Ottawa, March 8, 2016 — Following the tabling of the 2015 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration on March 8, 2016, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is pleased to release details on its 2016 Immigration Levels Plan. Canada will welcome between 280,000 and 305,000 (target 300,000) new permanent residents in 2016.

March 17, 2016—Ottawa, ON–Attracting skilled francophone workers to Canada and encouraging them to settle in communities outside of Quebec is the goal of a new International Mobility Program stream that will launch on the first day of June.

“We want francophone minority communities in Canada to continue to be vibrant and growing,” Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister John McCallum said today. “That’s why we’re going to encourage skilled francophone workers to come to Canada and settle in communities outside of Quebec, and we’re going to encourage them to apply for permanent residence if they would like to stay.”

Starting June 1, 2016, the Mobilité Francophone stream will exempt employers from the Labour Market Impact Assessment process when they hire francophone workers in managerial, professional and technical/skilled trades occupations from abroad to work in francophone minority communities outside of Quebec.

“Canada’s diversity is enriched by our francophone minority communities all across the country,” said Canadian Heritage Minister Melanie Joly. “We want to see these communities flourish across Canada and immigration is strategic to preserving their vitality and prosperity.”

Quick facts

• The goal of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is to have francophone newcomers make up at least 4% of all economic immigrants settling outside of Quebec by 2018. The overall target for francophone immigration outside Quebec is 4.4% by 2023.
• Since 2014, reforms to the International Mobility Program have ensured that it meets the objective of allowing temporary workers to come to Canada when they advance our economic and cultural interests.

The new Citizenship rules will be in force starting June 11/2015
The details are listed below:
Key changes include (in force June 11, 2015):

Adult applicants must now be physically present in Canada for at least 1,460 days (four years) during the six years before the date of their application, and they must be physically present in Canada for at least 183 days in each of four calendar years within the qualifying period. This is aimed at ensuring that citizenship applicants develop a strong attachment to Canada.
Applicants between the ages of 14 and 64 must meet basic knowledge and language requirements. This is aimed at ensuring that more new citizens are better prepared for life in Canada.
Citizenship will be automatically extended to additional “Lost Canadians” on June 11th, who were born before 1947, and did not become citizens on January 1, 1947 when the first Canadian Citizenship Act came into effect. This will also apply to their children born in the first generation outside Canada.
Adult applicants must declare their intent to reside in Canada once they become citizens and meet their personal income tax obligations in order to be eligible for citizenship.
To help improve program integrity, there are now stronger penalties for fraud and misrepresentation (to a maximum fine of $100,000 and/or up to five years in prison). This is aimed at deterring unscrupulous applicants who are prepared to misrepresent themselves, or advise others to do so.
The newly-designated Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC) is the new regulatory body for citizenship consultants. Only members of the ICCRC, lawyers or notaries (including paralegals and students at law) can be paid to provide citizenship applicants with representation or advice.
New application forms, aligned with the new rules for eligibility, will be available on the CIC website as of June 11, 2015. Any applications received using the old forms received after June 10, 2015 will be returned to the applicant

The federal government has quietly thrown a lifeline to Alberta temporary foreign workers facing a looming April 1 deadline to leave the country.

In a letter sent to Conservative MPs and obtained by the Herald, federal Employment Minister Jason Kenney says a series of transitional measures have been put in place to “help address legitimate concerns that have been raised by employers in Alberta.”

The new measures will help temporary foreign workers transition to permanent residency if they have already applied under the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program but risk having their work permits expire before their applications are processed.

Under the new policy, Alberta temporary foreign workers who are affected by the federally imposed April 1 deadline — the date on which any TFW who arrived in 2011 or earlier will see their contract expire — will be eligible for a one-time, one-year bridging work permit, as long as they’ve already applied for immigration and are in the queue waiting for word on their status.

