Canada Set to Announce New Immigrant Investor Plan

By

BEN DUMMETT and

ALISTAIR MACDONALD

Updated Nov. 27, 2014 3:09 p.m. ET

0 COMMENTS

Canada is set to announce a new program that would enable some prospective immigrants to acquire residency visas by investing at least 1 million Canadian dollars ($890,000) in a venture-capital fund, a scheme some other western countries have used to attract wealthy, mainly Chinese, newcomers.

Ottawa will create an new immigrant class for individuals who could place C$1 million to C$2 million in a VC fund that would in turn invest in startups, according to a person familiar with the matter. The government is targeting investments totaling around C$120 million, that person said.

Ottawa scrapped a previous immigrant-investor scheme in February, and canceled a backlog of tens of thousands of mainly Chinese applicants. That move was seen as another sign that Canada was becoming less welcoming to China and its investment, coming not long after Ottawa shut the door on Chinese state-owned investment in Canada’s oil sands.

Ottawa denied that view, saying the visa program, which granted permanent residency to those who committed C$800,000 to a five-year zero-interest loan to a Canadian province, allowed people to effectively buy their way into the country without making an investment or taking any risk.

In recent years, Canada has let in more immigrants per capita than any other Group of Seven country.

The new venture-capital linked scheme addresses the view that the previous scheme undervalued Canadian permanent residency and enabled some applicants to gain residency without moving to Canada. Canada signaled for the plan in February, but has yet to release any of the program’s details.

A spokesman for Canadian Immigration Minister Chris Alexander said details governing the new venture capital fund are still being finalized and would be unveiled in due course. He declined to elaborate on specific features of the fund.

Under the new program, investors aren’t guaranteed a return from their investment and could face losses depending on the performance of the VC fund’s investments.

The new program comes as VC fundraising declined 29% year-to-date in the third quarter, according to Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association.

Ottawa has encouraged venture-capital investment as way of generating innovation, skilled-job creation and long-term economic growth. The government has earmarked C$400 million for existing and new venture-capital funds as a way to kick-start private money flows into this style of funding, which typically takes bets on early stage or startup companies. Ottawa also wants the private sector to commit two dollars for every dollar it allocates to VC funding.

Other Western governments have offered residency or passports in exchange for immigrant investment. Under one U.K. scheme, anyone with the intention and means to invest GBP2 million in the country can get a visa. In the past, European countries, including Portugal, Spain, Greece and Cyprus, have allowed investors a residency permit for buying as little as EUR250,000 ($340,950) of real estate.

Last month, Australia offered a faster 12-month pathway to permanent residency for people investing A$15 million ($13.2 million) or more into the country. The Premium Investor Visa program targets investment in higher-risk infrastructure priorities rather than lower-risk sovereign bonds and managed funds. The new visas build on an existing plan—Significant Investor Visas—offering residency in four years for people investing at least A$5 million. As on Nov 24, China accounted for 90.8% of applications, and 87.7 % of visas granted.

—Rob Taylor and Paul Vieira contributed

Write to Ben Dummett at ben.dummett@wsj.com and Alistair MacDonald atalistair.macdonald@wsj.com

Source: http://online.wsj.com/articles/canada-set-to-announce-new-immigrant-investor-plan-1417110338?tesla=y&mg=reno64-wsj&url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB11659981523255993497704580302972932810424.html

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Express Entry: What employers need to know

English: Supreme Court of Canada Français : Cour suprême du Canada (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Helping employers connect with skilled immigrants

Canada is changing its economic immigration system to provide more recruitment possibilities for employers and more opportunities for prospective skilled immigrants.

Moving from…

• First applicant in, first to be processed
• Recruitment of global talent at employer time and expense
• Difficult to navigate systems with multiple players
• 12–14 months to process permanent residence applications

Moving toward…

• Canadian employers will have a direct role in recruiting economic immigrants
• Express Entry candidates with a valid job offer or provincial/territorial nomination will quickly receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for permanent residence
• Access to a pool of candidates who fit current labour market needs
• New and improved Job Bank with coordinated Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) process
• Job Bank will connect Canadian employers and Express Entry candidates at no cost
• No LMIA fee for permanent residence applications
• Six months or less to process permanent residence applications in 80% of cases from receipt of complete application to final decision

How employers can access Express Entry pool candidates

Employers can hire skilled foreign workers to meet their labour needs when they are unable to find Canadians or permanent residents to fill job vacancies. Employers will have the flexibility and choice to use current recruiting and hiring practices. They will also have access to candidates through: Job Bank, private sector job boards and Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) where applicable.

