Under present policy immigration from The West Indies consists of immediate close relatives as defined in Section 20(c) of the Immigration Regulations. In addition, Cabinet has since 1955 authorized annually the admission of specified numbers of female domestic servants, the last authority dated April 11th, 1958 permitting the admission of 230 domestics (including 30 from British Guiana). In dealing with unsponsored applications from The West Indies however, the Department has taken the attitude that where the prospective immigrant has qualifications which would make him a decided asset to Canada and permit him to become readily established in this country, the authority of the Governor-in-Council is sought to permit admission. During 1957 the Immigration Regulations were waived by Order-in-Council for 595 individuals from The West Indies as cases of special merit and in 1958 the admission of 423 such persons was authorized.

Under existing provisions immigration from The West Indies including the special domestic servant movement has steadily increased as indicated in the following table:

Immigration from The West Indies

The Cabinet Committee on Immigration, after reviewing Cabinet Document No. 142-58 dealing with immigration from The West Indies, recommended on August 11th, 1958, as follows:

"(a) That the present policy of admitting sponsored close relatives, domestic servants (200) and individual cases of merit be continued for the time being;

"(b) That there be discussion with the Government of The West Indies Federation at the earliest possible moment, at which time consideration might be given to entering into an agreement similar to the one with India concerning the admission of immigrants from The West Indies."

As recommended by the Cabinet Committee on Immigration a senior official of the Department of Citizenship and Immigration has discussed with officials of The West Indies Government the question of immigration from that country to Canada. It has been explained that such immigration is gradually increasing and that in the long run a quota arrangement would be restrictive. Although it is believed The West Indies Government is reasonably satisfied with the present arrangement for the time being, they have requested an increase in the domestic movement. In the past the overall movement of 200 domestics was broken down into quotas for five of the islands in The West Indies, i.e., Jamaica - 100; Barbados - 40; Trinidad - 30; St. Vincent - 15; St. Lucia - 15, with the Government of each island responsible for training and selection. The Federal Government of The West Indies intends to handle the domestics movement in future and will be required to allot quotas to all The West Indian Islands. In order not to reduce movements from any of the five islands which previously enjoyed quotas and yet to give selection of some persons from the other islands, it is proposed to increase the overall domestics movement from The West Indies from 200 to 250 (the movement of 30 from British Guiana to continue as a separate arrangement).

The authority of the Governor-in-Council is required for admission of these persons from The West Indies and British Guiana. In addition, if the movements are approved, it is considered desirable to waive the immigrant visa requirement because the geographical barriers involved would make it difficult and relatively expensive for most of the applicants to journey to a point where a Canadian Visa Officer is located.

The undersigned, therefore, has the honour to recommend to His Excellency the Governor-General-in-Council:

THAT Section 20 and paragraph 4 of Section 18 of the Immigration Regulations made and established by Order-in-Council P.C. 1954-1351, as amended, shall not apply to a person who (a) is one of a maximum of 250 persons from The West Indies who have been selected for employment in Canada as female domestic servants pursuant to arrangements between the Department of Citizenship and Immigration and the Federal Government of The West Indies; or

(b) is one of a maximum of 30 persons from British Guiana who have been selected for employment in Canada as female domestic servants pursuant to arrangements between the Department of Citizenship and Immigration and the Government of British Guiana;

(c) arrives at a port of entry in Canada not later than December 31st, 1959; and

(d) is on her arrival at a port of entry in Canada in possession of documentary evidence that she has been selected in accordance with arrangements made by the Department of Citizenship and Immigration; and

(e) can otherwise meet the requirements of the Immigration Act and Regulations.³⁵⁶

Respectfully submitted,
E.L. FAIRCLOUGH

³⁵⁶Approuvé par le Cabinet le 5 mai 1959. Par la suite, le 8 octobre 1959, le Cabinet a approuvé la recommandation du ministre de Citoyenneté et Immigration en faveur de l'admission au Canada, en 1960, de 250 travailleuses domestiques additionnelles originaires des Antilles et de 30 autres, de la Guyane britannique.
Approved by Cabinet May 5, 1959. Subsequently, on October 8, 1959, Cabinet approved the recommendation of the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration that a further 250 female domestic servants from the West Indies and 30 from British Guiana be admitted in 1960.