In addition, the federal government will provide a one-time exemption to these workers that will keep them from being counted under rules imposed last June, which require employers to ensure no more than 10 per cent of their workforce is made up of low-wage TFWs. The exemption will mean employers can continue to seek approvals to bring in new TFWs while their existing workers pursue permanent immigration.

Neither the federal government nor the province made an official announcement about the changes, though Ogho Ikhalo — spokeswoman for the provincial ministry of Jobs, Skills, Training and Labour — said in an interview that discussions have been underway since last fall and the new measures took effect Feb. 1.

Ikhalo cautioned that the bridging measures are not going to be applicable to every TFW looking for a way to extend their stay in the province. However, she estimated that more than 1,000 of the 10,000 individuals currently waiting in Alberta’s provincial nomination queue could be eligible to participate.

“We want the TFWs who are currently in our province to have a stronger chance at permanent residency. We want them to be able to call Alberta home, so that employers can also utilize that workforce,” Ikhalo said. “So this is good news for us.”

Last week, provincial Jobs Minister Ric McIver confirmed that “several thousand” foreign workers currently living in Alberta could see their work permits expire on April 1, a date imposed in 2011 when the federal government first imposed a four-year limit on the length of time TFWs may work in Canada.

While some of those workers are eligible to seek permanent residency through the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program, a glut of applications means current processing times range from 12 to 25 months. Applicants must have an active work permit to apply for permanent residency, but the lengthy wait times mean that many workers could find themselves still in the queue when their permits expire on April 1.

That’s causing significant frustration for employers, many of whom are fearful of losing some of their best and most experienced employees, said Richard Truscott, Alberta director for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

“This is very much a looming issue for Alberta, with this April deadline coming up. Our members have been scrambling to find ways to keep these individuals,” Truscott said. “So we’re very happy to see these transitional measures implemented.”

Mark von Schellwitz, Western Canada vice-president for industry group Restaurants Canada, also praised the move.

“We do everything we can to hire Canadians first . . . But not everybody is cut out to work in the high-stress, high-pressure restaurant industry,” he said. “In many cases, these (TFWs) are workers who have worked here and established roots in Alberta communities. They’ll be very, very good Albertans, and it would be unfair to them to have their applications cut short because their work permit has expired.”

But TFW advocate Marco Luciano of Migrante Alberta said there is still too much uncertainty about what these changes will actually mean. He said he has questions about how many bridging permits will actually be available, and is concerned that a one-year extension won’t be enough considering that it could take up to two years to get an application through the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program.

“We believe that there should not be any restrictions for all TFWs that have applied for AINP. These workers should be allowed to stay until they get the results of their application,” Luciano said. “They contributed to the economy of Alberta and have established their lives here. They should be allowed to stay.”

In his letter, Kenney says he’s confident the new measures will not “undermine” reforms to the TFW program instituted by the federal government in June. In addition to the cap on the number of low-wage foreign workers an employer can use, the reforms also limit access to foreign workers for employers in areas of high unemployment, and make the process of applying for temporary foreign workers more expensive.

Effective immediately, the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP) has reduced the number of months a semi-skilled worker in the Food and Beverage Processing Industry needs to be employed in Alberta to qualify to apply to the AINP. Candidates who work in one of the eligible food and beverage processing occupations are now eligible to apply after being employed in Alberta for a minimum of three months. The eligible occupations are:

1. Food and Beverage Processing

2. Hotel and lodging

3. Manufacturing

4. Long - haul trucking industry

5. Foodservice industry

For further understanding of the Alberta Semi Skilled worker criteria, contact CIECSI at 4033987203 or

First round of Express Entry candidates invited to fill labour market needs and contribute to Canada’s economic growth

February 2, 2015 — Ottawa — Canada’s Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander today announced that the first round of top-ranked candidates from Canada’s Express Entry system is already helping to fill demonstrated and verifiable gaps in Canada’s labour market.

On Saturday, January 31, 779 skilled workers, including professionals in natural and applied sciences, and industrial, electrical and construction trades, were invited to apply for permanent residency in Canada. Each of these candidates declared that they already have a valid job offer or provincial nomination.