Text version: Express Entry factsheet for employers

Invitation to Apply

Candidates will be assessed against others within the pool, and be ranked based on criteria that are known to contribute to a newcomer's economic success once in Canada. Only the highest-ranked candidates, and those with valid job offers or provincial/territorial nominations, will be invited to apply for permanent residence.

Candidates will have 60 days to apply for permanent residence under the Federal Skilled Worker Program, Federal Skilled Trades Program, Canadian Experience Class or a portion of the Provincial Nominee Program.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada will process the majority of complete permanent residence applications received (i.e. those including all the necessary supporting documents) in six months or less.

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Express Entry

English: A map of Canada exhibiting its ten provinces and three territories, and their capitals. (Lambert conformal conic projection from The Atlas of Canada) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In January 2015, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) will launch a new electronic system called Express Entry to manage applications for permanent residence in certain economic programs. Canada needs high levels of immigration to meet current and future labour market needs, which will ensure our economic growth and long-term prosperity.

Express Entry will allow us to actively recruit, assess and select skilled immigrants under the following federal economic immigration programs:

• the Federal Skilled Worker Program,
• the Federal Skilled Trades Program, and
• the Canadian Experience Class.

Provinces and territories will also be able to recruit candidates from the Express Entry system for a portion of the Provincial Nominee Programs to meet local labour market needs. Under this new system, employers will also have a key role in selecting economic immigrants. Employers will access candidates through Canada's new and improved Job Bank and through provinces and territories where applicable.

The Express Entry system involves two steps:

Step 1) Potential candidates complete an online Express Entry profile

Potential candidates will complete an online Express Entry profile where they will provide information about their skills, work experience, language ability, education, and other details. Those who meet the criteria of one of the federal economic immigration programs subject to Express Entry will be placed in a pool of candidates.

Candidates will be ranked against others in the pool. Only the highest-ranked candidates (those deemed to have the best chances for economic success), and those with qualifying offers of arranged employment or provincial/territorial nominations, will be invited to apply for permanent residence.

If a candidate does not already have a valid job offer from a Canadian employer or a provincial/territorial nomination, he or she must register with the Government of Canada's Job Bank which will connect him or her with eligible Canadian employers.

Where applicable, employers will be required to obtain a Labour Market Impact Assessment from Employment and Social Development Canada. There will be no fee for Labour Market Impact Assessments for permanent residence applications under the Express Entry system. 

Completing an online Express Entry profile does not guarantee that a candidate will receive an Invitation to Apply for permanent residence.

Step 2) Citizenship and Immigration Canada will invite certain candidates to apply for permanent residence and process their electronic applications within six months.

Candidates will receive an Invitation to Apply for permanent residence if they rank among the top in the pool, based on their skills and experience. Candidates who have a valid job offer from a Canadian employer (subject to the Labour Market Impact Assessment process in place at that time) or have been nominated by a province or territory will be given high scores in the ranking system.

Candidates will have 60 days to submit an electronic application for permanent residence through one of the following programs:

• Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP);
• Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP);
• Canadian Experience Class (CEC); or,
• A portion of the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)

Citizenship and Immigration Canada will process the majority of complete applications (i.e. applications including all the necessary supporting documents) within six months or less.

Candidates in the Express Entry pool who do not receive an Invitation to Apply for permanent residence after 12 months may resubmit their profile and re-enter the pool if they still meet the criteria. This provision will prevent backlogs and ensure quick processing times.

Express Entry will result in faster and more efficient service to potential skilled immigrants. It will also allow the Government of Canada to be more flexible and responsive to Canada's changing economic conditions and priorities.

Source: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/express/express-entry.asp

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What can education agents do or not do with regards to Canadian immigration matters?

