Immigration Canada

Policy change affects immigration numbers

English: Flag of Manitoba Français : Drapeau du Manitoba Русский: Флаг Манитоба (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In recent years, Canada's immigration system has undergone radical change. Have these changes resulted in the 16 per cent drop in new arrivals, or are there specific Manitoba problems that have caused this decrease?

Until recently, the majority of immigrants to Canada could qualify to immigrate without having a job offer from a Canadian employer. Today, priority is given to foreign nationals already working in Canada, who have been recruited to fill vacant jobs, or who have studied in Canada. In essence, Canada's immigration system has gone to one where employers choose immigrants from one where immigrants choose Canada.

From 2007 to 2011, less than one-third of Manitoba's immigrant nominees came in categories for which a job and job offer were required. During this period, almost 70 per cent of nominees did not require jobs or job offers. To this extent, Manitoba is out of step with the rest of Canada.

The move to an employer-driven immigration system has many positives. It ensures foreign nationals coming to Canada not only have jobs waiting for them, but they fill positions for which Canadian employers face shortages. While some have criticized employer-driven immigration, charging that this causes Canada to focus on fixing short-term work shortages as opposed to bringing in future Canadians who can generate a long-term economic benefits, the fact is the old system often brought in individuals who arrived unemployed and struggled to make ends meet.

An employer-driven system allows businesses to fill jobs to better meet the demands of their customers. With the increase in globalization, it is important that Canadian companies are able to compete on the world stage. The ability to access talent from anywhere is key to allowing Canadian companies to compete globally.

While there are advantages to employer-driven immigration, what is being sacrificed is family reunification -- a key to Manitoba's immigration program. While Canadians and permanent residents can still sponsor spouses and children, it is getting tougher to assist one's siblings, cousins, parents and other relatives unless they have jobs or job offers. For those who do qualify without job offers, the number of available spots has been reduced.

On a provincial level, family reunification used to be a large component of provincial nominee programs. As late as last year, four provinces had immigration streams that allowed for overseas relatives to come to Canada without job offers. Since May 2012, three of those provinces, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island, changed or eliminated their family programs. While family members can still immigrate to those Canadian provinces, a job connection or business investment is necessary.

Manitoba is the only province with a viable program that still allows family members and friends to immigrate to Canada without a job offer, previous work in Canada, or previous study here. This allows Manitoba to strike a balance between employer-driven immigration and family reunification.

Manitoba, however, is redesigning its program to make it more restrictive. When the final details are announced in April, Manitoba may be criticized by those wanting to see more family reunification. When compared with what is happening in the federal system and in other provinces, however, Manitoba should be congratulated for keeping the immigration program open to a form of family reunification.

With Manitoba offering a form of family reunification, there is a potential that other Canadians will move here for the purpose of assisting their relatives to immigrate. Before changes were made to family immigration in Saskatchewan, it was reported some Canadians moved there to take advantage of its program. After their relatives arrived in Canada, they returned to their original province. Manitoba must guard against this to maintain program credibility.

While the current federal system does not provide for a great deal of family reunification, there is still some hope. Ottawa is scheduled to roll out its new skilled-worker stream in May and is also scheduled to lift the freeze on the ability of Canadians and permanent residents to sponsor parents and grandparents in the fall.

The final rollout will go a long way to determine the openness of the federal government to family reunification.

R. Reis Pagtakhan is a

Winnipeg immigration lawyer.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 21, 2013 A15

Manitoba's immigration dips in 2012: report

English: Manitoba Province within Canada. Español: Provincia de Manitoba en Canadá. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The number of immigrants coming to Manitoba has fallen for the first time in 10 years, according to a government report.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada released its preliminary report for 2012 at the end of February.

The report revealed Manitoba had 2,572 fewer people immigrate to the province in 2012 than in 2011.

In 2012, 13,391 people immigrated to Manitoba, while in 2011, 15,963 immigrated to the province.

Rabeya Sultan immigrated to Manitoba from Bangladesh to complete her degree.

'It is going to be drastic in terms of economic growth and impact.'—Fatima Soares, executive director of Manitoba Start

In 2010, she graduated, and two years later she became a permanent resident.

“I’m grateful I am here, that I had the education, that I was able to become independent,” said Sultan.

“I am very grateful to Canada.”

Sultan, like many other immigrants, used the Provincial Nominee Program to get into the province.

Nominee program changed

Manitoba has previously had a strong track record of attracting large numbers of immigrants, but provincial officials warned those numbers could wane with recent changes made by the federal government.

'We would really like to see Ottawa give us more ability to bring people in regardless of family size'—Manitoba immigration minister Christine Melnick

The Conservative government announced changes to immigration services in their 2012 budget, cancelling its shared settlement services agreement with the province. Those changes take effect April 1.

