Hello Brian,
I believe that there are certain changes to the IMM system in the pipeline.There is a meeting to take place on the August 15 2008 to decide or rather shortlist the NOC beased on its current demand.
the possible agenda of the meeting will be as mentioned below, of which the 3rd point is bothering me.
The following themes will form the basis of the consultations:
1. The role of the immigration program in addressing specific labour market needs
2. Occupational pressures in each participants’ workplace/industry/sector/region
• Short term vs. medium term
• What skill levels do these occupations require
• What barriers to accreditation must be addressed.
3. Federal skilled worker applications filed on or after February 27, 2008: prioritization of those applications meeting labour market needs, return of others.
for some more news you can go through the below mentioned article.
Government of Canada announces consultations on immigration priorities
Ottawa, July 3, 2008 — The Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, today released details of consultations on Canada’s immigration priorities, following the passage of changes to Canada’s immigration legislation under Budget Bill C-50.
The new immigration law gives the Minister the authority to issue instructions on which categories of applications are prioritized, returned with a refund or held for future consideration.
The new law is intended to stop the growth of the backlog of applicants so that, ultimately, people who want to come to Canada receive a decision within 6 to 12 months instead of the 6 years it can take now. The new law also more closely aligns Canada’s immigration system with labour shortages so that immigrants who come to Canada will have more opportunities to find employment in their chosen fields.
The consultations will focus on identifying critical occupational shortages, the role of immigration in responding to them, and any barriers to foreign credential accreditation.
They will help develop instructions to immigration officers on which applications are identified for priority processing, particularly in the federal skilled worker category.
“The changes to Canada’s immigration law allow us to bring to Canada more quickly those immigrants with the skills that match Canada’s labour market needs,” said Minister Finley. “We are now consulting to make sure we accurately define those needs. This will help our economy and help newcomers better support their families.”
Beginning July 7th, the Department will consult with all provinces and territories, as well as key stakeholders, through a series of face-to-face meetings and videoconferences. A consultation schedule is attached. Representatives from business, labour, and academic and non-government organizations will be invited to these sessions.
The Minister will also consult national stakeholders at a roundtable in August. Other organizations or interested individuals who wish to provide input can submit their feedback online at www.cic.gc.ca until the end of July.
“We committed to consulting across the country and we are delivering on that commitment,” said Minister Finley. “I believe this inclusive approach will help identify the categories of workers who get priority, and will allow us to prepare instructions that reflect the knowledge and expertise of the provinces, territories and stakeholders.”
Following consultations, the instructions will be published in the Canada Gazette and available on the Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) website at www.cic.gc.ca. They will also be tabled in Parliament as part of the Annual Report on Immigration.
To meet the 2008 immigration plan, which calls for the admission of 240,000 to 265,000 new permanent residents, CIC missions around the world continue to process applications submitted before February 27, 2008, the date the legislation takes effect. With wait times exceeding six years in some categories, few missions are currently processing applications received in 2008, which is expected to be a transition year.
The legislation will not affect agreements with the provinces to process provincial nominees or, in the case of Quebec, Quebec skilled workers. It cannot affect refugee protection, nor is it intended to affect our goals for family reunification. This means CIC continues to process applications in those areas in the usual way.
Applications from federal skilled workers who already have a job arranged for them when they arrive will also be processed. Other applications received on or after February 27, 2008 in the federal skilled worker category will be considered for possible processing once the instructions are issued.
Consultation sessions themselves will not be open to the general public or media. Documents that form the basis of the consultations are attached and available at www.cic.gc.ca.
Fact (Present and Future)
Until the recent amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), applications in the largest backlog—federal skilled workers—used to be processed in the order they were received, regardless of whether the applicants’ skills or professions would enable them to find a job in Canada.
We must have an immigration system that effectively balances Canada’s own needs with its popularity as a destination. That is why the Government of Canada proposed changes to IRPA. On June 18, 2008, these changes became law.
The changes mean that Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) will have greater flexibility in processing certain categories of applications submitted on or after February 27, 2008—the date the new law takes effect. While all applications will continue to be accepted, the ministerial instructions will identify which categories will be prioritized for processing.
