Changes to Economic Immigration Programs Will Help Further Reduce Backlogs and Improve Wait Times

 Canada is adjusting its intake of applications from economic immigrants to further reduce the backlog and improve wait times while meeting the country's labour market needs, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney announced today.

"The backlog of federal skilled worker applications is now half of what it was when we announced the Action Plan for Faster Immigration in 2008," said Minister Kenney. "These measures will help us to continue that progress."

Canada receives many more immigration applications than can be accepted every year. As part of ongoing efforts to better align application intake with priorities for immigration, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) is limiting the number of new applications it will consider in certain categories of the federal economic immigration stream.

Effective July 1, 2011, the changes will affect new applicants to the federal Skilled Worker, federal Immigrant Investor and federal Entrepreneur programs. The changes will not affect the number of permanent resident admissions in 2011 in these three categories.

"Canada continues to welcome historically high numbers of new immigrants each year, but the Government continues to receive applications that far exceed this number," said Minister Kenney. "If we don't keep putting reasonable limits on new applications, backlogs and wait times will grow."

In November 2008, the government first took steps to identify for processing those federal skilled worker applications that responded to Canada's labour needs, such as applicants with arranged employment offers from Canadian employers or with experience in an occupation in high demand. In June 2010, the government released an updated list of 29 priority occupations and introduced a global cap of 20,000 for federal skilled workers, as well as a sub-cap of 1,000 under each occupation. Over the past year, CIC has received approximately 13,800 federal skilled worker applications under the priority occupations list (figure accurate as of June 24, 2011).

Now, for applicants who do not have an offer of employment in Canada, the government will further limit the number of new federal skilled worker applications that are considered for processing to 10,000 a year, beginning July 1. This limit will help better align the number of applications with labour market demand. Within the 10,000 limit, a maximum of 500 new applications in each of the current 29 priority occupations will be considered.

In addition, the Minister is introducing a cap of 700 on new federal investor applications. Although last year, CIC made changes that raised the minimum net worth and investment requirements, it continues to receive applications in excess of what is required. An annual cap on new applications will allow for progress on backlog reduction while ensuring that the Department has a sufficient volume of new files to meet its commitments.

The Minister is also introducing a temporary moratorium on new federal entrepreneur applications. Wait times for this program currently stretch to eight years in some visa offices. By ceasing to accept new applications as of July 1, the government will prevent further processing delays. The federal Entrepreneur Program will undergo a review in the coming months to ensure that Canada is better able to attract and retain innovative entrepreneurs.

The authority for these changes, which are being introduced through ministerial instructions, comes from amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act approved by Parliament in 2008 as part of the Action Plan for Faster Immigration. The instructions are meant to be a flexible tool that allows the government to align the intake of immigration applications with priorities for immigration.

Since these changes were implemented in November 2008, the backlog of pre-2008 federal skilled worker applicants has decreased by 50 percent. As well, priority applications are being processed in a period of months rather than years, as was the case prior to the 2008 changes.

The CIC website will be updated on July 1, 2011, with details on application requirements and procedures for affected programs.

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Changes Announced for Three Canadian Immigration Programs in 2011.

These Instructions come into force on July 1, 2011.

These Instructions apply to applications received by the designated Citizenship and Immigration Canada offices on or after July 1, 2011.

All Federal Skilled Worker applications received by the Centralized Intake Office in Sydney, Nova Scotia prior to July 1, 2011 shall continue to be considered for processing having regard to the Ministerial Instructions in place at the time of their receipt.

The Instructions are consistent with IRPA objectives as laid out in section 3, specifically to support the development of a strong and prosperous Canadian economy; to see that families are reunited in Canada; to fulfill Canada’s international legal obligations with respect to refugees and provide assistance to those in need of resettlement; and to respect the federal, bilingual and multicultural character of Canada, including to support and assist the development of minority official languages communities.

The Instructions are compliant with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The Instructions do not apply to refugees or protected persons or persons making a request on Humanitarian or Compassionate grounds from within Canada.

The Instructions respect all previously established accords and agreements including the Quebec-Canada Accord and all agreements with provinces and territories.

Any categories for which Instructions are not specifically issued shall be processed in the usual manner.

