CANADA IMMIGRATION NEWS (2025)

14/09/2022

🛎 Canada holds sixth all-program Express Entry draw since July

◈ On September 14, Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) issued 3,250 invitations to apply in the most recent Express Entry draw, the sixth since all-program draws resumed on July 6.

◈ The minimum cut off Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score was 511. There was no program specified for the draw, meaning that invitations were issued to candidates from the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) and the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) and the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP). Express Entry is one of the most prominent pathways for immigrating to Canada.

◈ Until the last draw on August 31, the number of candidates receiving ITAs grew by 250 with each draw. Last week saw a marked increase of 500 ITAs and today’s draw is a continuation of that trend. There has also been a gradual decline in the minimum CRS score, which has lost between eight or nine points each draw. However, this draw is different as there was only a five-point decrease. The minimum CRS score in the July 6 draw was 557.

◈ IRCC paused all-program Express Entry draws for over 18 months, starting in December 2020. During this time, only candidates eligible for permanent residence under the CEC or the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) were invited to apply. However, CEC draws were also paused in September 2021.

14/09/2022

🛎 Ontario To Update PNP For New National Occupational Classification System

◈ Ontario is preparing to align the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) with the new National Occupation Classification (NOC) 2021 system, according to a September 6 media release.

◈ The new NOC system is already in use by Employment Development Canada (EDSC) and Statistics Canada (StatsCan), while Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will be implementing the system in November.

◈ This move will impact the OINP by altering what occupations are eligible for each stream. For example, Ontario’s Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) which previously required a job offer or work experience in NOC skill types 0, A, or B will instead fall within TEER 0, 1, 2, or 3.

◈ “For the OINP’s Employer Job Offer In-Demand Skills stream which previously required a job offer in select NOC Skill Level C or D occupations, the stream will now require job offers in select TEER 4 or 5 occupations under NOC 2021,” the amendments say. “Under NOC 2021 some occupations will be changing NOC label and this will have an impact on which streams they are eligible for.”

10/09/2022

🛎 How to get a work permit as an IT professional

◈ The tech sector is very important to the Canadian economy and global tech talent are in high demand in Canada. In fact, there are many different work permit options for individuals in IT fields, and the Canadian government accelerates the processing of these permits.

◈ The main work permit options for IT professions include the Global Talent Stream, CUSMA Professionals and Intra-Company Transferees.

▪️Global Talent Stream

◈ The goal of the Global Talent Stream is to help Canadian employers hiring foreign tech talent. The Global Talent Stream allows certain skilled workers to obtain a work permit within two weeks of applying.

◈ In addition, under the Global Talent Stream, employers who want to hire IT professionals may qualify for an expedited Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), whose purpose is to ensure that the arrival of a foreign worker will not hurt workers in Canada.

◈ Examples of qualifying tech occupations include software engineers and designers, computer programmers, media developers, information system analysts and consultants and computer and information system managers.

▪️CUSMA Professionals

◈ Under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), eligible U.S. and Mexican nationals can obtain Canadian work permits. Work permits granted under CUSMA do not usually require a LMIA prior to applying, meaning Canadian employers can bring foreign IT professionals to work much faster.

◈ Under CUSMA, there is a list of approximately 60 professions or occupations that qualify for a work permit called the CUSMA professional work permit. Many of the professions listed relate to IT and include computer systems analysts, graphic designers, technical publications writers and computer engineers.

▪️Intra-Company Transferees

◈ Intra-Company transfer (ICT) is another work permit option that does not require an LMIA. In order to be eligible for the ICT work permit, the foreign worker must be employed with a company abroad for at least one year and there must a qualifying relationship between the two companies (i.e. subsidiary, affiliate, parent or branch).

◈ For the ICT work permit, there are three different categories under which a worker may qualify. The third category is for workers who have “specialized and proprietary knowledge of the company or its products”, and this is usually how IT professionals may be eligible for the ICT work permit.

01/09/2022

🛎 Canada continues to increase ITAs in the latest Express Entry draw

◈ Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has held its fifth all-program Express Entry draw since July 6.

◈ IRCC issued 2,750 invitations to apply (ITA) and the Comprehensive Ranking System score (CRS) cut-off was 516. Express Entry is one of Canada’s main immigration pathways for skilled newcomers.

◈ There was no program specified for this draw which means that candidates from the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) and Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) were eligible to be invited.