English: Diefenbaker Canada Centre University of Saskatchewan (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Education agents often ask me what they are permitted to do for their student clients with regards to Canadian immigration advice or assistance. The simple answer is that they can do very little, if anything, unless they are legally authorised. To be clear, international students seeking to study in Canada are subject to Canadian immigration law. As such, as an education agent, it is important that you know what your obligations are.

Canada is a popular destination not only for international students but also for millions of others seeking to immigrate under a number of other immigration categories. This is an ideal environment for unscrupulous individuals posing as authorised Canadian immigration representatives who would recklessly give false hope to many would-be immigrants. Sadly, the result is that they are often defrauded of their life savings – with dreams of living in Canada utterly destroyed. 

The Government of Canada is very aware of this issue and in 2011 passed new legislation—Bill C-35—that amended the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and its regulations by making it illegal for anyone other than an authorised immigration representative to provide immigration advice or otherwise represent a client during an application or proceeding. This legislation is so strict that it even applies to anyone who gives paid advice before the client applies for the immigration process. If convicted, penalties can be as high as a CAN$100,000 (US$91,943) and/or two years in prison.

Authorised immigration representatives permitted to charge a fee or receive any other type of payment are:

•lawyers and paralegals who are members in good standing of a Canadian provincial or territorial law society,

•notaries who are members in good standing of the Chambre des notaires du Québec and

•immigration consultants who are members in good standing of the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council.

Federal and Provincial governments in Canada will not deal with representatives who charge for immigration related services and are not members of one of the above groups. In fact, the Canadian government has taken the extra step of notifying other countries of these protective measures in an effort to educate their own citizens considering immigration to Canada and to assist in tracking down unscrupulous individuals claiming to be authorised Canadian immigration representatives. 

Here are two helpful lists about what education agents can and cannot do:

What can education agents do under Canadian law?*

•Direct someone to appropriate resources including to an authorised immigration representative

•Provide translation services

•Provide courier services

•Provide medical services (e.g., medical exams)

•Make travel arrangements

•Advise an international student on how to select their courses or register


What are education agents not permitted to do under Canadian law?*

•Explain and/or provide advice on someone’s immigration options

•Provide guidance to a client on how to select the best immigration stream

•Complete/submit immigration forms on a client’s behalf

•Communicate with government including Citizenship and Immigration Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency on a client’s behalf (except for direct translation)

•Represent a client in an immigration application or proceeding

•Advertise that they can provide immigration advice or assistance



*For current accuracy, always check with the Canadian government directly.”

By George Bazios is Registered Canadian Immigration Consultant specialising in student immigration matters.

Source: http://www.hothousemedia.com/stmnews/pastissues/140529/view.htm

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Seven Ways To Make Yourself More Employable In Canada

This is icon for social networking website. This is part of Open Icon Library's webpage icon package. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Although the current Federal Skilled Worker Program allows candidates to make a Canadian permanent resident application without a job offer, obtaining a valid job offer in advance is an advantage for many people hoping to move to Canada.

With this in mind, it is beneficial to maximize your chances of finding employment in Canada. Success depends on your ability to discover what Canadian employers are looking for and reveal to them that you have the required skills, knowledge, and experience. Here is a list of seven ways you can make yourself more employable in Canada.

1. Build your Canadian resume

An effective resume is essentially a marketing document in which you are the product. It is your chance to make a strong first impression and show your potential value to an employer. Employers across Canada are accustomed to seeing personal information and work background being presented in a particular way, so it’s important to format your resume in the Canadian style. If you cannot represent your skills in a way that employers expect, they are unlikely to believe that you have the ability to adapt to life in Canada. To achieve success, start building your Canadian resume today.

2. Update your professional social networking presence

If you are conducting your job search remotely rather than on the ground in Canada, it becomes more important to build and maintain your online presence. Professional social networking sites allow you to leverage common connections, connect with recruiters, and discuss issues with members of your growing network and in industry groups. Networking is a time-honoured method of communicating with and learning from other people in your field, and modern technology allows you to network remotely. This is another opportunity to make a strong first impression, so take it. Visit CanadaVisa on LinkedIn and learn more about this online networking tool.