Economic Class applications

All Economic Class applications, with the exception of Federal Skilled Worker, federal Immigrant Investor Program, and federal Entrepreneur Program applications, shall be placed into processing according to existing priorities, including:

• Quebec economic applicants;
• Provincial Nominees;
• Canadian Experience Class;
• Other federal Business Immigrant applicants (self-employed); and
• Live-in Caregivers.

Federal Skilled Worker applications

Cap on the number of applications to be processed per year

A maximum of 10,000 new Federal Skilled Worker applications, without an offer of arranged employment, will be considered for processing each year.

Within the 10,000 cap, a maximum of 500 new Federal Skilled Worker applications per National Occupation Classification (NOC) code will be considered for processing each year.

In calculating the caps, applications will be considered in order of the date they are received. Applications received on the same date will be considered for processing having regard to routine office procedures.

For the unique purpose of calculating the caps, the cap year will begin on July 1, 2011 and end on June 30, 2012, unless otherwise indicated in a future Ministerial Instruction. Subsequent years will be calculated from July 1st to June 30th, unless otherwise indicated in a future Ministerial Instruction.

Instructions for processing Federal Skilled Worker applications

Federal Skilled Worker applications received by the Centralized Intake Office in Sydney, Nova Scotia on or after July 1, 2011, and that meet either of the following criteria shall be placed into processing:

1. Applications submitted with an Arranged Employment Offer (AEO) consistent with requirements of subsection 82(2) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations.

or

2. Applications from skilled workers with evidence of experience in the last ten years under one or more  of the following National Occupation Classification (NOC) codes, not exceeding the identified caps:

• 0631 Restaurant and Food Service Managers
• 0811 Primary Production Managers (Except Agriculture)
• 1122 Professional Occupations in Business Services to Management
• 1233 Insurance Adjusters and Claims Examiners
• 2121 Biologists and Related Scientists
• 2151 Architects
• 3111 Specialist Physicians
• 3112 General Practitioners and Family Physicians
• 3113 Dentists
• 3131 Pharmacists
• 3142 Physiotherapists
• 3152 Registered Nurses
• 3215 Medical Radiation Technologists
• 3222 Dental Hygienists & Dental Therapists
• 3233 Licensed Practical Nurses
• 4151 Psychologists
• 4152 Social Workers
• 6241 Chefs
• 6242 Cooks
• 7215 Contractors and Supervisors, Carpentry Trades
• 7216 Contractors and Supervisors, Mechanic Trades
• 7241 Electricians (Except Industrial & Power System)
• 7242 Industrial Electricians
• 7251 Plumbers
• 7265 Welders & Related Machine Operators
• 7312 Heavy-Duty Equipment Mechanics
• 7371 Crane Operators
• 7372 Drillers & Blasters — Surface Mining, Quarrying & Construction
• 8222 Supervisors, Oil and Gas Drilling and Service

No Humanitarian and Compassionate requests to overcome requirements of Ministerial Instructions

Requests made on the basis of Humanitarian and Compassionate grounds that accompany a Federal Skilled Worker application not identified for processing under Ministerial Instructions will not be processed.

Investor Class applications

Cap on the number of applications to be processed per year

A maximum of 700 new federal Immigrant Investor applications will be considered for processing each year.

In calculating the cap, applications will be considered in order of the date they are received. Applications received on the same date will be considered for processing having regard to routine office procedures.

For the unique purpose of calculating the caps, the cap year will begin on July 1, 2011 and end on June 30, 2012, unless otherwise indicated in a future Ministerial Instruction. Subsequent years will be calculated from July 1st to June 30th, unless otherwise indicated in a future Ministerial Instruction.

Instructions for processing federal investor class applications

Federal Immigrant Investor applications  received by the Centralized Intake Office in Sydney, Nova Scotia on or after July 1, 2011, not exceeding the identified cap shall be placed into processing.

Federal Entrepreneur Class applications

Temporary moratorium

No new federal Entrepreneur application will be accepted unless it is received by the designated Citizenship and Immigration Canada office prior to July 1, 2011. This temporary moratorium will remain in place until otherwise indicated in a future Ministerial Instruction.

