In a year that has been dominated by conflict and ecological disaster, the news cycle has been relentless: Israel. Hamas. Ukraine. Russia. Refugees. Inflation. Housing. Scarcity and need. Through all of that, members of our Collective have been diligently working from coast to coast, telling stories from an immigrant’s perspective, with a cumulative hundreds of thousands of pageviews on newcanadianmedia.ca and untold thousands on our partner news sites through the Local Journalism Initiative. You’ll find a list below of some of our top stories from 2023. was brought into focus in Minu Mathew’s story in January about a Nigerian nurse who came to Canada with a bachelor of nursing degree from her home country, two years of experience, and then went on to spend $33,000 for a master’s in nursing from Thompson Rivers University in B.C. Although she was at first granted permission to write the National Council Licensure Examination to become an RN, she was later denied permission to write the exam. “I felt my life ended that day and was consumed by suicidal thoughts,” said Temilola Olaleye. “I put in everything that I had — time and money on tutorials, materials and classes and all of a sudden on Dec. 19, I received a letter saying I was no longer eligible as there was a new policy in place for IENs [Internationally Educated Nurses].” it was reported that the federal government was considering implementing extraordinary measures to reduce its backlog of immigration applications, including waiving eligibility requirements for nearly half a million visitor visas. However, as Fabian Dawson, New Canadian Media’s senior writer, reported on the last day of January, Canada’s immigration lawyers were not happy with that idea. “It is counterproductive to repairing trust in Immigration Refugee Citizenship Canada (IRCC), which is one of the intended goals of this proposed new measure,” said the Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association (CILA). “If the criterion for approval is unilaterally waived, this will erode public confidence in the integrity of Canada’s immigration system and rules, not rebuild trust. The public will fear a spike in the number of individuals who overstay; work without authorization due to insufficient funds; or make refugee claims,” CILA said in a statement posted on its website. The story was the most popular one on newcanadianmedia.ca in February. In March, readers were focused on health care and other issues, however, a story by Shlok Talati about caste discrimination captured attention. In an historic motion, the Toronto District School Board approved a motion to address caste-based discrimination in a 16-5 vote, making it the first jurisdiction in Canada to seek a formal mechanism for reporting this type of prejudice. “There is no category to record caste, so it is not being recorded as caste,” said Yalini Rajakulasingam, the TDSB trustee who put forth the motion. “This does not mean it’s not happening.” In April, health care, housing, international students and, of course, immigration were front and centre for readers of newcanadianmedia.ca. However, a story about immigrants in the Canadian military, by Fabian Dawson, captured the most attention for a story written in that month. In an exclusive interview, Lieutenant-General Jennie Carignan told New Canadian Media that the huge interest by new immigrants to join Canada’s Armed Forces bodes well for the modernisation of the institution. In fact, more than 6,000 new immigrants had applied to join the CAF in just two months after the military dropped citizenship requirements to bolster its ranks. “We have seen a huge interest from new Canadians since we’ve opened the door to permanent residents,” Carignan, the military’s Chief of Professional Conduct and Culture, told NCM. “The number of folks from different backgrounds…new Canadians, has increased from 23 per cent to over 30 per cent of applicants,” she said. “This is very, very good news.” In May, a story about Canada’s declining appeal among immigrants moved to the top of our website, with Minu Mathew reporting on the troubling fact that data from Statistics Canada showed a steep decline in the number of permanent residents choosing to become Canadian citizens. In 2022, Canada welcomed a historic 431,645 permanent residents to the country. In contrast, 221,919 immigrants became Canadian citizens – the lowest percent ever, according to Statistics Canada data obtained by the Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC). Why the decline? Experts figure language barriers and Canada’s so-called triple glass gate are the reasons. Namely, professional certification issues, trouble accessing high-paying jobs, and hitting a glass ceiling, which prevents newcomers from becoming managers.