Immigration Canada

New Parent and Grandparent program re-opens January 2, 2014

Matti (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Mississauga, May 10, 2013 — Citizenship and Immigration Canada will re-open the Parent and Grandparent (PGP) program for new applications on January 2, 2014, by which time the backlog and wait times in the program are expected to have been cut in half.

“The Action Plan for Faster Family Reunification is on track to meet the goals of cutting in half the backlog and wait times in the Parent and Grandparent program,” said Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney. “It is very important that we continue to make progress and not return to the old broken system with wait times as long as a decade—that would be unfair to families.”

Phase II of the Action Plan for Faster Family Reunification will provide even faster processing times, reduce the backlog further, prevent future backlogs, ensure that families have the financial means to support those they sponsor, and protect the interests of taxpayers.

First – In 2012 and 2013, Canada will admit 50,000 parents and grandparents as permanent residents. This represents the highest level of parents and grandparents admitted in 20 years. In 2014, Canada will maintain high levels of admissions for parents and grandparents.

Second – The Super Visa will become permanent and will continue to provide flexibility for families who access the 10-year multiple-entry visa, allowing visa holders to remain in Canada up to two years at a time. Over 15,000 Super Visas have been issued since the program’s launch in December 2011 with approval rates averaging 86 percent.

Third – New qualifying criteria for permanent residency sponsorship of parents and grandparents will increase the financial responsibility of sponsors to ensure they have the means to support those they sponsor, while limiting the program’s cost to taxpayers and Canada’s strained health and social programs.

Fourth – 5,000 new sponsorship applications will be accepted in the program in 2014. By accepting 5,000 applications in 2014 while maintaining high levels, the government will be able to further reduce the remaining backlog so that families can be reunited more quickly.

“These new criteria ensure sponsored family members are well supported by their sponsors throughout their time in Canada,” said Minister Kenney. “The redesigned Parent and Grandparent program reunites families faster while respecting Canadian taxpayers and the limited resources for health and social programs.”

Canada has one of the most generous family reunification programs in the world. The United States, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand do not allow grandparents to be sponsored at all or only in very limited circumstances, and they have very restrictive criteria for the sponsorship of parents.

The amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations that are being proposed will be pre-published in theCanada Gazette (Part I) and the public will be able to comment for a 30-day period.

Canada reforms temporary immigration visa regime

English: The Montreal head office of the Royal Bank of Canada is the Place Ville-Marie's largest tenant (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Canadian government ministers have announced a U-turn in their policy on temporary foreign workers. The announcement comes after two high profile cases which seemed to show abuse of the system have caused negative headlines for the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.

Last year, Canada introduced several changes to the TFWP aimed at stimulating the economy. It allowed employers to pay foreign temporary workers 15% less than the median pay in any sector and also speeded up the system for gaining work permits. The Accelerated Labour Market Opinion (ALMO) allowed employers to get work permits for foreign staff in about ten days. Both these measures have been reversed because of cases which seem to show that they are encouraging employers to employ foreign workers instead of Canadians.Temporary foreign workers who work in Canada under the Canadian Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) must now be paid at the same rate as Canadian workers, there will be greater enforcement of the requirement that temporary foreign workers should not displace Canadians and English and French will be the only languages which can be specified as a requirement for employment. The changes will take place with immediate effect.

Temporary workers must be paid 'the prevailing wage'

On 29th April 2013, Jason Kenney, the Canadian Minister for Immigration and Multiculturalism, and Diane Finley, the Human Resources Minister, gave a joint press conference in Ottawa to announce the changes which are as follows.

All temporary foreign workers must now be paid 'the prevailing wage' for the job that they are doing.
The Accelerated Labour Market Opinion (ALMO) process will be suspended.
The government will have greater powers to suspend and revoke work permits where the system has been abused
Employers will need to show that they are not replacing Canadian workers with foreign workers.
Employers which rely heavily on foreign workers will need to show how they intend to employ more Canadians in future
The government will raise the fees for applications to employ foreign workers.
Employers will no longer be able to specify that employees must speak language other than English and French (Canada's national languages) in order to take a job.

The ministers were responding to two recent, high profile cases which, unions allege, show that the TFWP is being abused by employers.

