Canada’s new class of immigrants is younger and more promising than ever: in their mid-20s and 30s, with Canadian education credentials and work experience — and jobs already lined up.

To achieve the immigrant dream, they’re prepared to pay their dues, working hard on temporary study and work permits to prove their value to Canada before earning what used to come much more easily: permanent resident status.

But with changes to the Citizenship Act announced last month, their journey to becoming fully Canadian is about to get even longer.

Prolonged experience as a sort of underclass, some warn, will leave a bitter taste in the mouths of these newcomers, making them less committed and loyal to Canada — just the opposite of what the federal government said those changes are intended to do.

“After all, everybody wants to become full citizens. But they are making this a really long path,” said Alex Linkov, 35, a design engineer who came to Toronto from Israel on a work permit in 2010. It took him until December 2013 to become a permanent resident, under what’s called the Canada Experience Class.

“We have formed ties, socialized, worked and paid taxes in Canada. At workplaces, hiring priorities are given to citizens. Without voting rights, you can’t change things in your community and you become an underclass,” added Linkov, whose online petition on change.org against the new Citizenship Act has already attracted over 3,200 supporters.

The journey from arrival as a foreign student or temporary worker to Canadian citizenship can take up to eight years — a long time for people to feel settled and as though they belong, according to permanent residents who came here amid the storm of immigration changes introduced by the Conservative government in recent years.

Amin Yazdani, 27, came to Canada from Iran in 2009 to earn a master’s degree in computer science at Simon Fraser University. He became a permanent resident in December 2012 under British Columbia’s Provincial Nominee Program.

He said many foreign students and workers choose to come to Canada on a temporary visa because they are given residence credit of up to one year if they later become permanent residents and apply for citizenship.

Under current law, a permanent resident must live in Canada for three out of four years to be eligible for citizenship. The proposed changes will boost that to four out of six years, and eliminate the credit for time spent in Canada on a temporary visa.

“This change would create a level playing field for all citizenship applicants and demonstrate their permanent commitment to Canada,” said Citizenship and Immigration Canada spokesman Remi Lariviere.

“While it may take someone . . . longer to meet the residence requirement under the new rules, the changes are designed to deepen their attachment to Canada.”

Under the proposed rules, Yazdani said, instead of being eligible to apply for citizenship this coming December, he’d have to wait until December 2016.

“You become less trustful in Canada if the government can change policies overnight. It’s a shame, because you feel discouraged when the journey is getting longer and longer,” said Yazdani, who works as a software developer in Vancouver.

“The government is making it harder for people to come, contribute and have a say in Canada.”

Hossein Mansour agrees. “Commitment is a two-way street; you cannot treat immigrants with suspicion and keep changing the game rules but expect them to show loyalty in return,” said the 29-year-old who came from Iran in 2008 to attend McGill University’s music technology PhD program.

Mansour said he is in Canada’s debt for his education and would like to repay it by staying and working here, despite better opportunities south of the border.

“This is what I call commitment,” he said. “Making me wait extra-long to get my permanent residency and citizenship does quite the opposite.”

While permanent resident status offers some stability and comfort, more than 85 per cent of people granted it go on to become citizens because it allows them to be full participants in society, enjoying the right to vote and benefits such as hassle-free travel.

Hayat Alisha Syed, who arrived in Montreal from India in early 2010 on a work permit and became a permanent resident in May 2013, said citizenship gives immigrants a real sense of stability and security — an equal footing with others in the country.

“It is a psychological feeling. You don’t have to fear what is going to happen to you tomorrow. You can buy a house and feel settled,” said Syed, 38, a father of two.

“Not being a citizen is very unsettling. What if the government changes its rules again, turning the citizenship requirement to 10, 15 years, instead of four?”

Since coming to power in 2006, the Conservatives have shifted Canada’s immigration system toward a two-tiered process, encouraging immigrants to come first as temporary residents through studies or employment, before they apply for permanent status.

Programs such as the Canada Experience Class, Provincial Nominee Program and Post-Graduation Work Permit Program have been launched for these visa-holders to transition their status.

Between 2006 and 2012, the number of foreign workers in Canada more than doubled, from 93,965 to 192,623, with foreign students increasing from 92,773 to 149,962.

In the same period, the number of foreign workers turned permanent residents doubled, from 18,613 to 38,067. Those who came initially as students before getting residency, however, fell from over 10,000 a year to 7,797.

Ottawa shifted to the two-tiered system in light of research that showed immigrants with some form of Canadian education and prearranged job offers are better integrated and have much better luck in the job market.

The immigration department’s own study, for instance, found that the average income of those who arrived with a job offer was $79,200 three years after landing, compared with just $44,200 for those without.

Olga Levshina, who came from Russia in 2009 on a work permit, said she could understand how the policy shift might benefit Canada because it takes less commitment — or investment — for the country to bring in immigrants as foreign students and temporary workers.

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Government reports estimate that educating foreign students generates $7.7 billion for the Canadian economy yearly. Foreign workers also help address labour shortages in some fields. Neither of those groups is eligible to receive costly immigrant settlement services.

But those savings often come at the expense of vulnerable newcomers.

Levshina, whose husband, Pavel Shukhman, also joined her on a work permit, said people on temporary visas are in a risky position because their status is tied to an academic program or specific employer.

She said her husband was left in limbo when the IT firm that hired him laid him off in 2012, while they were applying to become landed immigrants.

“He couldn’t go to another job. He got job offers, but he didn’t have the right paper,” said the 29-year-old Richmond Hill software developer.

“It makes a lot of difference to have permanent status. Before, you can’t plan your life because of the uncertainties. Same for citizenship: Until you get it, you are afraid to make a commitment, to buy a house or have a family.”

Immigration Minister Chris Alexander said the Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act reinforces the value of citizenship by cracking down on fraud.

In arguing for the changes, he cited ongoing citizenship fraud investigations that have identified more than 3,000 citizens and 5,000 permanent residents. (Canada granted citizenship to an average of 160,000 people a year until 2012, after Ottawa raised the language requirement and introduced a new knowledge test.)

“Changes to the Citizenship Act reinforce the value of citizenship and will help ensure new Canadians are fully prepared to participate in Canadian life and have a stronger attachment to our country,” Alexander told reporters recently.

However, immigrants the Star spoke with said that if Ottawa’s concern is about fraud, it should honour the residence credit given to applicants who arrive initially as foreign students or workers, because their visas require them to be physically in Canada while studying or working.

“I just can’t see fraud with foreign students and workers. With school and jobs, they are more integrated than people who arrive here as permanent residents,” said Abdul Haseeb Awan, 27, who came from Pakistan in 2010 for the University of Ottawa’s engineering management post-grad program.

Awan, who became a permanent resident in October 2013, said Australia recognizes the sacrifices and contributions of foreign students and workers by counting up to three years of their time spent in the country towards the four years of residency required for future citizenship applications .

Javad Hashemi said he chose the Queen’s University PhD program in biomedical engineering over an offer from the prestigious University of Maryland largely due to the residence credit and, hence, quicker path to citizenship.

The new provisions allowing officials to revoke Canadian citizenship from dual nationals with serious criminal convictions also bother the 32-year-old Iranian native.

He came in 2008 on a study permit and met his wife, Golsa Kheirmoghadam, also a visa student from Iran. They became permanent residents in May 2013.

“I support the idea of promoting Canada’s values, but this is not the way to do it. This is hurting Canada’s credibility and reputation. People feel they are not welcomed anymore,” said Hashemi.

“Canada is creating two classes of citizens. Those born here come first, and the naturalized citizens come second.”