Canadian Immigration News

The Immigrant Business Start-Up Pilot, offered by the province of New Brunswick and Enterprise Saint John, is aimed at recent immigrants who are interested in starting a small business and wish to acquire the skills, training, and business contacts to do so.

Pier 21, located on the waterfront of Halifax, Nova Scotia, has received new funding to better tell Canada's story of immigration. The $10 million capital expansion of the immigration museum, which began in 2005, will receive an additional $1.5 million from the Government of Nova Scotia.

China has been the top source country of immigrants for years, but now the Philippines has taken over the top spot for immigrants and temporary workers (combined). 19,064 permanent residents and 15,254 temporary workers from the Philippines arrived in Canada in 2007. Aside from Americans, more Filipinos arrived in Canada as temporary foreign workers than any other nationality.

The Peterborough, Ontario region is among the many areas in Canada that are working to make themselves more attractive immigration destinations.

Last week, the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island (PEI) announced changes to its Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) that will make it easier for immigrants who came through the PEI PNP to fulfill the residency requirements of the program.

The United States government has delayed a requirement that people entering the U.S. from Canada, Mexico, or the Caribbean by land or sea must present a valid passport.

The minority Conservative government tabled a bill on March 14, 2008 that proposed amendments to Canada's Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). At that time, the government indicated that the bill would come up for second reading on March 31st.

The provinces of Alberta and Ontario have each recently announced pilot projects that will allow working-age dependent children of temporary foreign workers in those provinces to obtain Open Work Permits.

Over the past two years, 2,000 volunteers have worked together to erect the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Canada's first marble Hindu Temple. The $40 million temple is being celebrated as an architectural wonder, constructed with ancient techniques and spanning 95,000 square feet.

The Ontario Pilot Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) was launched this summer to help employers faced with labour shortages to bring in foreign workers and to fast-track the immigration process for their new employees.