3. Tailor applications to job positions

This is vital. Sending 20 identical applications for 20 different positions is not good practice, as employers can see that you didn’t spend much time thinking about and working on your application. If this is how you are conducting your job search, it is likely to fail. It is far more beneficial to send fewer applications and spend a bit more time researching each position and making alterations to your resume and cover letter accordingly. Employers will appreciate the effort you have put in to make yourself stand out from the crowd, and therefore will be more likely to respond positively to your application. The CanadaVisa job search tool allows you to search for positions by location and occupation.

4. Know where the jobs are in your occupation

Knowledge is power. You might be an award-winning biologist or highly-skilled engineer with all the skills and experience possible, but knowing where those jobs are in Canada, and why those jobs are in those places, is background information that you can’t afford to do without. For the biologist, does the region he or she wishes to move to have the kind of laboratories or research centres needed? For the engineer, are there major infrastructure projects in place or being planned? Are there regular networking events in your job field? What is the pay scale? What are the local and regional employment rates? Getting answers to these questions will allow you to make more targeted job applications, as well as give you a better idea of where in Canada your skills are most needed. See the CanadaVisa occupation profiles page for more information on your occupation.

5. Get accredited

Some occupations, such as nursing, teaching and certain trades, require converting your accreditation to Canadian equivalents and/or taking part in further training to gain necessary accreditation for working in Canada. You can work on getting this accreditation before you move to Canada, which will show employers that you are serious about moving and prepare you for the Canadian market.

6. Work on your language skills

If English is not your first language and you are moving to part of Canada except Quebec, you should make an increased and sustained effort to improve your English skills. Candidates wishing to work in Quebec should make an effort to improve their French skills. Clear communication is essential for any successful business.

Furthermore, if you are trying to immigrate to Canada under any of the permanent residency programs, you will need to pass an examination in either English or French.

7. Practice your interview techniques

In an increasingly globalized world, more and more employers are interviewing potential employees on the telephone or by Skype. This means that you could be asked to conduct an interview from outside Canada. Getting an interview simply means that you have provided yourself a platform to further demonstrate your suitability for the role. The hard work starts here, and confidence is key. Practice speaking out loud in front of friends, as this will allow you to become comfortable with the ideas you are presenting. More importantly, do some research on the company that has asked you to interview for a position. Moreover, arrange a short list of questions of your own that you can ask employers during an interview. Ensure that you come across as an inquisitive person with a sincere interest in how the company conducts its affairs. The Government of Canada supplies some useful resources on preparing for a job interview.

“Above all, maintaining a positive attitude throughout the job hunting process is key, as it is for the immigration process. It is natural to become frustrated if you are not getting immediate results, but finding a job is a continuous learning cycle,” says Attorney David Cohen. “For potential candidates for the Federal Skilled Worker Program, which remains open across 50 skilled occupations, making yourself more employable in Canada means they can land in Canada and hit the ground running.” 

Source: http://www.cicnews.com/2014/09/ways-employable-canada-093855.html

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How Canada's Bill C-35 affect education agents.

This post has been updated to reflect additional information provided by Citizenship and Immigration Canada in August 2012 with respect to the impact of the introduction of Bill C-35 on education agents based outside of Canada. Please see our related post from 8 August 2012 for additional background and detail.

In 2011, the Government of Canada passed new legislation—Bill C-35—that makes it illegal for anyone other than an accredited immigration representative to provide advice or otherwise represent a client during an application or proceeding with Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC). This post aims to help affected agents understand how Bill C-35 impacts their business; it’s based on a presentation from Citizenship and Immigration Canada officials at the ICEF North America Workshop in Montreal in April, which we recently received permission to share.

Which agents does Bill C-35 affect?

Bill C-35 applies both to agents based in Canada as well as those based outside the country.

What is meant by “accredited immigration representatives”?

Those who are either members in good standing of the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council or lawyers authorised to practise in Canada.

What are the penalties for not abiding by Bill C-35?

