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New Canadian Skilled Worker Points System & ProcessingMinister Kenney gave the Globe & Mail a peek into the new points system and, in so doing, revealed that he intends to push further down the processing stream those applications which were filed before the yet-to-be-released new points system. The article did not say whether he intends to apply the new selection criteria retrospectively on applicants who had applied before he imposed the new criteria. The key paragraphs read:
[...] Mr. Kenney said in an interview Wednesday that he wants to create a new economic stream for trades people, who currently don't qualify under Canada's education-focused federal skilled worker program.
He also said employers will soon be able to hand-pick prospective immigrants and send them to the front of the line for assessment.
“Once people have been identified by employers, if they meet our other standards we would fast-track them into the country,” Mr. Kenney said. [...]
The first of these changes will be introduced over the next few months. Ability in English or French [...] will become more important under the new system. In future, professionals in language intensive fields, such as doctors and lawyers, will have to be fluent in an official language, Mr. Kenney said. That's a significant shift from Canada's current system, which rewards language ability but doesn't set such a high benchmark. At the same time, Mr. Kenney said he wants a flexible language grid, so that applicants in fields that don't require a high level of fluency aren't automatically excluded.
Mr. Kenney also said he'll be considering a pre-assessment system, as they have in Australia, that evaluates the credentials of skilled professionals before they immigrate to see whether they will qualify to work in Canada.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/immigration-overhaul-would-give-employers-bigger-role-in-choosing-applicants/article2354767/19 days ago
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