Immigration.ca's Podcast

Two civil lawsuits recently filed in British Columbia and the Yukon involving Canada business immigration programs, highlight how provincial business streams in Canada continue to be affected by fraud and mismanagement.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has confirmed it will raise the age of dependency in Canada immigration applications for permanent residence from 'under 19' to 'under 22'. The change will take effect October 24, 2017.

Just one in 10 sponsors who expressed an interest in Canada immigration's Parents and Grandparents Sponsorship Program will get the chance to submit a full application. Canada Makes Draw For 10,000 Parents and Grandparents Sponsorship PlacesMore than 95,000 sponsors entered the draw, from which 10,000 were chosen at random to apply to bring their relations into the country.

The Canada Express Entry immigration system moved through many gears in 2016, as the federal government invited nearly 34,000 candidates to apply for Canada immigration. The Express Entry immigration system was designed to allow better flexibility in the management of applications; rapidly respond to Canada's labour market needs while improving application processing times. It has achieved all three of these objectives. 

More Mexicans were detained at the Canadian border in just over two months at the start of 2017 than the annual total in each of the last three years, new figures reported by Reuters show. Major Increase in CBSA Detention of Mexicans at Canadian BorderThe Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) held 444 Mexicans in the year to March 8, compared with 410 in 2016, 351 in 2015 and 399 in 2014. Foreigners are detained at the Canadian border if they are a flight risk once in the country, because of problems establishing identity, or if they are deemed a danger to the public. The figures come after Mexicans were granted visa-free travel in December 2016, a move made by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau against official advice. Read more at bit.ly/2nYQrD3 !

Living in Canada puts you in one of the happiest countries in the world, according to the 2017 World Happiness Report. Living In Canada Puts You In One Of World's Happiest CountriesCanada's success with multiculturalism is one of the reasons behind it being ranked seventh in the report. Although it has slipped a place or two since the report was first published in 2012, living in Canada still beats New Zealand, Australia, the U.S. and the U.K. in the latest version of the ranking. "Canada has demonstrated a considerable success with multiculturalism," the report reads, and this is in stark contrast to the U.S., which slipped to 14th place in the rankings. Norway took first place, followed by Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland and Finland in a report that looked at economic, health and polling data over three years between 2014 and 2016 for 155 countries. Read more at bit.ly/2obkee6 !

Quebec immigration authorities have announced they will begin accepting new applications under its highly successful Quebec Immigrant Investor Program for a limited period beginning May 29, 2017 and ending February 23, 2018. Quebec Immigration Opens 2017 Immigrant Investor ProgramThis comes as welcome news for high net worth individuals looking for an attractive passive investment program offering Canadian permanent residence. The Quebec Immigrant Investor Program is the only passive investment program of its kind in Canada and the second largest in North America after the EB-5 program in the United States.

The Canada immigration system is reinforcing a two-step trend, with figures showing a growing number of newcomers arrive on a temporary Canada work permit before making the transition to permanent residence. Canada Immigration A Two-Step Process For Thousands of NewcomersRecent figures from Statistics Canada show an increasing number of temporary workers are making the transition, and the figure is only likely to grow with recent changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. More than 20 per cent, or one in five, temporary workers were achieving permanent status at the end of 2014, compared with 9 per cent, or less than one in 10, during the 1990s.

British Columbia immigration's latest BC PNP draw saw a focus on skilled workers in a move away from the recent shift towards international students. In the most recent draw, on March 22, 2017, British Columbia immigration officials issued 437 invites under six streams, with 220 of them going to skilled workers A further 164 went to international graduates, 38 invitations going to entry level and semi-skilled workers, plus 12 under the province's entrepreneur stream. Read more at bit.ly/2oJOtq9 !      

Canada immigration candidates should take note of new rankings highlighting the best cities in the country for integrating newcomers. Considering a Canada Immigration Project? Best Immigrant Cities RevealedThe Ontario cities of Oshawa and London, St John's in Newfoundland & Labrador, plus St John in New Brunswick have topped an index for immigration to Canada that has been seven years in the making. The results are part of the Canadian Index for Measuring Integration, which compares the lives of newcomers against native-born Canadians. The idea behind the index is to assess what the best scoring cities are doing right.

The Canada immigration system is reinforcing a two-step trend, with figures showing a growing number of newcomers arrive on a temporary Canada work permit before making the transition to permanent residence. Canada Immigration A Two-Step Process For Thousands of NewcomersRecent figures from Statistics Canada show an increasing number of temporary workers are making the transition, and the figure is only likely to grow with recent changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. More than 20 per cent, or one in five, temporary workers were achieving permanent status at the end of 2014, compared with 9 per cent, or less than one in 10, during the 1990s. Read more at bit.ly/2og4DdU !

