Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has announced today that it will be re-opening the Parent and Grandparent Program (PGP) allowing for the sponsorship of parents and grandparents for permanent residence in Canada. The revamped program will begin accepting applications on January 2, 2014, and applications to the program will be capped at 5,000 for 2014. [...]
Additional Employer Information Required for Labour Market Opinion Applications
The federal government has continued to implement changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) in their effort to preserve the integrity of the TFWP. The additional changes implemented May 10th, 2013, will require employers requesting permission to bring in foreign workers to supply more information to Ottawa to prove they are not using the [...]
Increasing Number of Families Reunited in 2012
On May 8, 2013, Citizenship and Immigration Canada announced an extension of the Pilot Project which provides for the issuance of two-year open work permits for foreign spouses/common-law partners and dependent children of certain high-skilled Canadian citizens or permanent residents who are returning to work in Ontario. This pilot project, which began on November 24, [...]
Family Class immigration rates up 15% in 2012
The Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, Jason Kenney, announced today that there was a 15% increase in immigration under the family class in the year 2012. In 2012, 65,000 permanent residents were admitted to Canada under the family class, which represents a 15% increase from 2011. This increase also represents a 60% increase in [...]
Federal Skilled Worker Program Sets New Selection Criteria for Permanent Residence Applications
On May 4, 2013, Citizenship and Immigration Canada re-opened the Federal Skilled Worker Program with new selection criteria. The program introduces a new stream for applicants whose occupations fall under any one of 24 eligible occupations listed by CIC, viewable at: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/backgrounders/2013/2013-04-18.asp
Changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program
Sweeping reforms to Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) were announced on April 29, 2013 as part of the government’s Economic Action Plan.
Minister Kenney launches videos to help newcomers settle
Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has released two 10-minute videos available on the CIC website (cic.gc.ca) that will assist newcomers before and during their first few weeks in Canada, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister, Jason Kenney, announced today. The “Before Arriving in Canada” stresses the importance of bringing proper identity documents and having them properly [...]
Information for Applicants to the New Federal Skilled Worker Program
A pause on the intake of applications to the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) in place since July 1, 2012 will be lifted on May 4, 2013 with a re-established eligible occupations stream.
Demand for H-1B visas in the U.S. jumps
Demand for the H-1B visa, which permits foreign workers to work temporarily in specialty occupations in the U.S., is so high this year that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service has announced it will conduct a lottery for the 85,000 positions available. “It was almost like a panic,” Green and Spiegel LLP lawyer Jonathan Grode [...]
Quebec Announces Extension to the Suspension of Certain Permanent Residence Applications
The MICC in Quebec has announced that the suspension of the receipt of applications under certain PR categories will be extended from April 1, 2013 to July 31, 2013. The categories that will continue to be affected are: Investors Self-employed workers and entrepreneurs Skilled workers (with some exceptions – see below). Skilled workers may continue [...]