Manitoba's immigration minister Christine Melnick said Wednesday the drop is the result of the federal government putting a cap on the number of new applications at 5,000 annually for the provincial nominee program.

“Ottawa has imposed a cap of 5,000 applicants per year. We have no problem reaching that 5,000 applicant number,” said Melnick. "We would really like to see Ottawa lift that cap."

Successful nominees are able to bring immediate family members with them. Melnick said recently successful nominess have smaller families than in the past, which is leading to the lower numbers.

Where Manitoba used to bring large families from Germany to settle in southern Manitoba, the federal government is now accepting more single people and international students.

“We would really like to see Ottawa give us more ability to bring more people in regardless of family size and that would be the best way to increase numbers here in Manitoba," said Melnick.

'We’re seeing a broad variety of professionals, a broader variety of skill sets coming in.'—Manitoba immigration minister Christine Melnick

Manitoba’s Progressive Conservative party said the blame for the low numbers didn’t have to do with the federal government but sat on the back of the provincial NDP party.

Tory officials released a statement Wednesday hinting high taxes could be keeping immigrants away.

Provincial officials said since the nominee program began in 1999, more than 100,000 people have immigrated to Manitoba.

Economic impact

Fatima Soares is executive director of Manitoba Start, an organization that helps immigrants in Winnipeg become permanent residents.

She said the impact from fewer immigrants will be felt province-wide.

“It is going to be drastic in terms of economic growth and impact,” said Soares.

Soares said the province needs immigrants to support its workforce.

“This is the first year where there is a higher number of retirees than new entrants [into the worforce]. So that in itself is going to impact economic growth,” said Soares.

Melnick said immigrants represent a key component of Manitoba’s workforce.

“We’re seeing a broad variety of professionals, a broader variety of skill sets coming in and smaller family sizes,” she said.

Melnick said the province is hoping to attract at least 75,000 skilled workers to Manitoba in the next seven years.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/story/2013/03/20/mb-immigration-numbers-down-manitoba.html

Immigration Canada launches ad campaign against marriage fraud

Citizenship and Immigration Canada is launching an ad campaign Wednesday warning Canadians to protect themselves against marriage fraud.

A seven-minute video will be posted on the department website, featuring the real-life stories of three Canadians, in silhouettes, whose foreign spouses left them hung out to dry after coming to Canada.

They include an anglophone woman, who met a Cuban man in 2002 while vacationing on the island. The couple married in 2005 and the husband left her on March 24, 2007, shortly after he arrived in Canada with his permanent resident card.

“There are so many people across Canada that are suffering nowadays for the exact same thing that happened to me,” she said.

“After marriage, everything changed. After she arrived in Canada, I was nothing to her,” chimed in another victim, a man wearing a turban.

A francophone woman met a guy online and received a marriage proposal after three weeks. He came to Canada and vanished.

“My self-esteem took a big blow. I became severely depressed and had suicidal thoughts,” said the woman, who also ended up owing the government $30,000 that her sponsored spouse received in welfare.

The video, along with three “Marriage Fraud: Don’t be a victim” television commercials, is the focus of the department’s fraud prevention month. Last year, the theme was about the risks of hiring fly-by-night unlicensed immigration consultants.

“I have heard stories from victims across the country that have been left emotionally and financially devastated because of immigration fraud,” Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said. “The best way to protect oneself is to become informed.”

Under a new law passed last year, sponsored spouses must remain in a marriage for two years before they can acquire permanent resident status or face deportation. They are also banned from sponsoring a new spouse for five years.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada cautions against preparing Federal Skilled Worker Program applications until key details are announced

As previously reported, the Federal Skilled Worker Program (“FSWP”) will begin accepting applications as of May 4, 2013. A “temporary pause” on the acceptance of new FSWP applications (subject only to limited exceptions) has been in place since July 1, 2012.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (“CIC”) has recently reminded applicants who may be preparing to submit applications that it still expects to announce three important elements of the FSWP in April 2013, which will have a significant impact on who can apply under the program. These elements include:

The cap on the number of applications that will be accepted in the first year;
The new list of priority occupations; and
The organizations that will be designated to conduct educational assessments.

Each of these elements is briefly described below.

Cap on the number of applications

Prior to July 1, 2012, FSWP applicants who did not have an offer of employment in Canada were limited to a total overall cap of 10,000 a year and a sub-cap of 500 per year applicable to each of the twenty-nine eligible priority occupations. CIC is expected to announce the total cap that will be imposed on such applications during the first year of the new FSWP, as well as the sub-cap applicable to each eligible occupation.