Technology companies have placed themselves at the forefront of the battle against Donald Trump's crackdown on U.S. immigration. Canada looks set to be the chief beneficiary – with the possibility of major firms like Amazon and Google moving large parts of their operations here as immigration worries continue south of the border. And Canada's homegrown technology industry – including household names like Shopify and Hootsuite – are also set to benefit from a swathe of the best and brightest talent looking to move from the U.S., or switching their focus away from America because of Trump's controversial policies. Already, Amazon is doing what it can to help the legal battle against the Trump administration, while Google took the step of recalling its staff from all over the world in the wake of the immigration crackdown.

The Manitoba Nominee Program issued more than 320 Invitations to Apply in the most recent draw made under its Provincial Nomination Program (PNP), made on February 27, 2017. Of those ITAs, 200 went to skilled workers already in Manitoba, with a minimum points score of 719. Manitoba Nominee Program Issues More Than 320 ITAs In Latest PNP DrawA further 124 ITAs were issued under a Strategic Recruitment Initiative (SRI) to skilled workers from overseas, for which a minimum score of 575 was required. An SRI is when a batch of permanent residents are invited to apply to fill a specific labour market need. This was the 27th overall draw for Manitoba immigration.

Canadian Immigration authorities conducted the 6th round of invitations under Express Entry in 2017 and 56th overall, inviting 3884 applicants for permanent residence, under all programs. The lowest Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score was 434, a continued record low, and reflecting a steady decline from previous draws. 2017 Express Entry Draw #6: Continued Record Number of Invitations Issued, Another Record Lowest CRS ScoreIt was the 6th draw in 2017 under the Express Entry System where the lowest CRS score was well below 500. It was the 8th draw since immigration authorities substantially modified the express entry comprehensive ranking system in November 2016.

Increased fees and tightening of the rules have resulted in Canadian citizenship application numbers dropping by half between 2015 and 2016, the latest figures show. In the first nine months of 2016, just 56,446 citizenship applications were submitted to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, compared with 111,993 during the same period of 2015. As recently as 2014, the citizenship fee was $100. The previous Conservative government raised it to $300, and then to $530 in 2015. The citizenship application fee remains competitive when compared to Canada's international peers.

Canada's jobs data continued on an upwards curve during January, despite experts predicting a slow down following a stellar December. Employment rose by 48,300 jobs, a decent gain in isolation, but increasingly significant when added to consistent monthly gains since August 2016. The unemployment rate fell to 6.8 per cent. The Canadian economy has now added 276,000 jobs, a rise of 1.6 per cent, in the last 12 months.  

Temporary visa applications from 1.4 million candidates have been rejected since Canada's federal government came to power, according to new figures. Of those denied a visa, several were suspected of terrorism, were known criminals or had engaged in espionage, showing how important a role visa officers play in keeping Canada safe. Breaking the numbers down, there were seven applicants rejected for directly engaging in terrorism, nine for espionage and 13 for undermining a government by force. Furthermore, 26 individuals were deemed a danger to Canadian security, five had engaged in violent acts and 79 were suspected of involvement in terrorist of espionage organisations. Read more at bit.ly/2m5Am0s !

The Federal government plans to enact regulatory changes to Canada's Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP). The details will be announced when the federal government delivers its budget, expected in late February or early March. Policymakers say the government is trying to strike a balance on reforms recommended in a September 2016 Standing Committee report, which made 21 suggestions on how the TFWP should be changed. It is expected that modifications will include quicker issuance of work permits for high-skilled workers and improved protection for low-skilled workers in Canada under the TFWP.

Montreal has jumped to the top of a global ranking of the world's top student cities. Canada's second largest metropolis beat the likes of Paris, London and Seoul thanks to the positive opinions of students who studied there. It jumped from seventh in 2016 to topple Paris from top spot. The ranking considered the views of former, current, and potential students for the first time. The rankings also took into account factors such as standard of universities, student mix, employers' views, how desirable the city is and how cheap it is to live there. Read more at bit.ly/2lku3Va !

A major free trade deal between Canada and the European Union is a step closer to coming into force following European Parliament approval. The Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) was approved by 408 to 254 votes by the legislature in Strasbourg, France. It means only the Canadian Parliament stands in the way of 90 per cent of the deal coming into force. The deal has been in negotiation for eight years and will be seen as a major win for the free trade movement against a backdrop of the rise of protectionist politics in the U.S. and the U.K. Key business people will be able to move more freely on a temporary basis between Canada and the European Union as a result of CETA.