Canada warns of fake immigration programs targeting Kenyans

Canada has issued a warning over fake special programs being circulated online purporting to welcome Kenyan immigrants to the North American country.

Canada’s Immigration Department on Tuesday said such programs do not exist and trashed such information as false.

“Disinformation is circulating which suggests that special programs are welcoming Kenyan immigrants. This is false, and the immigration programs referenced do not exist,” the department said in a tweet, along with a link to the official immigration website for accurate information on how to immigrate.

Amid the biting cost of living and high unemployment rates, Kenyans have been chasing opportunities online, with most seeking to emigrate to the USA, Canada and Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia.

On Tuesday afternoon, Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua posted a tweet saying he had held discussions with his Canadian counterpart Sean Fraser and agreed on migration opportunities for Kenyans seeking to go and live or work in Canada.

“Currently, Canada has more employment opportunities than available people to work and we agreed that Kenya can help fill that gap. The process for those who wish to go to Canada is simple but requires one to be diligent,” the minister said.

Mutua said Kenya and Canada are in “deep negotiations” and promised to provide a comprehensive statement in due course with guidance and links agreed upon between the two countries that Kenyans can apply for migration or job visas.

The CS however warned of agencies posing as recruiters for Canadian firms to swindle Kenyans.

During the Labour Day celebrations on March 1, President William Ruto announced the government is seeking to sign ten new bilateral agreements that will see Kenya send more workers to European, North American and Middle Eastern countries.

The president said most of these will go to Germany, which he said has recently been lobbying for Kenyan workers. Among the other countries with which the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection would also ink deals are Canada and Saudi Arabia.

“We have opportunities in Canada, the USA, UAE, Saudi Arabia… we will sign ten agreements in the next couple of months so that our youth get these opportunities,” the president added at the time.

He cited the increasing diaspora remittances from Kenyans abroad, which hit a record $4.027 billion in 2022, inching closer to exports which brought in $5.77 billion worth of foreign currency.

According to Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) data, Kenya earned more foreign exchange from diaspora remittances than each of its major exports (coffee, tea and horticulture) last year.

Tea, the country’s leading export, earned the country $1.2 billion, while horticulture brought in $901 million, chemicals ($521 million), coffee ($301 million) and petroleum products ($77 million).

At the same time, Labour Ministry says over four million Kenyans live and work abroad, the bulk of whom are in the Middle East and Europe.

The ministry says that while about 1.2 million Kenyans join the labour market every year, the formal and informal sectors have the capacity to absorb only 800,000 annually.