The summer is always a busy time for immigration reforms. This summer brought in significant changes to Canada's citizenship laws. On June 19, 2014 the "Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act” received Royal Assent fundamentally changing many key aspects of Canada's citizenship laws. A bulletin on CIC's website states as follows:
In response to the devastating effects of Typhoon Haiyan on the central Philippines, last week Immigration Minister Chris Alexander announced special priority processing for immigration applications of those affected by the typhoon.
Last week Canada's Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Chris Alexander tabled his Annual Report to Parliament presenting an immigration action plan that will continue to maintain an overall high level of immigration with an increased focus on economic immigration. In 2014 Canada plans to welcome between 240,000 to 265,000 new permanent residents, continuing the highest level of sustained immigration in Canada's history. Two key components of the economic immigration program, the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) and the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP), are slated to achieve their highest levels of admissions ever. The 2014 immigration plan is targeted to achieve continued economic growth for 2014 and the coming years ahead.
Canada's Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Chris Alexander issued a news release this Monday entitled "Celebrating Citizenship week, Putting Canada First". Taking a look at processing times for citizenship applications, the Minister really doesn't have much to celebrate. The current citizenship processing time for a "routine application" is taking 25 months! 25 months! And non-routine cases are listed as taking 35 months but in reality are taking much longer. Applicants for a citizenship certificate for persons who are already citizens but require proof of their citizenship are facing waiting times of 6 - 18 months. Canada's processing times for citizenship applicants are deplorable and far from cause for celebration.
We are constantly hearing that Canada is facing a shortage of workers and that we need to turn to immigration to satisfy the labour market needs of Canadian employers. Yet, while economists and demographers continue to chronicle Canada's labour shortage and that foreign workers are badly required to sustain our economic growth, the Government of Canada has been making numerous changes throughout this spring and summer that are of key significance to employers. Two controversial cases this past winter concerning Chinese mine workers in Northern British Columbia and the Royal Bank's termination of domestic employees while outsourcing work off shore, garnered considerable media attention. The government reacted by dramatically modifying its foreign worker program and making it tougher for employers to bring in foreign workers to Canada.
The start of each new school term brings exciting opportunities for international students. In addition to experiencing a new country and obtaining an international education, international students have numerous opportunities to work and live in Canada both during and after their studies. Yet, nearly every month I am consulted by international students facing removal from Canada without being allowed to complete their studies. What can international students do to maximize their opportunities not only from an educational perspective but also for immigration purposes?
Fall’s “Back to School” season not only represents the start of another school year but also provides many opportunities for international students who are seeking to study and ultimately live and/or work in Canada. Opportunities for international students have changed dramatically over the years. Historically, it was often difficult for international students, who are seeking temporary entry into Canada, to demonstrate that they had a genuine intention to enter Canada on a temporary basis and yet at the same time have a desire to remain in Canada permanently at the end of their studies. Furthermore, students were historically limited in employment opportunities to only being able to work on campus. Recent changes have seen a dramatic shift in philosophy toward international students as Canada’s Immigration Department has come to realize that international students tend to make excellent workers and permanent immigrants who are able to establish themselves in Canada with considerable success.
At the time the program was frozen, there was a backlog of approximately 165,000 cases pending for consideration and processing levels at that time were 15,000 applications per year. In November of 2011 Minister Kenney increased the processing levels to 25,000 parent and grandparent applications per year and also introduced the new Super Visa to allow parents and grandparents to come to Canada on a more flexible basis for up to 10 years and allow individuals to stay in Canada for up to 2 years at a time. The Minister’s recent announcement introduces Phase 2 of the “Action Plan for Faster Family Reunification” and is targeting even faster processing times to avoid further backlogs in the future, and ensure that Canadian families have the sufficient financial resources to support their family members for a longer period of time. This second phase of the “Action Plan for Faster Family Reunification” features the following:
Over the past five months, Canada's Minister of Immigration has either created, modified or re-opened 5 separate categories for immigration to Canada in the economic program. This signals a strong message to the world that the doors are open for immigrants to Canada and also demonstrates the Canadian government's recognition of the significance that immigrants play in Canada's overall economic growth.
Canada's skilled worker program for permanent residence was re-opened on May 4, 2013 after several months of being suspended. Immigration Minister Jason Kenney closed the program in June of 2012 to further address a backlog of applications as well as to overhaul the program. The skilled worker category has been the cornerstone of Canada's economic immigration program for decades but in recent years had built up a backlog of nearly one million applications that were often taking in excess of five years to process. The newly re-introduced skilled worker program is designed to allow processing to occur far more quickly. In addition the new program changes shift emphasis from education and foreign work experience to language proficiency and Canadian work experience with the goal of enhancing an immigrant's ability to integrate into the Canadian workplace more quickly.
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