Categories for Immigration News/ Politics

New pathway to permanent residency for essential temporary workers and international graduates already in Canada

April 14, 2021

Today, the Honourable Marco E. L. Mendicino, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), announced a new pathway to permanent residence for over 90,000 essential workers and international graduates who are currently actively contributing to Canada’s economy.

These special public policies will grant permanent status to temporary workers and international graduates who are already in Canada and who possess the skills and experience that Canada needs to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and to accelerate the country’s economic recovery.

The focus of this new pathway will be on temporary workers employed in Canadian hospitals and long-term care homes and on the frontlines of other essential sectors, as well as international graduates.

To be eligible, workers must have at least 1 year of Canadian work experience in one of 40 health-care occupations or one of 95 other essential jobs across a range of fields, like caregiving and food production and distribution. International graduates must have completed an eligible Canadian post-secondary program within the last 4 years, and no earlier than January 2017.

Graduates and workers, alike, must have proficiency in one of Canada’s official languages; meet general admissibility requirements; and be present, authorized to work and working in Canada at the time of their application to qualify.

Effective May 6, 2021, IRCC will begin accepting applications under the following 3 streams:

  • 20,000 applications for temporary workers in health care
  • 30,000 applications for temporary workers in other selected essential occupations
  • 40,000 applications for international students who graduated from a Canadian institution

The streams will remain open until November 5, 2021, or until they have reached their limit. Up to 90,000 new permanent residents will be admitted under these 3 streams.

To promote Canada’s official languages, 3 additional streams with no intake caps have also been launched for French-speaking or bilingual candidates.  According to the Minister, Immigration is essential to the vitality of Francophone communities across Canada and that is why these policies include dedicated spaces for French-speaking or bilingual candidates, and no limit on applications for them.

If you are a temporary worker or an international graduate working in Canada and you wish to avail yourself of this opportunity, please contact our office and we will explain the  detailed eligibility requirements to you and determine with you whether you meet them.

Canada plans to bring in more than 1.2 Million immigrants in next 3 years

October 30, 2020

The Honourable Marco Mendicino, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, tabled the 2021‒2023 Immigration Levels Plan, today.

The 2021 to 2023 Levels Plan aims to continue welcoming immigrants at a rate of about 1% of the population of Canada, including 401,000 permanent residents in 2021, 411,000 in 2022 and 421,000 in 2023.  Of those, the following are the number of immigrants that will be admitted under the Express Entry system (the system used to process Immigration Applications of Federal Skilled Worker/Federal Skilled Trades/Canadian Experience Class applicants):

2021:    81,000-110,250
2022:    96,250-112,900
2023:  100,000-114,500

Highlights of the plan include

  • an increase in admissions over the 3 years of the Plan
  • a focus on economic growth, with about 60% of admissions to come from the Economic Class
  • a continued focus on innovative and community-driven approaches to address diverse labour and demographic needs across the country
  • additional points for French-speaking candidates under Express Entry, to promote the growth of Francophone communities outside of Quebec

According to the Minister, “[t]he 2021–2023 Immigration Levels Plan will help cement Canada’s place among the world’s top destinations for talent, creating a strong foundation for economic growth while reuniting family members with their loved ones and fulfilling Canada’s humanitarian commitments”.

Additional Express Entry CRS Points for French Speakers

October 27, 2020

To increase the number of French speakers residing in Canada outside of Quebec, the Honourable Marco E. L. Mendicino, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, announced today that French-speaking and bilingual candidates will receive additional Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points under the Express Entry system.

The change announced today will see the current number of points increase from 15 to 25 for French-speaking candidates and from 30 to 50 for bilingual candidates. The increase in points will obviously improve the chances of French-speaking and bilingual Express Entry applicants receiving an Invitation to Apply for Permanent Residence in Canada.

If you are a French speaker or you are bilingual and wish to have your eligibility to immigrate to Canada under the Express Entry System assessed by our firm at no charge to you, please visit https://www.akcanada.com/assessment1.php.  Likewise, if you are a French speaker or you are bilingual and you have already had your eligibility to immigrate to Canada under the Express Entry System assessed by our firm and wish to proceed with your proposed Canadian Immigration plans, please send us an e-mail or contact us, via our website, at https://www.akcanada.com/contact.php.

Parent/Grandparent Sponsorship Program to Reopen on October 13, 2020

October 5, 2020

Today, the Honourable Marco E. L. Mendicino, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced details for the opening of the 2020 Parent and Grandparent Sponsorship Program (PGP).

Over a 3-week period, from 12 noon Eastern Daylight Time on October 13, 2020, to 12 noon Eastern Standard Time on November 3, 2020, Canadian citizens and permanent residents who wish to sponsor their parents and grandparents to come to Canada will have an opportunity to submit an interest to sponsor form online.

From those who submit an interest to sponsor form online, IRCC will randomly select potential sponsors and send them an invitation to submit an Application. Selected applicants will have 60 days to submit their Application.  A maximum of 10,000 Applications will be accepted for processing as part of the 2020 PGP intake. In 2021, IRCC will open a new intake of interest to sponsor forms to accept a total of 30,000 new Applications.

Given that many sponsors may have been financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, IRCC is introducing a temporary public policy that will reduce the income requirement for the 2020 tax year to the minimum necessary income, instead of the minimum necessary income plus 30%.

If you are an existing PGP client of Abrams & Krochak and you require more information regarding today’s announcement, please send an e-mail to info@akcanada.com with your name and file number.  If you are not yet a PGP client of Abrams & Krochak, but you are interested in sponsoring a parent or grandparent to immigrate to Canada with Abrams & Krochak’s assistance, please complete our Parent/Grandparent Sponsorship Online Eligibility Assessment Questionnaire at https://www.akcanada.com/assessment4.php and you will receive our assessment within one (1) business day.

Canada to Speed Up Spousal Sponsorship Application Processing

September 24, 2020

On September 24, 2020, the Honourable Marco E. L. Mendicino, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship (IRCC), announced that the Government of Canada would be taking action to speed up the processing of Spousal Sponsorship Applications.

IRCC has increased the number of decision makers on Spousal Sponsorship Applications in Canada by 66%, to process these applications more quickly and reduce couples’ wait times.

With these initiatives, IRCC aims to accelerate, prioritize and finalize approximately 6,000 applications each month from October until December 2020. Combined with processing to date, this rate will lead to about 49,000 decisions by the end of this year.

U.S.A. Extending Ban on Green Cards and Non-Immigrant Visas Also Affected

June 23, 2020

On Monday, June 22, 2020, the Trump administration announced that it was extending a ban on Green Cards issued outside the United States until the end of the year and adding many temporary work visas to the freeze, including those used heavily by technology companies and multinational corporations.

The policy behind the freeze is to free up jobs in the American economy which has suffered because of COVID-19. It is estimated that the restrictions will free up to 525,000 jobs for Americans.

The ban, while temporary, would amount to major restructuring of legal immigration if made permanent. Long-term changes targeting high-tech workers are also being sought.

The ban on new visas also applies to H-1B visas, which are widely used by major American and Indian technology company workers and their families, H-2B visas for non-agricultural seasonal workers, J-1 visas for cultural exchanges and L-1 visas for managers and other key employees of multinational corporations.

By contrast, Canada plans on welcoming 341,000 new permanent residents in 2020, 351,000 in 2021, and 361,000 in 2022 while reducing application processing times and improving service delivery and client services at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, notwithstanding COVID-19.

For those who are/were considering American Immigration, Canada may be a more viable and attractive option right now, especially considering the current uncertainty surrounding U.S. Immigration and all of the political chaos and unrest in the United States.