societal and cultural contributions this person has made to Canada.
3. What would OR did your immigrant score on the self-assessment test that you learned
about at the beginning of this lesson? If the person you chose is/was a refugee, explain
why this test does not apply. Remember, the point system dates from 1967, so if your
person immigrated prior to that date, you will need to figure out their score based on how
they WOULD have done based on test that exists today.
4. No one today is excluded from Canada because of their race or country of origin.
However, in the past, this was NOT the case. Provide information on how this person
would have been treated before the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and during
times when Canada favored British immigrants. If your person was NOT of British
ancestry and DID come at a time when certain immigrants were discriminated against,
outline how they felt and what they experienced!
5. Collective rights – What language does your immigrant speak? How does this affect
the issues raised by Canada’s official language groups? For example, if they speak
English alone, as do 53% of the immigrants that come to Canada, what concerns would
Francophone language groups have about this? How would this involve the collective
rights of Aboriginal peoples?
6. Finally, it will be your job to answer this question after your research and biography is
complete: “How well do Canada’s immigration laws and policies respond to
immigration issues?” This should be in paragraph format and it should be included with
the biography.
Your biography should be detailed, yet concise. Make sure you apply colour and
graphics and that you work hard to include all of the information outlined above.
Remember, you will NOT find the answers to most of these questions in a text or website; you will have to use your knowledge of how immigration policies and laws in this
country work to help you to answer the questions.
Please see the example immigration biography included in the resource section of
your lesson to help you with this project!!
You will be evaluated using the biography rubric located in your resource section of
the lesson.