Next year, up to 10,000 additional immigrants will be allowed into Canada under the Federal Skilled Workers program.

This week, Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney will be unveiling the 2012 Immigration Action Plan. According to an early statement made by Kenney, immigration levels will stay around 250,000 newcomers a year.

A recently released study regarding immigration found that Canadians are still supportive of immigration. The study, which was released by Montreal’s Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP) found that Canada continues to be a welcoming place for newcomers, with the many Canadians showing support for high levels of immigration.

Canadian immigration processing times are increasing as a backlog of applications is building up at visa offices. Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Jason Kenney suggested that a simple solution may exist – decrease the number of applications Canada accepts from people wanting to join their families in Canada.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada has updated their website with the number of applications received so far under the Federal Skilled Worker Program.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has just announced changes to the Federal Skilled Worker Program, Federal Immigrant Investor Program and the Federal Entrepreneur Program.

In less than one month, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) will be announcing the new list of qualifying occupations for the Federal Skilled Worker program. Currently, applicants must have at least one year of skilled work experience in one of the 29 open occupations or have valid job offer from a Canadian employer.

A former Canadian Immigration Director has stated that Canada needs to increase its annual immigration intake by 100,000 a year to match needed population targets. Robert Vineberg, former Director of Federal-Provincial Relations at Immigration Canada, is calling for policy changes in order to boost immigration numbers in most provinces.

A recent study conducted by Tony Fang, a Canadian professor at the University of York in Vancouver, found that Canada needs to increase the number of immigrants coming to Canada in order to encourage investment in housing and to help boost the nation’s economy.

As Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) and the Government of Canada have noticed an increase in the number of fraudulent marriages, they are proposing changes for the Family Class immigration category, specifically for spousal sponsorships.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has been consulting with relevant stakeholders on the proposed changes to the Federal Skilled Worker Program. Due to the high volume of responses, CIC has decided to extend the consultation period until March 31.

A recent study by the University of New Brunswick and Carleton University has discovered that immigrants who have completed an apprenticeship have a higher salary than immigrants with a high school degree alone.

A new evaluation has found that those who immigrant to Canada under the Federal Skilled Worker program are contributing to Canada's economy. According to the evaluation, the biggest predictors of an immigrant’s economic success are having a job already arranged in Canada when applying; the ability to speak English or French; and having worked in Canada before applying to immigrate.

The Government of Canada will keep Canada's immigration levels the same next year, for 2011. The government says its goal is to take in between 240,000 and 265,000 new permanent residents next year—the same target as for 2009 and 2010. Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says, "Canada's post-recession economy demands a high level of legal immigration to keep our workforce strong.”

The Government of Canada announced yesterday it is launching the Federal Internship for Newcomers program designed to assist newcomers gain valuable Canadian work experience. Through this program, immigrants to Canada now have the opportunity to acquire some temporary work experience in fields they are qualified to work in based on their skills and previous work experience.

Citizenship and Immigration Minister, Jason Kenney, was in Bejing last week to meet with Chinese officials. China is one of the most important source countries for Canadian immigration. Now, more Chinese visitors and students are also coming to Canada than ever before.

Canada and India are connected both economically and culturally and there is great potential for even stronger ties between the two countries. Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is in Delhi, India this week to discuss how to expand and deepen the ties between Canada and India by helping a growing number of Indians to visit, work, study in and immigrate to Canada.

Canada has a long-standing tradition of helping those most in need. Presently, community groups in Canada are being encouraged to consider sponsoring refugees to come to Canada according to Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney.

The government of Canada announced yesterday it is implementing stricter regulations with the aim of further improving the working conditions for temporary workers and live-in caregivers in Canada. According to the federal government, consultations held over the past two years revealed that employers were exploiting some live-in caregivers because the system made them vulnerable. To address this, the federal government is tightening the regulations affecting live-in caregivers and temporary foreign workers, as well as the people who hire them. "The government is taking action to protect temporary foreign workers, including live-in caregivers, from potential abuse and exploitation," explained Immigration Minister Jason Kenney.

With recent changes to visa rules, Saudi nationals can now get five-year multiple-entry temporary resident visas to enter Canada. The changes facilitate the movement of students and business people between Saudi Arabia and Canada.

A new report from the Conference Board of Canada recommends that Canadian immigration policies should continue to evolve to prevent labour shortages that could stunt future economic growth. To accomplish this, the report states that Canadian immigration policy should place more importance on the skills of prospective immigrants and whether they match Canada's labour needs. This will be increasingly important because steady job growth tends to be the norm in Canada and Canada’s large baby-boomer generation is approaching retirement age.

Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced on June 26, 2010, that the Government of Canada has amended its current immigration procedures to further reduce the Federal Skilled Worker application backlog and put an even greater emphasis on economic recovery. The changes,effective immediately, include:

1) a change in the occupations that are currently ‘open’ under this program, 
2) a change in the documentation required for an application under this program, and 
3) the creation of a limit on the number of applications which will be considered by Visa Offices. 

These changes do not affect any applications received at the Central Intake Office before June 26, 2010.

From 2005 and 2009, the average overall processing time for Canadian immigration applications decreased to 26 months from 50 months. A recent analysis has found this improvement is linked to legislation introduced in 2008 which fast-tracked applications by skilled-workers such as registered nurses, crane operators, financial auditors, construction managers and 34 other qualifying occupations for the Federal Skilled Worker Category. The approximate processing time now for a skilled worker application is seven months, which represents a drastic reduction since previously the overall processing time could take up to five years.

Immigration ministers from the provinces and territories held a meeting in Ottawa yesterday with federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney to discuss ways to improve Canada’s immigration system given the importance of immigration to Canada’s future competitiveness and prosperity. The Ministers discussed the status of several key issues including the common goal of ensuring foreign credentials and qualifications are recognized consistently and fairly, the ability of the provincial nominee programs to respond to local labour market needs, and the support newcomers need to join and help build vibrant communities.

Earlier today, the Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) released statistics showing that it continues to maintain a high rate of immigration. Canada welcomed more than half a million permanent and temporary residents last year, a figure CIC says is helping to support the economic recovery in Canada.