The current Canadian administration, as part of its ongoing efforts to transform the Canadian immigration system, is closing its Buffalo, New York visa office. This is one of the largest Canadian visa offices in North America, currently responsible for processing thousands of applications each year.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has published its annual Better Life Index report. For 2012, it ranked Canada as one of the ten best countries in the world in terms of the quality of life that its citizens enjoy.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has announced that its new Parent and Grandparent Super Visa program has been incredibly successful in its first 6 months of operation. Since the program was introduced on 1 December 2012, over 3,500 visas have been issued.
On 14 May, Canadian Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and American Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano announced that their countries would begin consultations to facilitate cross-border business interactions.
Beginning 20 April 2012, most Permanent Residents who require Permanent Resident (PR) cards will no longer have to pick up these cards at a Citizenship and Immigration Canada office. Instead, through a new pilot project, they will be able to receive their cards by mail.
The Government of Canada has partnered with two leading private Canadian businesses to develop and expand the Federal Internship for Newcomers Program (FIN).
As of yesterday, 8 May 2012, the maximum number of 10,000 Federal Skilled Worker applications has been reached. This cap on applications has been put in place for individuals applying under one of the 29 eligible occupations being targeted by Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
The Ontario Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) has extended its deadline for selected applicants to apply through the Federal Skilled Worker Backlog Reduction Pilot Program. The deadline has been adjusted from 4 May to 31 May 2012.
Businesses in Saskatchewan have hired over 280 skilled workers from Ireland. This is a direct result of a March 2012 recruitment mission, in which provincial officials and representatives from 27 Saskatchewan employers traveled to Ireland in search of employees.
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) announced today plans for a new Accelerated Labour Market Opinion (A-LMO) initiative. This initiative is effective from 25 April 2012.
The Government of Saskatchewan has appealed to Federal authorities for the right to raise the amount of immigrants the province receives each year.
Canadian Immigration and Culture Minister, Jason Kenney, announced today that consultations have begun regarding the possible creation of a new program for immigrant entrepreneurs.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) announced today that Canadian Experience Class applicants who are currently residing in Canada as Temporary Foreign Workers will soon see their permanent residency applications expedited.
Speaking in Saskatchewan, the Canadian Minister of Immigration and Cultural Communities, Jason Kenney, stated that some applicants to Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) will be required to prove English or French language capabilities before submitting their immigration applications.
The Canadian Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Jason Kenney, announced today plans to streamline the application process for skilled tradespersons seeking entry to Canada.
On 28 March 2012, Jason Kenney, the Canadian Minister of Citizenship, Immigration, and Multiculturalism, announced major changes to the ways in which foreign skilled workers will have their education credentials assessed before arriving to Canada.
The Government of Canada announced on 29 March 2012 a plan to reduce the backlog of Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) applications by returning all applications and government fees submitted prior to 27 February 2008. This will amount to a total of almost 300,000 returned applications, as well as approximately $130 million in refunded government processing fees.
The Quebec Government announced yesterday a comprehensive plan to reduce processing times for permanent residency applicants to Quebec.
A list of the top 100 employers for immigrants to Canada has been announced by Mediacorp and published in the Globe and Mail.
These employers were ranked by their recruiting efforts of recent immigrants, advertising job vacancies in multicultural media or having a similarly targeted dedicated website, recognizing foreign credentials, and training, language improvement, as well as internship initiatives.
Severe labour shortages in Western provinces have resulted in some provincial leaders calling for radical changes in immigration procedures.
Western provinces are largely in the midst of a job boom, which is being hindered by a lack of available and qualified workers to fill new positions.
Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney suggested Wednesday the possibility of legislating away Canada’s backlog of immigration applications.
"We’re looking at all options for dealing with these backlogs… It’s not fair to [applicants] and it’s not fair to our economy," said Kenney.
In an effort to cut down on spousal sponsorship fraud, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has put into action a new requirement where any new immigrant to Canada sponsored by a spouse or partner must have permanent residency (PR) status for 5 years before they themselves can sponsor a new spouse or partner from abroad.
A newly formed group called the Alberta Coalition for Action on Labour Shortage (ACALS) is pushing the federal government of Canada to amend immigration policies to address a significant labour shortage.
While the Quebec Facilitated IT program came to an end on February 24th, the 7 affected professions are now part of a newly announced facilitated labour market assessment process. The new process, in effect now, includes a much broader range of 44 occupations, both in high tech and from other fields. It is an accelerated way for employers to hire foreign workers in Quebec, which importantly does not require employers to show local recruitment efforts.
A shortage of labour was cited by a roundtable of energy companies in Alberta as their key business challenge. Easing immigration rules has been put forward as a possible partial solution.