29/08/2022

🛎 IRCC Eases Requirements For RNIP With 6 New Improvements

◈ IRCC Minister Sean Fraser announced new improvements to Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP). The minister announced below mentioned 6 new positive changes to RNIP effective fall 2022 (September 2022).

● increasing the geographic boundaries of 7 out of 11 participating communities, so that more employers can benefit from it.
1. North Bay (Ontario)
2. Sudbury (Ontario)
3. Timmins (Ontario)
4. Thunder Bay (Ontario)
5. Moose Jaw (Saskatchewan)
6. West Kootenay (British Columbia)
7. Vernon (British Columbia) Click here for RNIP community

● increasing the pool of job offers available to individuals with relevant work experience to help in addressing the labour market gaps in the trades and health care industries

● allowing communities to participate until the end of pilot i.e., until August 2024

● lowering the minimum amount of settlement funds that participants must possess

● assisting community partners in better supporting employers and applicants

● strengthening program integrity

28/08/2022

🛎 Canada's population could increase to 57M by 2068, posing challenges for housing, health care

◈ As Canada's population is set to become larger and older in the decades to come amid high immigration and low fertility, experts say these trends have huge implications for our housing and health care needs.

◈ A report from Statistics Canada released on Monday projects Canada's population could reach 47.8 million in 2043 and 56.5 million by 2068 under a medium-growth scenario. Other population projection scenarios say Canada's population could grow to anywhere between 44.9 million and 74.0 million in 2068.

◈ But the StatCan report noted that this could have an impact on the availability of housing. Last June, a report from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation projected the housing stock in the country to increase by 2.3 million units over the next decade, but said Canada needs an additional 3.5 million affordable housing units by 2030.

27/08/2022

🛎 Extra Year For Canada International Students To Take Online Courses And Get PGWP

◈ Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is allowing international students to take their courses online for another year and still qualify for a Post-Graduate Work Permit (PGWP) later.

◈ “Distance learning measures have been extended to Aug. 31, 2023,” announced the IRCC on Friday. “But they are being reduced in scope.

◈ “As we transition back to pre-pandemic requirements, we encourage international students to come back to Canada. A transition period is available for those who may need some time to do so.”

◈ International students studying online from abroad or who submit a study permit application no later than Aug. 31, 2022 – this coming Wednesday – will continue to be able to complete up to 100 per cent of their program online without affecting their eligibility for PGWP.

◈ After that, study time completed from abroad starting on Sept. 1, 2023, will be deducted from the length of their PGWP, regardless of when they began their studies.

◈ The extension of temporary distance learning measures will affect those starting programs from Sept. 1,2022 to Aug. 31, 2023.

◈ Under these measures no more than 50 per cent of the credits earned can be completed outside Canada to remain eligible for a PGWP.

25/08/2022

🛎 More than 1.3 million immigration applications in backlog amid humanitarian crises

◈ Canada’s immigration minister now projects it will take only a few months longer than originally hoped to get application wait times back on track, even though the crisis in Ukraine and other “external” events have worsened the backlogs.

◈ In January, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser vowed to eliminate backlogs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic by the end of the year. That was before Canada launched a major response to the refugee crisis sparked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and approved hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians and their families to come to Canada temporarily to escape the war.

◈ Those efforts, combined with updates to the government’s aging technology, have led to longer waits for people who want to come to Canada, Fraser said.

◈ As of the end of July, approximately 1.3 million immigration applications in the system have taken longer to process than the government’s service standards dictate they should. That’s about 54 per cent of all the pending applications in the system.

◈ In an interview with The Canadian Press, Fraser said the department may need a few extra months before all immigration streams are back to normal processing times.

◈ Fraser said the Canadian immigration system is seeing unprecedented demand, in addition to humanitarian crises.

◈ As of July 31, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada had issued more than 349,000 new work permits this year, compared to 199,000 in all of 2021.

◈ At a news conference Wednesday, Fraser announced the Immigration Department is in the midst of a hiring spree to bring 1,250 new employees on board by the end of the fall to tackle the massive backlogs in processing applications and the increased demand.

24/08/2022

🛎 CBSA Jobs For Student Border Services Officers Are Available & You Can Make Up To $34 An Hour

◈ Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) jobs for students are available and the positions pay up to $34 an hour!

◈ For these government of Canada jobs, the federal law enforcement agency is hiring Student Border Services Officers as part of the Federal Student Work Experience Program.