In November 2012, unions launched a court case against HD Mining, a mining company which imported 200 Chinese miners into a mine in British Columbia. The unions said that there were plenty of available Canadian miners to do the job and the Chinese miners were being paid CAN$10 an hour less than the market rate. The company said that this was because the mine was using the 'long wall' mining technique which was not used in Canada so there were no suitably qualified miners available locally. HD Mining is 55% owned by a Chinese company.

Unions allege abuse of the system

Unions alleged that the Chinese miners were also being forced to make illegal payments to that company in order to work in Canada. The unions said that it was an abuse of the system to bring in workers and pay them less than the market rate when there were plenty of unemployed Canadian miners living locally. They said that the employer was only employing Chinese speaking miners, further disadvantaging Canadian workers.

The second case was even more damaging to the reputation of the TFWP because it involved the flagship Canadian bank, The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). It also involved allegations that existing staff were being made redundant and replaced by foreign temporary workers.

Unions allege that RBC subcontracted certain functions to Indian outsourcing firm iGate. iGate then applied to the Canadian government for permission to bring in temporary workers. This was granted and once the temporary workers arrived, existing Canadian staff were instructed to train them and were then made redundant. The iGate staff were paid less than their Canadian counterparts.

iGate: 'Authorizations are properly issued under existing law '

When the news of this arrangement broke in early April, iGate spokesman Prabhanjan Deshpande said that the company was doing nothing wrong; 'For any engagement requiring foreign workers, appropriate immigration applications are filed by iGate and all work authorizations are properly issued under existing law and policy'.

However, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Go Public investigative TV programme claims that iGate has yet to respond to allegations that it did not inform the Canadian government that its workers would take the jobs of Canadian staff when applying for Canadian work permits.

At the time, a Canadian government spokesman said 'We recently learned of allegations that RBC could be replacing Canadian workers by contracting with iGate, which is filling some of the roles with temporary foreign workers. If true, this situation is unacceptable'.

Even before these latest cases, unions in Canada were complaining that Canadian employers were replacing indigenous workers with cheaper temporary foreign workers on work permits. They say that foreign workers are not being used as a last resort, as the law requires, but were, instead, being used as an alternative to Canadians and to drive down wages.

Number of temporary foreign workers has more than doubled since 2002

The unions point to the fact that the number of temporary foreign workers with short term work permits (usually lasting either one or two years) has risen from about 185,000 in 2002 to around 447,000 in 2011. Meanwhile, the Canadian unemployment rate has remained higher than 7%.

But Sharaf Sultan, a lawyer at Canadian law firm Heenan Blaikie says that the TFWP contains many protections for Canadian workers and 'thoughtfully assesses the potential impact of the entry of a foreigner in the Canadian labour market. Contrary to the accusations of several commentators, the TFWP is already geared, first and foremost, at protecting local labour markets'. He adds 'Canada faces serious labour shortages across various regions and sectors of the economy'.

In order to employ a foreign worker under the TFWP, a Canadian employer (or international employer like iGate) must receive a Labour Market Opinion (LMO) from Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC), the Canadian government's department for employment.

Accelerated LMO procedure reduced protection

An LMO is a certificate which assesses the likely impact of employing a foreign worker on the Canadian economy. In order to be allowed to employ a foreign worker, employers must show that this will have a neutral or a positive effect on the Canadian jobs market. This is done by showing that the job has been adequately advertised to Canadian workers. However, after the government had introduced the Accelerated Labour Market Opinion (ALMO), it became easier for employers to get approval without showing that they had advertised. The unions say that this resulted in reduced protection for Canadian workers.

The joint announcement by Mr Kenney and Ms Finley will, seemingly, make it harder to get LMOs for foreign workers. Ms Finley told the press conference 'The purpose of the TFW program is to help fill genuine and acute labour needs and we have been reviewing the program to ensure that goal is met and Canadian workers are never displaced.'

Even so, the overall trend towards the employment of more workers on temporary work visas, both in Canada and globally, looks set to continue.

Workpermit.com is a specialist visa consultancy with nearly twenty-five years of experience dealing with visa applications. We are OISC registered. We can help with a wide range of visa applications to the UK or your country of choice. Please feel free to contact us for further details.