In the first instance of issuing ministerial instructions, the Government of Canada intends to apply this new flexibility to the federal skilled worker (FSW) category, where the largest backlog and longest wait times exist. At the same time, all applications submitted before February 27 will continue to be processed to a final decision under the rules in place prior to the amendments.
Discussion themes
The following themes will form the basis of the consultations:
1. The role of the immigration program in addressing specific labour market needs
2. Occupational pressures in each participants’ workplace/industry/sector/region
• Short term vs. medium term
• What skill levels do these occupations require
• What barriers to accreditation must be addressed
3. Federal skilled worker applications filed on or after February 27, 2008: prioritization of those applications meeting labour market needs, return of others.
Legislative amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act
Canada needs a more responsive and fair immigration system to address current challenges and emerging needs. Key amongst these is the need to address the immigration backlog and reduce wait times so that families are reunited faster and skilled workers arrive sooner.
There are approximately 925,000 people waiting in line—almost enough to meet our immigration targets for the next four years.
And yet hundreds of thousands more people continue to apply every year. Under the old law, all applications had to be evaluated and processed to a final decision. The backlog continued to build and threatened to reach 1.5 million by 2012 if we did nothing. This would have meant a wait time of 10 years for applicants.
Until the recent amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), applications in the largest backlog—federal skilled workers—used to be processed in the order they were received, regardless of whether the applicants’ skills or professions would enable them to find a job in Canada.
We must have an immigration system that effectively balances Canada’s own needs with its popularity as a destination. That is why the Government of Canada proposed changes to IRPA. On June 18, 2008, these changes became law.
The changes mean that Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) will have greater flexibility in processing certain categories of applications submitted on or after February 27, 2008—the date the new law takes effect. While all applications will continue to be accepted, the ministerial instructions will identify which categories will be prioritized for processing.
In the first instance of issuing ministerial instructions, the Government of Canada intends to apply this new flexibility to the federal skilled worker (FSW) category, where the largest backlog and longest wait times exist. At the same time, all applications submitted before February 27 will continue to be processed to a final decision under the rules in place prior to the amendments.
Reducing the backlog
The amendments address elements within the existing legislative framework that contributed to the growth of the backlog. In particular, they amend IRPA in order to:
1. eliminate the obligation to process all properly submitted applications to a decision (section 11); and,
2. confer a clear authority for the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to establish priorities through ministerial instructions that limit the number of applications that would be processed (section 87.3).
Simply put, far more people apply than can be processed and admitted and integrated. As a result, a backlog has been created and wait times have increased. By removing the obligation to process all applications and requests CIC receives, combined with the ability to return applications unprocessed, the amendments begin to reduce the backlog by preventing it from growing further. Once stabilized, the backlog can start to be reduced over time through a combination of new funding and administrative measures that increase processing capacity and efficiency.
Budget 2008 also provided over $109 million over the next five years to improve and modernize the immigration system. As a start, some missions will receive additional resources to help improve wait times for permanent applications, international students and temporary foreign workers. Ongoing funding will help build the capacity to meet future levels and increasing demand, and will introduce administrative improvements such as centralized processing and data entry.
Increasing labour market responsiveness
With a growing backlog, particularly in the FSW category, individuals with the skills and experience that employers want wait years to be admitted.
The new authority allows the Minister to issue instructions that will ensure workers with the skills in demand are processed and arrive in Canada faster. By prioritizing certain skills and occupations, labour market needs will be addressed more quickly.
Ensuring the integrity of humanitarian and compassionate consideration
In order to ensure that ministerial instructions are effective, subsection 25(1) was amended to provide the Minister with the discretion not to consider requests for humanitarian and compassionate (H&C) consideration made outside of Canada. The intent of this amendment is to prevent certain applicants, such as FSW applicants who do not meet the priorities stipulated in instructions (and whose applications may be returned unprocessed), from circumventing the instructions through an H&C request
ALSO PLEASE KEEP ME INFORMED ON YOUR APPLICATION STATUS AS I HAVE MY APPLICATION SUBMITTED ON THE 30-07-2008. I NEED AN ANSWER ON WHEN CAN I EXPECT TO RECEIVE MY FIRST CORRESPONDENCE FROM CIC AND WHAT WILL BE THE MODE OF CORRESPONDENCE, WILL IT BE BY EMAIL OR BY POST.