Under Express Entry, skilled workers who want to apply to Canada’s key economic immigration programs are able to create an online profile and express their interest in coming to Canada permanently.

Candidates who are accepted into the pool are ranked according to various factors, including language proficiency, education and work experience. Each is a leading indicator of one’s likelihood of integrating fully and quickly into Canadian society and making an optimal contribution to the economy.

Canada will regularly invite the highest-ranking candidates from the pool to apply to immigrate. With most applications being processed in six months or less, candidates will be able to contribute to Canada’s economy and job market more quickly than ever before.

Quick facts

• Express Entry will manage applications for three federal economic immigration programs: the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Federal Skilled Trades Program and the Canadian Experience Class.
• Provinces and territories will be able to use the Express Entry system to select a portion of candidates for their Provincial Nominee Programs.
• Once candidates have been invited to apply for permanent residence, they will need to submit a complete application and will have to meet eligibility and admissibility requirements such as health and security checks. Candidates will have up to 60 days to submit their application online.

Quote

“Express Entry is already getting impressive results in its first month. The fact that everyone who was invited to apply for permanent residence in this round of invitations already has a valid job offer or provincial nomination shows that Express Entry is working to fill Canada’s existing labour market gaps.”

“With Express Entry, highly skilled candidates with a high chance of success in Canada are invited to apply for permanent residence, bringing them to Canada more quickly and easily than ever before.”

Chris Alexander, Canada’s Citizenship and Immigration Minister

The new Express Entry system is being tested this month. It is expected that CIC may announce the first group of applicants selected from the express entry pool. Should you wish to know how the Express Entry system works or if you wish to creat your profile under the Express Entry system, you may contact us at 4033987203 or email us at so that our professional immigration consultants will walk with you step by step in the process.

Meetings are taking place across Canada, with more being planned, to make sure businesses and leading employers are ready for the country’s new Express Entry immigration programme which launches in the New Year.

Starting in January 2015, Canadian employers will be able to consider Express Entry candidates for jobs where there are no Canadians or permanent residents available for the positions.

Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander wants employers to be ready for the new programme and has been meeting on a regular basis with stakeholders and business leaders. More meetings will follow in the coming months.

Express Entry candidates are those who complete an online profile indicating their interest in immigrating to Canada and who meet the criteria of at least one of the three federal immigration programmes.

The programmes are the Federal Skilled Worker Programme, the Federal Skilled Trades Programme and Canadian Experience Class. Provinces and territories will also be able to nominate Express Entry candidates for their provincial nominee programmes.

Candidates are ranked against others within the Express Entry pool based on criteria that lead to economic success once in Canada. Citizenship and Immigration Canada will only invite the highest ranked candidates, including those with valid job offers or provincial or territorial nominations, to apply for permanent residence.

Alexander explained that jobs offered to Express Entry candidates will be subject to the Labour Market Impact Assessment in place at that time.

Meanwhile, Canada has welcomed the country’s one hundred and fifty thousandth new citizen of 2014, more than double the number of new Canadians sworn in over the same period last year.

The 150,000 new citizens who came to Canada from more than 200 countries were welcomed at approximately 1,500 citizenship ceremonies across the country.

Alexander said that the large number of new citizens who have joined the Canadian family so far this year shows that changes and improvements that have come into effect over the past year have already made the system more efficient.

He also pointed out that the backlog has been reduced, thereby helping more people realize their dream of becoming Canadian sooner.

Recent changes to the Citizenship Act will further reduce wait times by streamlining the decision making process for citizenship. It is expected that those changes will bring the average processing time for citizenship applications down to less than one year and that the current backlog will be reduced by more than 80% by 2015/2016.

Since 2006, Canada has welcomed over 1.3 million new Canadians. Canada has also enjoyed the highest sustained levels of immigration in Canadian history, an average of a quarter million newcomers each year.