Source: http://www.workpermit.com/news/2013-05-03/canada-reforms-temporary-immigration-visa-regime

Working in Canada Just Got Tougher: Changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program Coming

Posted on April 29th, 2013 in Canada Work Permit

As I’ve mentioned in the past, if you want to immigrate to Canada and you qualify, you should begin the process immediately, as rules seem to change often these days, and it seems increasingly more difficult to qualify.
Following the public outcry after the Royal Bank hired foreign workers from India to replace Canadians. Some of those workers were in Canada to train for jobs that would be outsourced to India. Canadians lost their jobs at the Royal Bank and the public backlash was fierce.
The government has moved quickly and today announced a series of reforms that will be introduced through legislation, regulation and through practise and administrative process directives.
So how exactly will it be more difficult to work Canada? The government is taking aim at both employers and temporary workers. The new provisions include:
Requiring employers to pay foreign workers at the prevailing wage
This replaces the wage flexibility employers used to enjoy in hiring foreign workers. The loss of this flexibility may make it more difficult for employers to justify hiring someone from abroad.
Suspending the Accelerated Labour Market Opinion Process
This program allowed employers who had previously issued a positive Labour Market Opinion (“LMO”) and who complied with all requirements to obtain a new LMO is just over a week. This program is no longer available so employers will have to go through the entire LMO process which can be lengthy. It also means they can’t hire foreign workers as quickly as before.
Government authority to suspend and revoke work permits
The government now has discretion to intervene where the foreign worker program is being “misused”. We don’t have a definition of “misused” yet, but I suspect this provision was aimed at the RBC scenario described above.
Adding questions to the LMO application to ensure outsourcing is not on the table
Employers will have to confirm that they are not using foreign workers to outsource jobs to a foreign country by training them in Canada. Again, this is aimed squarely at the RBC case above.
Ensuring there is a transition plan to hire Canadian workers
Employers will have to provide a plan on how they will transition from using foreign workers to Canadian workers over time. This is an administrative burden that some employers may not be able to address fully. For example, if there is a chronic shortage of Canadians with certain specialized skills, it is going to be tough to make a plan to transition to Canadian workers.
Fees for LMO’s and increasing fees for workers
In past, applying for an LMO was free. Not any longer. It’s going to cost employers to apply for an LMO with no guarantee it will be accepted. This could be a big disincentive. Work permit fees will also increase.
English and French as the only languages used as a job requirement
In my view, this will be one of the biggest challenges to overcome. In past, employers could state that a worker required a foreign language (such as Spanish or Mandarin or whatever), because that employer did business in those parts of the world, and needed a worker with those language skills. As a result, finding a fluent Canadian with those language skills was difficult, and often a positive LMO was issued and a foreign worker hired.
No longer. With only English and French as language requirements for a job, a great number of employers simply won’t be able to hire foreign workers for their language skills (among other technical skills of course). In a global economy, I simply can not understand this requirement – this will hurt our employers who do significant business overseas in different languages and who can’t find Canadians with the right technical and language skills to do the job.
So there you have it – the new changes in a nutshell.
I’ll post further details as we get them.

About the author

Gianpaolo Panusa is a Canadian immigration lawyer, writer, and founder of the PanCanadian Immigration Law Group based in Vancouver, Canada.Google+ Profile

The new Skilled Trades Program

““The new Skilled Trades Program will address serious labour shortages that some regions of the country are facing, and will help grow Canada’s economy,” said Minister Kenney. “These long-overdue changes are part of the government’s plan to build a fast and flexible immigration system that is responsive to the needs of Canada’s economy. Canadian employers have long been asking for ways to get the skilled tradespeople they need to meet demands in many industries across the country. We’ve listened to their concerns and created this program in response.”

In the program’s first year, CIC will accept applications from up to 3,000 people in specific trades. The occupation list was designed to reflect current labour market needs and ensure the program delivers a diverse range of skilled tradespeople to fuel Canada’s economy. Within the 3,000, there will be no limit on 26 in-demand occupations, while 17 occupations will be subject to sub-limits of 100 applications each. In total, there are 43 occupations eligible for the Federal Skilled Trades Program. Applications are expected to be processed within 12 months.

In addition to being qualified for an eligible occupation, Federal Skilled Trades Program applicants must demonstrate basic language proficiency in either English or French at the Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) level 5 for speaking and listening, and CLB 4 for reading and writing. This is due to the overall importance of language as a determinant of immigrant success and general health and safety reasons. CLB 4 is considered basic proficiency while those with CLB 5 can more effectively participate in and understand routine conversations.

