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Government Closes Buffalo Visa Office

toronto and buffaloThe 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.
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New Study Shows Canadians Enjoy High Quality of Life

Happy FamilyThe 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.

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Parent and Grandparent Super Visa Sees Great Success

GrandfatherCitizenship 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.
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US and Canada in Talks to Facilitate Cross-Border Business

cross borderOn 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.

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New Permanent Residence Card Direct Mail-Out Pilot Program

id cardBeginning 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.

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Federal Internship for Newcomers Program Expands to Private Businesses

PartnershipThe Government of Canada has partnered with two leading private Canadian businesses to develop and expand the Federal Internship for Newcomers Program (FIN).

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Federal Skilled Worker Cap Reached

ApplicationAs 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.
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Ontario Extends Backlog Reduction Deadlines

Ontario MapThe 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.
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Saskatchewan Businesses Hire 280 Irish Workers

Canada and IrelandBusinesses 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.

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Accelerated Labour Market Opinion Program Announced Today

Jobs 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.
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Saskatchewan Seeks to Raise Provincial Nominee Limit

SaskatchewanThe Government of Saskatchewan has appealed to Federal authorities for the right to raise the amount of immigrants the province receives each year.
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Consultations to Begin for New "Start Up" Entrepreneur Visa

business successCanadian Immigration and Culture Minister, Jason Kenney, announced today that consultations have begun regarding the possible creation of a new program for immigrant entrepreneurs.

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Minister Kenney Announces Proposed Changes to Canadian Experience Class

businesspeopleCitizenship 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.
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Language Testing to be Required for Some Provincial Nominees

French and EnglishSpeaking 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.
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New Federal Skilled Worker Category to be Created for Skilled Trades

ConstructionThe Canadian Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Jason Kenney, announced today plans to streamline the application process for skilled tradespersons seeking entry to Canada.
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New Procedures Announced to Assess Foreign Credentials

DiplomaOn 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.
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Breaking News: Government to Return Pre-2008 Applications

Canada MapThe 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.
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Important Changes to Quebec Immigration Programs Announced

Quebec The Quebec Government announced yesterday a comprehensive plan to reduce processing times for permanent residency applicants to Quebec.

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Best places for Canadian newcomers to work

Great Work Places for NewcomersA 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.

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Western provinces seek greater authority

Calgary SkylineSevere 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.

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Immigration Minister talks of aggressive moves to reduce backlog

Canadian FoldersCanadian 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.

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New sponsorship restriction aims to reduce marriage fraud

Love and MarriageIn 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.

This new requirement is effective immediately for new immigration applications under the Family Class category.
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More action on Alberta’s labour shortage dilemma

Map detail of AlbertaA 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.
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Quebec employers no longer must recruit locally to hire foreign workers for range of jobs

Map of QuebecWhile 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.
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Alberta boom continues to tap tight labour market

Oil Industry at SunsetA 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.
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