◈ Full-time summer employment is available from May to August 2023 with the possibility of part-time work in fall 2023 and winter 2024.

◈ With the student jobs at CBSA, the salary ranges from $16 an hour all the way to $34.59 an hour!

◈ There are 471 Student Border Services Officer openings all over the country.

◈ Positions are in Calgary, Dorval, Edmonton, Halifax, Hamilton, London, Mississauga, Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec City, Regina, Richmond, Saskatoon, Sidney, St. John's, Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg.

23/08/2022

🛎 Statistics Canada report states language diversity due to immigration in Canada

◈ Although English and French are the main languages spoken in Canada, the country’s linguistic diversity continues to grow.

◈ Immigration has continued to enrich Canada’s linguistic diversity.

◈ The Statistics Canada report found that 4.6 million Canadians predominately speak a language other than English and French at home. In particular, 1 in 4 Canadians in 2021, or 9 million people, had a mother tongue other than English and French. This is a record high since 1901, when Statistics Canada began to include data on mother tongues.

◈ Granted, English and French remain the most commonly spoken languages in Canada. More than 9 in 10 Canadians speak one of the two official languages at home on a regular basis.Immigration has continued to enrich Canada’s linguistic diversity.

22/08/2022

🛎 New federal task force to review Canada’s immigration, passport delays

◈ The federal government has created a special task force to help tackle the major delays with immigration applications and passport processing that have left Canadians frustrated.

◈ In a statement announcing the new task force, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government knows the delays are unacceptable, and will continue to do everything it can to improve the delivery of the services in an efficient and timely manner.

◈ Trudeau said the new task force will help guide the government to better meet the changing needs of Canadians, and continue to provide them with the high-quality services they need and deserve.

◈ Ten cabinet members will spearhead the new committee, which will review how services are delivered, and identify gaps and areas for improvement.

◈ The committee will be expected to make recommendations outlining short- and longer-term solutions that would reduce wait times, clear out backlogs, and improve the overall quality of services provided.

◈ In addition, the task force will monitor external issues, such as labour shortages around the world, which contribute to travel delays at home and abroad.

20/08/2022

🛎 Canadian Universities Report $7.3 Billion in Surplus Revenues in 2020/21

◈ Statistics Canada, the government’s data agency, reported this week that university surpluses hit a total of $7.3 billion in 2020/21 as post-secondary institutions shuttered classrooms to reduce the spread of Covid and shifted to online learning.

◈ University revenues jumped 12.8% to $46.3 billion. At the same time, expenses fell 3.8% to $39 billion.

◈ In the past decade, tuition revenues have become more important to schools, increasing from 21.5% of total revenues to 28.8%. Meanwhile, the government share of funding has slumped to 32.5%, the report said.

◈ While international tuition varies by program and university, international students on average paid three times the tuition of domestic students.

◈ “This trend may be related to a steady shift towards more reliance on tuition fees – particularly from international students – to fund universities’ operating activities,” the report said.

◈ The Canadian Federation of Students has called the international student fee differential “exorbitant” and is demanding that the provinces make education more accessible for all students.

◈ When universities moved classes online, some international students complained, arguing that tuition should be reduced if they were denied the full experience of on-campus education. Their pleas fell on deaf ears as most universities held the line on international tuition.

◈ The Statistics Canada report cautioned universities about financial risks. “As the reliance on international tuition revenue has increased among a large number of universities, so has the risk of financial losses if a drop in international student enrolments were to occur,” the agency said.

◈ While the StatsCan report addressed universities – not colleges – all post-secondary institutions are vulnerable. In Ontario, colleges rely on international students for 68% of their tuition revenue.

19/08/2022

🛎 Alberta looks to poach skilled workers from Vancouver, Toronto

◈ The government of Alberta is looking to draw skilled workers from Toronto and Vancouver to the province and launched its recruitment campaign Monday morning.

◈ "Alberta is back in a big way," said Premier Jason Kenney during Monday's announcement, "but one of the biggest challenges to sustaining that amazing growth is having enough people to fill all of the jobs that are being created.

◈ When asked about targeting Vancouver and Toronto, Kenney responded by saying the cost of living in those cities is “just ridiculous.”