Other criteria include: a valid offer of employment in Canada or a certificate of qualification from a province or territory in a qualifying skilled trade; at least two years of work experience in the occupation within the last five years; and meeting the employment requirements set out in the National Occupational Classification system, with the exception of licensing requirements, which are addressed separately.

“The Federal Skilled Trades Program is yet another tool in the Canadian employer’s toolkit to find the workers they need to build Canada’s future economy,” said Minister Kenney. “This new program, along with all other changes we are introducing, will help us move towards an immigration system that better supports Canada’s economic growth and long-term prosperity.”

Application forms for the Federal Skilled Trades Program can be found on the CIC website.

To avoid backlogs and ensure fast processing times, we will accept no more than 3,000 complete federal skilled trade applications to process in the first year (from January 2, 2013 to January 1, 2014).

Within the 3,000 cap, no more than 100 new applications for each job under Group A below will be considered for processing. There is no sub-cap for jobs under Group B.

Group A includes 17 jobs with a moderate labour market need. Group B includes 26 in-demand jobs. In total, 43 jobs will be eligible to apply under the Federal Skilled Trades program in the first year of the program. The specific codes from the 2011 version of the NOC are provided below as you must include this in your application form.

The caps apply whether or not people have a qualifying offer of employment or a certificate of qualification from a provincial or territorial apprenticeship authority.

Applications will be processed in the order we receive them.

Group A – Jobs with sub-caps of 100 applications each (and their corresponding 2011 NOC code)

7202 Contractors and supervisors, electrical trades and telecommunications occupations
7204 Contractors and supervisors, carpentry trades
7205 Contractors and supervisors, other construction trades, installers, repairers and servicers
7271 Carpenters
7301 Contractors and supervisors, mechanic trades
7302 Contractors and supervisors, heavy equipment operator crews
8211 Supervisors, logging and forestry
8221 Supervisors, mining and quarrying
8222 Contractors and supervisors, oil and gas drilling services
8241 Logging machinery operators
8252 Agricultural service contractors, farm supervisors and specialized livestock workers
9211 Supervisors, mineral and metal processing
9212 Supervisors, petroleum, gas and chemical processing and utilities
9214 Supervisors, plastic and rubber products manufacturing
9231 Central control and process operators, mineral and metal processing
9241 Power engineers and power systems operators
9243 Water and waste treatment plant operators

Group B – no sub-caps (2011 NOC code)

7231 Machinists and machining and tooling inspectors
7233 Sheet metal workers
7235 Structural metal and plate work fabricators and fitters
7236 Ironworkers
7237 Welders and related machine operators
7241 Electricians (except industrial and power system)
7242 Industrial electricians
7243 Power system electricians
7244 Electrical power line and cable workers
7245 Telecommunications line and cable workers
7246 Telecommunications installation and repair workers
7251 Plumbers
7252 Steamfitters, pipefitters and sprinkler system installers
7253 Gas fitters
7311 Construction millwrights and industrial mechanics
7312 Heavy-duty equipment mechanics
7313 Refrigeration and air conditioning mechanics
7314 Railway carmen/women
7315 Aircraft mechanics and aircraft inspectors
7318 Elevator constructors and mechanics
7371 Crane operators
7372 Drillers and blasters - surface, mining, quarrying and construction
7373 Water well drillers
8231 Underground production and development miners
8232 Oil and gas well drillers, servicers, testers and related workers
9232 Petroleum, gas and chemical process operators

You must complete your applications according to the requirements in place at the time you apply.

List of Priority Occupations and Organizations Designated to Conduct Educational Credential Assessments for Federal Skilled Worker Program Released

English: Langevin Block, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Ottawa, April 18, 2013 —The list of 24 occupations that are eligible under the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) when it re-opens on May 4, 2013 was released today.

In addition, four organizations have been designated to provide the now-required independent third party assessments of foreign educational credentials for applicants who studied outside of Canada. These assessments, which must be completed before an application is submitted, are aimed at helping newcomers through the FSWP to get off to a better start and into the Canadian labour force more quickly when they arrive.

“The government’s focus remains on jobs, economic growth, and long-term prosperity,” said Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Kenney. “Under the new Federal Skilled Worker Program, Canada will be able to attract the skilled immigrants our economy requires, who are the most likely to succeed and contribute their full skill set to the Canadian economy.”

