E/CN.4/2001/83/Add.1 page 6 II. GENERAL CONTEXT OF IMMIGRATION IN CANADA 17. Canada is a party to almost all the international human rights instruments, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its two additional protocols, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol thereto. However, as at the time of completion of the present report, Canada had not ratified the 1990 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. 18. Statistics show that Canada is the country which receives the greatest number of immigrants per inhabitant and per annum. Under its immigration policy, the Government admits approximately 225,000 persons a year. In addition, between 25,000 and 35,000 people a year claim refugee status in Canada. For the year 2000, the CIC estimates that the number of immigrants will have risen from 177,900 to 195,700, while the number of refugees will have risen from 22,100 to 29,300, as reflected in the Annual Immigration Plan 2000 handed to the Special Rapporteur by Ms. Elinor Caplan, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. 19. Canada has been and is a country of immigration; its current population approximately 30 million - is made up of a wide variety of people originating from various regions of the world. Up to the mid-1960s, immigration was mainly of European origin. This characteristic was modified with the introduction of the Immigration Act of 1976, which established broader selection criteria based on estimated economic contribution to the country and on family reunification policies. 20. The 1976 Immigration Act, with its changes and amendments, constitutes the pre-eminent body of law on immigration matters. The Act is due to be superseded by a new immigration law which, at the time of completion of the present report, is in the form of a bill (Bill C-31) and is being debated by Parliament. According to the information received by the Special Rapporteur, the Bill is intended to simplify existing immigration law. 21. The 1976 Act defines areas of competence as between the Federal Government and the provincial governments. In the event of conflict, the federal legislation prevails. There are various agreements with different provinces, among which particular mention should be made of Quebec, which has a special regime. The provinces determine the eligibility of claimants and the Federal Government determines their admissibility. In the first part of the above-mentioned Act, section 6 (1) establishes the criteria relating to the selection of immigrants. 22. According to information provided by the CIC, most of the people arriving in Canada with the intention of settling there do so as landed immigrants, to use the term contained in the law. These landed immigrants are eligible, after three years of accumulated residence within a period of four years, to obtain Canadian citizenship. In conformity with the above-mentioned section 6 (1), Canada has an established immigration system comprising the following classes: independent immigrants, entrepreneurial immigrants, relatives, Convention refugees, and immigrants admitted for business reasons or on the basis of family links. According to the