New list of priority occupations

CIC is expected to announce a new list of priority occupations that will apply under the new FSWP. FSWP applicants who fall under one of these priority applications will be permitted to apply without a job offer.

Designated Educational Assessment Organizations

The new FSWP requires the designation of organizations and professional bodies that will act as credential evaluators. These designated evaluators will authenticate individual foreign credentials and determine their equivalent in Canada for the purposes of the FSWP:

Applicants in regulated occupations will be required to submit the relevant designated professional body’s foreign credential evaluation establishing that the foreign credential is equivalent to the Canadian educational credential required to practice in that occupation.
Applicants in non-regulated occupations will be required to submit a foreign educational assessment provided by a designed organization to demonstrate that their educational credential is equivalent to a Canadian educational credential.

Applicants whose credentials do not exist in Canada or do not have a credential equivalent to the completed Canadian version in Canada will not be eligible under the FSWP.

CIC cautions future applicants that anyone preparing their application before this information is announced will do so at their own risk. Applications that do not meet the requirements that will be announced in April 2013 will not be processed.

Henry Chang
Blaney McMurtry LLP

Best Employers for New Canadians

English: The logo may be obtained from Loblaw Companies Limited. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

ow entering its 7th year, the Best Employers for New Canadians competition is managed by the editors of Canada's Top 100 Employers. This special designation recognizes the nation's best employers for recent immigrants. These employers offer interesting programs to assist new Canadians in making the transition to a new workplace — and a new life in Canada. This year's winners were announced in a special editorial feature published March 13, 2013 in The Globe and Mail.

2013 Winners:
(in alphabetical order, click for our editors' reasons for selection)

AltaGas Ltd.
Assiniboine Credit Union Limited
BC Hydro
Bell Aliant Inc.
Business Development Bank of Canada
Christie Digital Systems Canada Inc.
CIBC / Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
COM DEV Ltd.
Dalhousie University
Deloitte & Touche LLP
Ernst & Young LLP
Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP
Health Canada / Santé Canada
Home Depot Canada, The
Humber College
KPMG LLP
Loblaw Companies Limited
Manitoba Hydro
Medtronic of Canada Ltd.
Mississauga, City of
Mount Sinai Hospital
National Bank Financial Group
New Flyer Industries Limited
Nordion Inc.
NTT Data Canada, Inc.
Ontario Public Service
Provincial Health Services Authority
Pythian Group Inc., The
RBC / Royal Bank of Canada
Saskatoon Regional Health Authority
SaskPower
Shaw Communications Inc.
St. Michael's Hospital
TD Bank Group
TELUS Corporation
TransCanada Corporation
University of Ottawa
Vancouver, City of
Xerox Canada Inc.
York, Regional Municipality of

2012: Canada’s Record-Breaking Year for Immigration

2012 was a record-breaking year for Canadian immigration programs across the board, according to Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC). From visitors to immigrants, workers to students, Canada continued its tradition of welcoming hundreds of thousands of temporary and permanent residents from around the world. Last year continued a 7-year trend of successive record-breaking, welcoming over 257,000 new permanent residents alone. Here is a summary of some other initiatives that in 2012 smashed previous records:

Canadian Experience Class (CEC)

Almost 10,000 permanent resident visas were issued through the CEC last year, making it Canada’s fastest-growing immigration program. Issuances exceeded the government’s target of 7,000 by 34%, marking an increase of over 50% from 2011.

India, China, Philippines Receive Record Visa Issuances

Canada receives its highest numbers of immigrants from China, India, and the Philippines. In 2012, all three countries saw the numbers of visas issued to nationals skyrocket.

Almost 33,000 permanent resident visas were issued to Chinese applicants, in addition to 235,000 visitor visas and over 25,000 study visas. These numbers made China the largest source country for Canadian immigration overall.

The Philippines was the second largest source country for Canadian immigration last year. Almost 33,000 new permanent resident visas were granted to Philippine nationals, as well as 44,000 visitor visas and 941 study permits.

India was the third largest source country for Canadian immigration in 2012. Indians received almost 29,000 permanent resident visas, 130,000 visitor visas, and 13,000 study permits.

International Students

For the first time in Canadian history, over 100,000 study permits were issued to international students. This represents a 60% increase from permit issuances since 2004.

Parent and Grandparent Super Visa

Since its launch in December 2011, the Super Visa has seen a steep rise in popularity, with more than 15,000 visa issuances to date. At present, over 1,000 visas are issued to the parents and grandparents of Canadian citizens or permanent residents every month.

Visitor Visas

The Canadian government approved almost 1 million visitor visas last year. This astounding number represents a 40% increase since 2004. Visa popularity has risen in part due to the fact that multiple-entry visa lengths have been extended from five to ten years for eligible applicants.