With the re-opening date approaching, future applicants should be aware of several key elements that will have an effect on the application process:

A new eligible occupations list, with a total of 24 occupations;
An overall cap of 5,000 new applications for all eligible occupations, including a sub-cap of 300 new applications for each eligible occupation;
Four organizations have been designated to conduct educational credential assessments (mandatory for applicants submitting foreign educational credentials); and
Applicants must show proof that they meet the minimum threshold of Canadian Language Benchmark 7 in all four language skill areas: speaking, reading, writing and oral comprehension.

“As a result of the actions taken by the Government to deal with the massive backlogs and unacceptably long wait times, FSW applications will be processed in approximately one year,” said Minister Kenney. “We will not be able to remain competitive and attract the skilled immigrants we need if we allow backlogs and wait times to grow again. That’s why we are capping application intake and focusing on specific occupations that are experiencing labour shortages in Canada. This will also help us transition nicely into the just-in-time immigration system of the future.”

Applications under the new FSWP will be accepted starting May 4, 2013. Until then, however, the FSWP application process does not change – only individuals with qualifying job offers or those applying under the PhD stream are eligible for processing.

All applicants who are considering applying on or after May 4 are invited to consult the Backgrounder. It outlines some of the steps that can be taken now to prepare and includes the eligible occupations list and the organizations designated to conduct educational credential assessments.

Backgrounder: Information for Applicants to the New Federal Skilled Worker Program

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Information for Applicants to the New Federal Skilled Worker Program

The Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) selects immigrants based on their ability to succeed economically in Canada. After meeting eligibility requirements, applicants are assessed against selection criteria, also known as the “points grid.” There are 100 points available to applicants, with points awarded for official language abilities, age, education, work experience, employment already arranged in Canada, and adaptability. The current pass mark is 67.

After a thorough review of relevant research, an extensive program evaluation, stakeholder and public consultations, research and study of best practices in other immigrant-receiving countries, improvements to the FSWP were announced in December 2012. These improvements will come into force on May 4, 2013.

A pause on the intake of most new FSWP applications has been in place since July 1, 2012, except for those with a qualifying job offer and those who applying under the PhD stream. The pause will be lifted and an eligible occupations stream re-established on May 4, 2013.

While Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) will not be accepting applications for the 24 eligible occupations until May 4, 2013, there are some new requirements that applicants can start preparing for, such as language tests and foreign educational credential assessments. The complete application process, featuring the new selection criteria, will be available on CIC’s website by May 4, 2013.

All individuals who are considering applying on or after May 4 should be aware that if their application does not meet the new criteria, it will not be processed. A prospective applicant should ensure they meet at least one of the following requirements:

They have at least one year of continuous work experience in one of the 24 eligible occupations;
They have a qualifying offer of arranged employment (*note changes to the arranged employment process were previously published in this web notice); or
They are eligible to apply through the PhD stream.

If prospective applicants are confident that they meet at least one of the above requirements, they must also meet the minimum language threshold and obtain an educational credential assessment (if submitting a foreign educational credential).

Eligible Occupations List

The eligible occupations stream will have an overall cap of 5,000 new applications and sub-caps of 300 applications in each of the 24 occupations on the list.

Eligible occupations (with their corresponding 2011 National Occupation Classification code):

0211 Engineering managers
1112 Financial and investment analysts
2113 Geoscientists and oceanographers
2131 Civil engineers
2132 Mechanical engineers
2134 Chemical engineers
2143 Mining engineers
2144 Geological engineers
2145 Petroleum engineers
2146 Aerospace engineers
2147 Computer engineers (except software engineers/designers)
2154 Land surveyors
2174 Computer programmers and interactive media developers
2243 Industrial instrument technicians and mechanics
2263 Inspectors in public and environmental health and occupational health and safety
3141 Audiologists and speech-language pathologists
3142 Physiotherapists
3143 Occupational Therapists
3211 Medical laboratory technologists
3212 Medical laboratory technicians and pathologists' assistants
3214 Respiratory therapists, clinical perfusionists and cardiopulmonary technologists
3215 Medical radiation technologists
3216 Medical sonographers
3217 Cardiology technicians and electrophysiological diagnostic technologists, n.e.c. (not elsewhere classified)

Minimum Language Threshold

All prospective applicants to the FSWP should first determine whether they meet the new minimum language threshold: Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 7 or Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) 7 in all four skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing). To prove language proficiency, a prospective applicant must take a third-party language test from an organization designated by the Minister and submit their test report along with their application to CIC.