Penalties for convictions under the act include fines of up to CDN$100,000 and/or imprisonment of up to two years. Any prosecutions arising from the legislation would necessarily occur in Canada.

What can education agents do under Bill C-35?

• Direct someone to the CIC website to find information on immigration programmes
• Direct someone to the CIC website to find immigration application forms
• Direct someone to an authorised immigration representative
• Provide translation services
• Provide courier services
• Provide medical services (e.g., medical exams)
• Make travel arrangements
• Advise an international student on how to select their courses or register

What are education agents not permitted to do under Bill C-35?

• Explain and/or provide advice on someone’s immigration options
• Provide guidance to a client on how to select the best immigration stream
• Complete/submit immigration forms on a client’s behalf
• Communicate with CIC and the Canada Border Services Agency on a client’s behalf (except for direct translation)
• Represent a client in an immigration application or proceeding
• Advertise that they can provide immigration advice

This summary is also available to download as a PDF file. Special thanks to CIC for allowing us to share the presentation.

Source: Citizenship and Immigration Canada


http://monitor.icef.com/2012/06/how-canadas-bill-c-35-affects-education-agents/

New Economic Immigration System: Express Entry

• Starting January 2015: Express Entry

The New Two-Step Application Process

Text version: The New Two-Step Application Process

How Express Entry Will Work

Text version: How Express Entry Will Work

Moving from the old system…

• Recruitment of global talent at employer time and expense
• Difficult to navigate the immigration system due to multiple players
• First applicant in, first to be processed
• Average of 12-14 months to process an application

… to Express Entry

• Government of Canada, provinces and territories (P/Ts) and Employers will have a direct role in economic immigration
• New and improved Job Bank will connect Canadian employers with a comprehensive pool of candidates if they can't find Canadians or permanent residents to do the job
• Express Entry candidates with a valid job offer or P/T nomination will quickly be invited to apply for permanent residence
• CIC will be able to select candidates that are most likely to succeed in Canada, rather than the first in line
• Express Entry candidates will benefit from processing times of six months or less Footnote2

Step 1: Express Entry profile

• Potential candidates will submit an online Express Entry profile.
• They will be assessed according to a skills based ranking system that looks at:
  • Language proficiency
  • Education
  • Canadian work experience
  • Other factors that lead to success in Canada

  
• At this stage, skills will be self-declared based on appropriate test results.
• Candidates who meet the criteria of one of the federal economic immigration programs subject to Express Entry will be placed in the Express Entry pool.
  
• Candidates will need to promote themselves:
  • Registration with Job Bank will be required
  • They will be encouraged to signal their presence in the Express Entry pool to recruiters, on private sector job boards  etc.

Step 2: Invitation to Apply (ITA)

Text version: Invitation to Apply (ITA)

When an employer offers a job to a candidate:

• They will quickly be offered an ITA for permanent residence (PR);
• Express Entry candidates will benefit from processing times of six months or lessFootnote2.
• Candidates with an ITA will have 60 days to apply for permanent residence through one of four existing economic immigration programs:
  • Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP)
  • Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP)
  • Canadian Experience Class (CEC)
  • Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)Footnote3
• Applicants will need to meet the criteria set out in the immigration program which applies to them

Provinces and Territories = Key Partners

1. Provincial and territorial (P/T) nominations will continue and grow under the new system.
2. P/Ts will be able to nominate candidates who meet their unique regional labour market needs.
3. When an Express Entry candidate is identified through a PNP, they can be handpicked and quickly invited to apply for permanent residence.
4. CIC will process applications in six months or less.Footnote2

Summary

• The changes to economic immigration will benefit employers by:
  • Making it easier to find the candidates they need to fill available positions
  • Linking LMIA and Job Bank will simplify employer's LMIA advertising requirements
  • Allowing for greater flexibility
  • Eliminating backlogs and introducing 6-month processing timesFootnote2

Next Steps:

• The modernized Job Bank will be launched in late 2014 for Canadian citizens and permanent residents.
• The Express Entry system will be launched in January 2015.
  • At that time, the modernized Job Bank will be accessible to Express Entry candidates.
• CIC will continue to engage employers after launch to get feedback on the system and work on continuous improvements.

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