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<<< Government of Canada will welcome more economic immigrants in 2010 >>>

manrhys

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News Release
Government of Canada will welcome more economic immigrants in 2010
Toronto, June 26, 2010 — Canada is adjusting its 2010 immigration plan to put even greater emphasis on economic recovery and further reduce the federal skilled worker backlog, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney told a news conference today.

“When I met with my provincial colleagues last week, they all stressed the importance of economic immigration,” Minister Kenney said. “As we recover from the recession, increasing economic immigration will help ensure employers have the workers they need to supplement our domestic labour supply.”

Each year, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) sets out a plan for the number of immigrants it intends to welcome within economic, family and humanitarian immigration categories. The planned range for 2010 is 240,000 – 265,000 immigrants. CIC generally achieves the midpoint of this range. In 2010, CIC anticipates achieving the upper end of this range, allowing Canada to welcome more immigrants in the economic category than originally planned. This includes federal skilled workers and record-level numbers of provincial nominees, without reducing the number in the family or humanitarian immigration categories.

Minister Kenney noted that some of his provincial colleagues expect the need will grow further in the years ahead. “This is something we will need to take into consideration when we consult more broadly on plans for future years,” he said.

Even with higher numbers of economic immigrants, Canada still receives many more applications than can be processed in a timely way. As a result, the department is limiting the number of new applications it will consider in the federal skilled worker category every year.

“Canada will continue to welcome historically high numbers of immigrants, but we need to manage the number of new applications or risk creating new backlogs and longer processing times,” Minister Kenney said. “We have more than enough applications on hand now to fill many of our needs, and we want to be fair to those people who have been waiting the longest.”

Effective immediately, to be eligible to apply as a federal skilled worker, applicants must either have a job offer, or they must have experience in one of 29 in-demand occupations. These occupations were identified through analysis of updated labour market information and consultations with provinces, territories, stakeholders and the public.

For those applying under the occupation list, the government will limit the number of applications considered for processing to 20,000 per year as a way to better manage the supply of applications with labour market demand. Within the 20,000 limit, a maximum of 1,000 applications per occupation will be considered. The limit does not apply to applicants with a job offer.

In addition, all federal skilled worker and Canadian Experience Class applicants must submit the results of an independent language test before they will be considered.

Other than the language test result requirement, these changes apply only to the federal skilled worker immigration category. The authority for the changes, known as ministerial instructions, comes from amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act approved by Parliament in 2008 as part of the Action Plan for Faster Immigration.

The instructions are meant as a flexible tool to allow the government to keep the intake of applications for economic immigration in line with the number and types of jobs available in Canada, as well as reduce application backlogs and processing times.

Since the first instructions were issued in November 2008, the backlog of federal skilled worker applicants in process prior to the legislation has dropped from 640,000 to 380,000. The majority of decisions on new applications are being made in six to 12 months, compared with up to six years prior to the changes. But in the first quarter of 2010, the number of new applications rose significantly beyond the department’s ability to process them in a timely way, leading to the recognition that a more refined approach is necessary.

“These changes bring Canada in line with the practices of the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, our main competitors for skilled immigrants,” said Minister Kenney. “They help match the supply of applicants to our processing capacity and today’s post-recession job market needs. This is the only responsible way to manage our immigration system.”

The Government is also proposing new eligibility criteria for the immigrant investor program so it makes an even greater contribution to the Canadian economy. Proposed regulatory changes will require new investors to have a personal net worth of $1.6M, up from $800,000, and make an investment of $800,000, up from $400,000. These proposals were pre-published today in the Canada Gazette for a 30-day public comment period.

Canada’s current criteria for investors are the lowest in the world, and have not been changed since 1999. As a result the program draws a larger number of applicants than can be admitted every year under the immigration plan, and processing times are increasing.

Until the changes are finalized, the Government will stop accepting new investor applications to prevent a flood of applications before the new criteria take effect, which would stretch processing times even further. When the new criteria are in place, new applications will be processed alongside the old ones. In this way, Canada can begin to realize the benefits of the changes immediately.

“Canada needs investor immigrants,” said Minister Kenney. “These changes are necessary to keep Canada’s program competitive with that of other countries, and keep pace with the changing economy.”

Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/CitImmCanada.