Language test results will be accepted by CIC for two years from the date that they were issued by the designated organization.

CIC-designated language testing organizations include: Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program (CELPIP),International English Language Testing System (IELTS), and Test d’évaluation de français (TEF).

Third-party language tests are scored differently by each of the three organizations. Here are the scores on each of the tests that correspond to Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 7 or Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) 7 or higher:

English

Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program (CELPIP)

An FSWP applicant must score at least 4L on the CELPIP-General test in each of the four skills to meet the minimum language threshold.

A score of 4L on the CELPIP-General test corresponds to CLB 7. A score of 4H corresponds to CLB 8, and a score of 5 or higher corresponds to CLB 9 or higher.

International English Language Testing System (IELTS)

An FSWP applicant must score at least 6.0 on the IELTS General Training test in each of the four skills to meet the minimum language threshold of CLB 7.

French

Test d’évaluation de français (TEF)

An FSWP applicant must score at least 206 in reading, 248 in listening, and 309 in both speaking and writing on the TEF to meet the minimum language threshold of NCLC 7.

Arranged Employment

Previously, employers have applied for an Arranged Employment Opinion (AEO) from Human Resources Skills Development Canada when they wished to hire a foreign national on a permanent, full-time basis and support their employee’s application for permanent residence through the FSWP.

Starting on May 4, 2013, CIC will no longer accept AEOs in support of an FSWP application. Instead, most offers of arranged employment will require a Labour Market Opinion.

Educational Credential Assessment (ECA)

Another important change that takes effect on May 4, 2013, is the introduction of the educational credential assessment (ECA). Prospective applicants may start the process of getting an ECA before May 4 if they are planning to submit a foreign educational credential. However, applicants should keep in mind the other program eligibility requirements listed above, i.e. whether they have a qualifying offer of arranged employment or are applying under the PhD stream or eligible occupations stream; and if they meet the minimum language threshold through a designated third-party test. Applicants who have Canadian educational credentials do not need to get an ECA, unless they are also submitting a foreign educational credential in support of their application.

The ECA process will help determine if the foreign educational credential is authentic and equivalent to a completed credential in Canada. For prospective applicants, the ECA can provide a realistic understanding of how their foreign educational credentials are likely to be recognized in Canada.

As of April 17, 2013, four organizations have been designated by the Minister to provide ECA reports for purposes of immigrating to Canada under the FSWP. Additional organizations may be designated by CIC in the future. The designated organizations are:

The Medical Council of Canada has been designated only for those principal applicants who intend to apply with specialist physician (2011 National Occupation Classification [NOC] code 3111) or general practitioner/family physician (2011 NOC code 3112) as their primary occupation in their FSWP application. Neither NOC code 3111 nor 3112 is on the eligible occupations list that takes effect on May 4, so this will only affect those applying under the PhD stream or with a qualifying job offer based on those NOC codes.

Applicants should contact the designated organizations directly for further information on their documentation requirements, processing times and fees.

CIC will only accept ECA reports issued after the date the organization was designated by CIC to provide ECA reports for immigration purposes (i.e. April 17, 2013). An ECA report will be valid for immigration purposes for 5 years from the date that it was issued by the designated organization.

IMPORTANT NOTE: CIC will update application kits and web materials before the new FSWP is launched on May 4, 2013. Prospective applicants who wish to get a head start on their application can proceed with the steps and information outlined above but should check the CIC website for new FSWP application forms.

Top 10 jobs by projected demand in 2020

Job	Median annual salary	Projected # of job seekers in 2020	Projected job openings in 2020	Projected job openings for every person looking in 2020
Mining, oil & gas supervisor	$74,880	567	1,302	2.3
Pilot	$69,846	832	1,298	1.56
College instructor	$66,560	3,552	5,146	1.45
Railway & transportation supervisor	$60,320	1,159	1,531	1.32
Power systems operator	$70,720	834	1,075	1.29
Health-care managers	$86,674	5,313	6,545	1.23
Education administrator (all levels)	$90,002	5,313	6,545	1.23
Head nurse	$74,880	13,325	16,388	1.23
Railway conductor & brakemen/women	$61,214	339	416	1.23
Dental hygienist	$69,992	1,021	1,224	1.2

Immigration Canada

New Parent and Grandparent program re-opens January 2, 2014