The Overseas Orientation Program

Through the Overseas Orientation Program, Canadian Permanent Residents may now avail themselves of the opportunity to prepare for their settlement in Canada before arriving in the country. The program has to date graduated 20,000 participants.

“Canada’s record-breaking year is further proof of the country’s commitment to welcoming individuals from around the world, whether for a short stay or for a lifetime,” said Attorney David Cohen. “I expect 2013 will continue this upward trajectory.”

CIC has already announced its immigration goals for 2013, indicating a sustained interest in keeping immigration levels high. The introduction of new programs, as well as the overhaul ofpopular immigration classes, will ensure that those who enter Canada do so with the full support of the Canadian government and the Canadian people.

Source: http://www.cicnews.com/2013/03/2012-canadas-recordbreaking-year-immigration-032346.html

"Where the Jobs Are” in Canada

DSC_0120 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Source: http://www.cicnews.com/2013/03/jobs-canada-032356.html

Public discussion has been growing over a report recently published by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC). The report indicates a growing divide between the number of high-vacancy job fields in Canada and the skills of the Canadian workforce. To combat labour shortages, Canadian employers and government officials are increasingly looking beyond their own borders to find the employees they need. In addition, the government is taking ambitious efforts to secure skilled foreign workers, on temporary or permanent bases, to close employment gaps across the country.

In its report, CIBC targeted 25 professions that are most in need of qualified employees. They are as follows:

Managers in Engineering, Architecture, Science and Info Systems
Managers in Health, Education, Social and Community Services
Managers in Construction and Transportation
Auditors, Accountants and Investment Professionals
Human Resources and Business Service Professionals
Professional Occupations in Natural and Applied Science
Physical Science Professionals
Life Science Professionals
Civil, Mechanical, Electrical and Chemical Engineers
Other Engineers
Professional Occupations in Health
Physicians, Dentists and Veterinarians
Optometrists, Chiropractors and Other Health Diagnosing and Treating Professionals
Pharmacists, Dietitians and Nutritionists
Therapy and Assessment Professionals
Nurse Supervisors and Registered Nurses
Technical and Related Occupations in Health
Medical Technologists and Technicians (Except Dental Health)
Technical Occupations in Dental Health Care
Other Technical Occupations in Health Care (Except Dental)
Psychologists, Social Workers, Counsellors, Clergy and Probation Officers
Supervisors, Mining, Oil and Gas
Underground Miners, Oil and Gas Drillers and Related Workers
Supervisors in Manufacturing
Supervisors, Processing Occupations

These occupations are all considered skilled work by the Government of Canada. In general, these professions fall in the fields of healthcare, mining, and manufacturing or business services. When added together, these fields account for 21%, or about one-fifth, of jobs in Canada.

Canada’s need for qualified workers varies greatly from province to province. As demonstrated by the chart below, the need is most defined in the country’s rapidly-developing interior. It is reflective of Canada’s booming natural resources economy.

Source: CIBC

Canadian employment is still on the rise. In fact, employment grew by 51,000 in February 2013 alone. However, despite these increases, the country is unable to fill shortages in the fields listed above with home-grown talent alone. Analysts have theorized that this lack of qualified Canadians is the result, in part, of individuals pursuing education and training in professions that are experiencing a labour surplus. These include occupations in the fields of clerical work, food services, recreational guides, personal services and sales. Due to this surplus, individuals in these fields may see greater unemployment as well as wages slightly below average.

By contrast, those who pursue employment in one of the above targeted professions have a high likelihood of employment. At present, unemployment in this pool is a mere 1%. Additionally, wages in these fields have been rising steadily at a rate of about 4% per year.

The Canadian government has made efforts to offset employee shortages through a forward-thinking immigration system. Individuals with the education and skills most needed in Canada will find that programs for both temporary and permanent residence have been tailored to suit their profiles. Some recent immigration changes intended to bring in the workers Canada include:

The popular Federal Skilled Worker Program has overhauled its selection criteria to better target those individuals who have a high likelihood of succeeding upon arrival in Canada. Citizenship and Immigration Canada hopes to accept over 50,000 new permanent residents through this program alone in 2013.
A new class of immigration, the Federal Skilled Trades Class, has been created to more efficiently bring tradespersons to Canada.
Discussions are currently in place regarding the introduction of a new immigration system, known as an Expression of Interest system, that will directly connect Canadian employers and government officials with skilled workers interested in immigrating to Canada.

More than ever, Canada needs immigrants to fill the jobs that Canadians are unable to perform. These jobs are for the most part in well-paying fields with high wages and employment. Individuals with skills in these fields may find themselves well-placed to take advantage of Canada’s many options for temporary or permanent residency.