For further information (media only), please contact:

Celyeste Power
Minister’s Office
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
Celyeste.Power@cic.gc.ca

Media Relations
Communications Branch
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
613-952-1650
CIC-Media-Relations@cic.gc.ca
 

manrhys

Star Member
Jan 12, 2010
97
5
Category........
Visa Office......
London
NOC Code......
4131
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
10-02-2010
AOR Received.
april 2010
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27 july,2010
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Eligibility criteria for federal skilled worker applications
Under changes to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, federal skilled worker applications are assessed for eligibility according to the criteria listed below. Note: This does not apply to applicants intending to live in the province of Quebec.

These criteria affect you only if you applied on or after June 26, 2010. If your application was received before June 26, 2010, it will be processed according to the rules that were in effect at that time.

Note: If you are applying under one of the 29 eligible occupations, as of June 26, 2010, a maximum of 20,000 Federal Skilled Worker applications will be considered for processing in the following 12 months. Within the 20,000 cap, a maximum of 1,000 Federal Skilled Worker applications per eligible occupation will be considered for processing each year.

These limits do not apply to applications with an offer of arranged employment.

Is my application eligible for processing?
For your application to be eligible for processing, you must include the results of your official language proficiency test, and either:

•have a valid offer of arranged employment, OR
•be a skilled worker who has had one year of continuous full-time or equivalent part-time paid work experience in at least one of the following eligible occupations within the last ten years:
0631 Restaurant and Food Service Managers
0811 Primary Production Managers (Except Agriculture)
1122 Professional Occupations in Business Services to Management
1233 Insurance Adjusters and Claims Examiners
2121 Biologists and Related Scientists
2151 Architects
3111 Specialist Physicians
3112 General Practitioners and Family Physicians
3113 Dentists
3131 Pharmacists
3142 Physiotherapists
3152 Registered Nurses
3215 Medical Radiation Technologists
3222 Dental Hygienists & Dental Therapists
3233 Licensed Practical Nurses
4151 Psychologists
4152 Social Workers
6241 Chefs
6242 Cooks
7215 Contractors and Supervisors, Carpentry Trades
7216 Contractors and Supervisors, Mechanic Trades
7241 Electricians (Except Industrial & Power System)
7242 Industrial Electricians
7251 Plumbers
7265 Welders & Related Machine Operators
7312 Heavy-Duty Equipment Mechanics
7371 Crane Operators
7372 Drillers & Blasters - Surface Mining, Quarrying & Construction
8222 Supervisors, Oil and Gas Drilling and Service

NOTE: the occupations above are all Skill Type 0 (managerial occupations) or Skill Level A (professional occupations) or B (technical occupations and skilled trades) on the Canadian National Occupational Classification list.

If you are not sure if you should apply as a skilled worker, you can use the eligibility tool to get an idea of whether your application would be eligible for processing.

If you apply and do not meet the above criteria, you will be informed of this and your processing fee will be refunded.

There are many ways to immigrate to Canada. If you don’t meet the criteria to apply under the Federal Skilled Worker Program, you may qualify under another category. Learn more about your options.
 

manrhys

Star Member
Jan 12, 2010
97
5
Category........
Visa Office......
London
NOC Code......
4131
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
10-02-2010
AOR Received.
april 2010
File Transfer...
27 july,2010
Med's Request
00-00-0000
Med's Done....
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http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/releases/2010/2010-06-26.asp

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/apply-who-instructions.asp
 

manrhys

Star Member
Jan 12, 2010
97
5
Category........
Visa Office......
London
NOC Code......
4131
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
10-02-2010
AOR Received.
april 2010
File Transfer...
27 july,2010
Med's Request
00-00-0000
Med's Done....
00-00-0000
Interview........
00-00-0000
Passport Req..
00-00-0000
VISA ISSUED...
00-00-0000
LANDED..........
00-00-0000
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/backgrounders/2010/2010-06-26c.asp
 

manrhys

Star Member
Jan 12, 2010
97
5
Category........
Visa Office......
London
NOC Code......
4131
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
10-02-2010
AOR Received.
april 2010
File Transfer...
27 july,2010
Med's Request
00-00-0000
Med's Done....
00-00-0000
Interview........
00-00-0000
Passport Req..
00-00-0000
VISA ISSUED...
00-00-0000
LANDED..........
00-00-0000
These criteria affect you only if you applied on or after June 26, 2010. If your application was received before June 26, 2010, it will be processed according to the rules that were in effect at that time.