Re: Goodbye to the SIN card
 

Seems to be no lack of people willing to deal with the hoops and red tape to go there, so why be friendly and make it easy?

Re: Goodbye to the SIN card
 

Wow, that's news to me. None of my kids have SIN numbers but all 3 have passports and had no problem getting provincial health cards in either BC (when we lived there) or Ontario. They all have bank accounts, too. The youngest 2 were too young for driving or credit cards when we left and the oldest is resident in the US, so he doesn't have those things either.

Re: Goodbye to the SIN card
 

BC MSP has never asked for my SIN # in regards to my health card, and looking at the current application they are still not asking for it to apply.

They do however if applying for premium assistance ask for it, as they need it to verify income with Canada Revenue, but not everyone is on premium assistance.

ICBC didn't ask for my SIN either when getting a drivers license.

However the health card and drivers licence is now linked as they are combing drivers licence/ID with the health number to eliminate the separate health card.

Only 1 provincial agency has ever asked for my SIN and that was income assistance, again to verify information with CRA.

My bank has never been provided my SIN, its not required for accounts where you don't earn any income, and certainly not required to apply for and get credit.

Re: Goodbye to the SIN card
 

Their system doesn't appear to be any better, or worse, than the Canadian one.

Re: Goodbye to the SIN card
 

Well in the US they have a figure of 11.7 million, which is based on comparing US census data with how many aliens are lawfully present, one minus the other gives you 11.7 million, although the census data is an estimate as well.

You could use the same method in Canada but I can't find any indication of anyone who has. The estimates floating around appear to be based on asylum seekers who weren't deported, which is estimated at 125,000 but it's got to be a lot more than that, e.g. visitors who overstayed and never claimed asylum, etc.

So what you would need to do is go into the Canadian census figures, minus off citizens, then come up with an estimate of people legally in Canada but not yet citizens by looking through the CIC statistics, minus off that total as well and the result would be a rough estimate of people unlawfully present.

Re: Goodbye to the SIN card
 

It's much worse than the Canadian one, because of the quotas. I can think of any number of ways in which it is worse, for example if you go in on a work permit your spouse doesn't get work authorization in H-1B or TN-1. In Canada they do in the equivalent categories.

The most telling statistic is how many people are granted LPR status, in the US each year it is around a million, in Canada it is around 220,000, but the US has nine times the population.

Re: Goodbye to the SIN card
 

Not so. Not everything. Not Healthcare, not drivers license, credit cards, banks. You do not have to give them your SIN

Copied from Service Canada. More info on this link.
http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/a...p/annex2.shtml
The most common uses of your Social Insurance Number (SIN) are for:

your employer
your income tax information
financial institutions from which you earn interest or income (for example, banks, credit unions, trust companies)
Canada Pension Plan (CPP) or Régie des rentes du Québec (RRQ) benefits
Employment Insurance (EI) program benefits
Canada Education Savings Grants (CESG) and Registered Education Savings Plans (RESP)
Child Tax Benefit
Canada Student Loans
Goods and Services Tax (GST) / Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) claims
Social assistance benefits
Veterans benefits and programs
Workers Compensation benefits
child support payments.
For a complete listing and brief description of the federal legislation and programs which are specifically permitted to use the SIN.

Re: Goodbye to the SIN card
 

Don't pretty much all Canadian immigration streams have quotas (besides family class)

Or am I misunderstanding what you mean?