Family Class applications

Family Class applications will be processed in the same manner and with the same priorities as usual.

Humanitarian and Compassionate requests

Requests for Humanitarian and Compassionate consideration made from outside Canada will be processed in the usual manner, except in the case where the request accompanies a Federal Skilled Worker application not identified for processing under Ministerial Instructions as stated above.

Temporary Resident applications

All applications for temporary residence, including Temporary Foreign Workers, Foreign Students and Visitors shall continue to be placed into processing immediately upon receipt.

Retention/Disposition

Applicants to the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the federal Immigrant Investor program or the federal Entrepreneur program whose applications are received by the designated Citizenship and Immigration Canada offices on or after July 1, 2011, and which do not meet the criteria described above shall be informed that their application will not continue for processing and their processing fees shall be returned.

It's time to make Metro a choice destination for immigrants

The Metro Moncton community recently came together to support the plight of the Maeng family from South Korea, which was facing deportation.

People who signed the petition, wrote letters or attended the rally were no doubt moved by the family's personal struggle.

All these community actions showed just how much our region is a warm, welcoming place for newcomers.

There could not have been a better spotlight shone on our tri-city. Nor a better time to talk about why it is so important to increase immigration in our region.

An aging population, low fertility rates, significant out-migration of youth to other provinces and sluggish economic prospects make for a very frightening forecast in our province.

New Brunswick has one of fastest aging populations in Canada.

In Metro Moncton, persons aged over 65 currently make up 25 per cent of the population, and this is expected to rise to one third of the population by 2016.

While efforts can be made to retain our young people by concentrating on creating more jobs and opportunities, it will not be enough to counter-balance the strain that older generations will have on our health care system and public services.

Research shows that communities that have made strategic investments in attracting newcomers are more resilient to change and are better positioned to take advantage of economic opportunities in the future.

Immigrants add entrepreneurial talent, enhance skill levels, help create jobs and contribute to faster economic growth.

The Greater Moncton Chamber of Commerce (GMCC) has been very active in promoting immigration.

We work hard to dispel the myth that newcomers take away a piece of the economic pie - the reality is that immigration actually makes the pie bigger for all of us - with many immigrants, such as the Maeng family who owns a successful business on West Main Street, playing a vital role in sustaining our local economy and enriching our cultural diversity.

In fact, a 2011 study by BMO Harris Private Banking showed that nearly one-third of affluent Canadians were born outside of the country.

Furthermore, more than 96 per cent of these affluent new Canadians have no plans to invest outside of Canada.

It is also important to note that immigration can help bridge the gap in finding highly skilled workers.

According to 2007 statistics by the New Brunswick Population Growth Division, 66.4 per cent of New Brunswick's immigrants arrive with post-secondary education and degrees.

The share of immigrants with no formal education remains at only 2.4 per cent.

It often is prejudices among employers as well as red tape surrounding accreditation processes which contribute to the idea that newcomers put a strain on our system.

People who come to Canada to seek a better life are some of the hardest working people you will ever meet. It is a shame that these highly educated and skilled newcomers often have to resort to low wage jobs to make a living in their new country.

Initiatives, like our Chamber's Business Immigrant Mentorship Program which matches newcomers to seasoned entrepreneurs to help them launch, acquire or expand a business can help bridge this gap.

We recently celebrated the launch of our program's second cohort with 30 new participants, including 14 immigrant protégés from countries such as Nigeria, France, England, Germany, and South Korea.

In its first six months, the program led to the establishment of two new businesses in our region.

Our Chamber believes that to continue to grow our region's economy and diversity we must rely on immigration.

Our community has shown how beneficial it can be when people work together.

Keys to a successful immigration strategy for our community include making Metro Moncton a choice destination for new immigrants.

More than just showing hospitality, we need to go a step further and focus on helping newcomers integrate and assimilate.

We need to be more active in recruiting new immigrants as our province's current immigrant intake is well below the national share.

We need to co-ordinate our efforts to make sure we create opportunities for immigrants and retain our newcomers.

* Nancy Whipp is the Chief Executive Officer of the Greater Moncton Chamber of Commerce. She may be reached via e-mail at ceo@gmcc.nb.ca