◈ “The cost of living situation in the [Greater Toronto Area] and the [Greater Vancouver Region] has just gotten out of control, driven by real estate, in part,” Kenney said. “We think that for people who cannot afford a home, and young workers who can barely afford rent, the comparison to Alberta is very powerful.”

◈ Alberta saw the highest net inter-provincial migration in Canada, at over 5,300 people, in the first three months of 2022.

◈ If this continues, Kenney projects that the province will see a migration of 20,000 people, which puts the province on par with its last economic boom in 2010 – 2014.

17/08/2022

🛎 Canada holds fourth all-program Express Entry draw since July

● Draw Number: 229
● Date of Draw: August 17, 2022
● Number of Invitations Issued: 2,250
● Minimum CRS: 525
● Program Specified: Non-specified
● Tie-breaking rule: December 28, 2021

◈ Canada has held its fourth all-program Express Entry draw since July 6.

◈ IRCC issued 2,250 Invitations to Apply (ITA) for permanent residence. The Comprehensive Ranking System score (CRS) cut-off was 525. Express Entry is one of Canada’s most popular immigration pathways for skilled newcomers.

◈ There was no program specified for this draw which means that candidates from the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) and Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) were eligible to be invited.

Overall, 7,500 candidates have been issued ITAs since all-program draws resumed on July 6. The number of candidates invited has consistently increased by 250 with each draw while the minimum CRS score is steadily declining each week by eight or nine points. The current cut-off score is 33 points lower than the July 6 draw, which was 557. Today’s CRS represents a decline of 8 points compared to the last draw on August 3.

◈ Express Entry draws were paused by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for over 18 months. During this time, only candidates eligible for permanent residence under the CEC or the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) were invited to apply. However, CEC draws were also paused in September 2021.

◈ The pause of the draws was in response to an overwhelming number of permanent residence applications submitted while the global COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing. During this time Canada’s border closed and travel regulations changed frequently.

16/08/2022

🛎 Frequently Asked Questions on Inadmissibility to Canada

◈ Before entering Canada, the country has admissibility requirements that each foreign national must meet. Such requirements include passing a criminal background check and undergoing medical examinations.

◈ If you are a foreign national who has been arrested or convicted of a criminal offence, you may be considered criminally inadmissible to Canada. Foreign convictions and arrests are compared to Canadian laws and standards when determining an individual’s criminal inadmissibility.

◈ What an individual must do to overcome inadmissibility will depend on the classification of the offence (serious versus non-serious) and the time that has elapsed since the completion of a sentence (includes probation, fines, etc.).

15/08/2022

🛎Canada opens new PR pathway for overseas family members of air disasters

◈ Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has created a new permanent residency program for families of the Canadian victims of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 and Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752.

◈ The new permanent residency pathway applies to those who wish to come to Canada to settle and support members of their family who lost their spouse, common-law partner or parent, according to a government media release.

◈ To ensure that extended family members have close ties to the surviving family member, the family member who is in Canada will need to provide a statutory declaration. There is a limit of two extended family members per family unit.

15/08/2022

🛎 IRCC officials discuss study permit backlog and new recommendations at CBIE symposium

◈ Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is reporting an unprecedented surge in demand for study permits from international students. According to ICEF Monitor, the numbers are continuing to increase as pandemic restrictions are loosen around the globe and students are returning to Canada to begin or complete their post-secondary education.

◈ The increase in applications for study permits was a topic of conversation at a recent virtual symposium by the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CIBE). Officials from IRCC were present to discuss the volume of applications they have received as students move away from online programs and return to classrooms in Canada.

15/08/2022

🛎 IRCC sent work permit extension instructions to wrong e-mail addresses

◈ Expired and soon-to-expire Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) holders and Temporary Residence to Permanent Residence (TR2PR) applicants were told to wait for an email with instructions on how to extend their status. One day later, several reports surfaced on social media that Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) had sent the emails containing names, application numbers, and unique client identifiers to the wrong addresses.

◈ In an email to CIC News, IRCC said it became aware of the privacy breach on August 3, one day after announcing the new measures. The emails were intended to advise clients that they may be able to get their work permit updated with a longer validity date or to give potential clients the chance to opt-out of the extension.

◈ “As is the case for privacy breaches, an investigation into this incident is currently underway,” IRCC’s email said. “We are taking precautions and have appropriate measures in place to ensure security of information. Once all affected clients have been identified, clients will be sent an email with the correct information.”

CANADA IMMIGRATION NEWS

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