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Immigration policies in most host nations of the west have undergone significant changes in recent years. Based on the four country-specific papers that appear in this section of the journal, and also on our own research, we present an overview of these changes and their context. In all countries, economic considerations play a central role in shaping immigration policy and greater importance is given to scientific research. Several common policy changes are noted in Australia, Canada and New Zealand which include: a shift away from a human capital focus toward more targeted selection based on labor market demand for specific skills, increased emphasis on temporary foreign worker programs, attraction of international students, an overhauling of the refugee system, and regionalization of immigration. In the U.S., while adoption of some of these changes has often surfaced in public policy and academic discussions, legalization of unauthorized migrants remains an important policy debate, with recent arguments focusing on the economic benefits of legalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides direct evidence about educational attainments of new arrivals in Canada over the period 1956 to 1994. This evidence is based on immigrants' educational attainment data obtained from two sources: different population censuses from 1961 to 1986, including those from 1961, 1971, 1981 and 1986; and landing documents of immigrants. Data from these two sources allow an analysis of educational attainment trends over a longer period than that conducted in some other studies and in more depth. Finally immigrant data are also compared with the educational attainment of the Canadian-born population in corresponding periods. Individuals aged 25 years or older are considered. Results show that, in the total immigrant inflows of any subperiod since 1956, the percentages of those with high school education or less have been declining and have been lower that those for the Canadian-born population. These results contradict the generally held view in Canada that in the post-1967 period, the immigration policy's increased focus on family and refugee classes has resulted in the admission of immigrants who are less educated than those who arrived before 1967. This result indicates that other factors such as discrimination and general economic conditions in the country should be investigated in depth to explain the recently cited decline in the economic performance of Canadian immigrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]