Tag Archive: canadian

Canadian Open Work Permits for U.S. H-1B Specialty Occupations Visa Holders

July 16, 2023

Starting today, Sunday, July 16, 2023, Canada will offer open work permits to any individuals in the United States on an H-1B Specialty Occupations visa.  Canada’s strategy is to lure away highly-educated foreign nationals in the United States who are frustrated by the U.S. immigration process.  In essence, Canada is capitalizing on a growing sense from international students and professionals that settling permanently in the United States is too slow and difficult.

The new recruitment strategy, which Canada unveiled at a North American technology conference held in Toronto last month, is designed to appeal to out-of-work foreign tech-sector workers in the U.S. whose immigration status is now in jeopardy after a recent series of layoffs.

The new open work permit would allow H-1B Specialty Occupations visa holders to move to Canada without a job and look for one once they arrive. The types of foreign nationals who would qualify for the program, Canadian experts say, could also quickly become permanent residents under the country’s merit-based points immigration system.

Without the fast-track program, they would either need to apply for entry under the regular Canadian process or get a Canadian employer to obtain a work permit for them.

The program will last for either one year or until the cap of 10,000 applicants has been reached. This cap is on principal applicants and does not include family members.

If you are an H-1B Specialty Occupations visa holder and are interested in applying for a Canadian open work permit, please send an e-mail to info@akcanada.com to obtain more information about the program and Abrams & Krochak’s related services and legal fees.

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.

Canada Announces New Immigration Stream – Agri-Food Pilot

May 15, 2020

The Honourable Marco E. L. Mendicino, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship announced that, effective, today, Friday, May 15, 2020, Canada has begun accepting Applications for Permanent Residence under the Agri-Food Pilot.

The pilot, which runs until May 2023, will test an industry-specific approach to help employers in the meat processing, mushroom and greenhouse production, and livestock-raising industries fill ongoing labour needs for full-time, year-round employees. It will provide a pathway to Permanent Residence for many temporary foreign workers already in Canada.

A total of 2,750 Applications will be accepted annually throughout the pilot, which applies primarily to people who are already in Canada.

To apply for Permanent Residence under the Agri-Food Pilot, applicants need

  • eligible Canadian work experience in one or more of the eligible industries and occupations.  Eligible jobs for each eligible industry are listed below.

For meat product manufacturing, eligible jobs are

    • NOC B 6331 – Retail butchers
    • NOC C 9462 – Industrial butchers
    • NOC B 8252 – Farm supervisors and specialized livestock workers
    • NOC D 9617 – Food processing labourers

For greenhouse, nursery and floriculture production, including mushroom production, eligible jobs are

    • NOC B 8252 – Farm supervisors and specialized livestock workers
    • NOC C 8431 – General farm workers
    • NOC D 8611 – Harvesting labourers

For animal production, excluding aquaculture, eligible jobs are

    • NOC B 8252 – Farm supervisors and specialized livestock workers
    • NOC C 8431 – General farm workers

There are annual limits on the number of Applications that will be processed for each eligible occupation.  Starting on January 1 of each year, Applications will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis. This pilot will last for 3 years.

Annual limits

 

Eligible occupation Number of applications accepted per year
Farm supervisor or specialized livestock worker (NOC B 8252)

50
Industrial butcher (NOC C 9462) or retail butcher (NOC B 6331)

1470
Food processing labourer (NOC D 9617)

730
General farm worker (NOC C 8431)

200
Harvesting labourer (NOC D 8611)

300

 

  • a full-time, non-seasonal job offer from a Canadian employer in one of the eligible industries and occupations (outside of Quebec)
  • to meet or exceed the language requirements (CLB 4, which is the equivalent of 4.5 in Listening, 3.5 in Reading and 4.0 in each of Speaking and Writing on the General IELTS)
  • to meet or exceed the educational requirements (the equivalent of a Canadian High School/Secondary School Diploma)
  • to have settlement funds (if applicable)
  • to maintain temporary resident status (if already in Canada)

If you believe you qualify for this new category of Immigration and are interested in obtaining legal assistance to apply, please send us a message through the Contact Us page on our website.

Multi-Year Immigration Levels Plan Announced

November 2, 2017

On Wednesday, November 1, 2017, the Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship (IRCC), announced the Government of Canada’s multi-year Immigration levels plan that will grow the number of permanent residents Canada welcomes annually.

Beginning with 310,000 new permanent residents in 2018, the plan will grow to 330,000 in 2019 and 340,000 in 2020, trending towards one percent of the population by 2020.

Each Immigration class will see a steady increase over the three-year period. The majority of the increase will be in economic programs.

New Definition of Age of Dependants Now in Force

November 2, 2017

On Friday, October 27, 2017, the Government of Canada has changed the definition of the age of dependants from “under 19” to “under 22,” as it had promised to do.

This change applies to all new applications received by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) on or after October 24, 2017.

IRCC also announced that it would allow for the addition or sponsorship of some children whose parents had existing applications in process on May 3, 2017, or who have applied since that time.

Permanent residence applicants who wish to add or sponsor a child who was 19, 20, or 21 years of age on May 3, 2017, or on the date IRCC received the parents’ application (if between May 3, and October 23, 2017) should notify IRCC as soon as possible, using a web form, as the notification period will end on January 31, 2018.

Once IRCC has been advised, they will contact applicants directly to tell them what they need to do to sponsor or add their child to their application.

Canada Dominates World’s Most Livable Cities in 2015

August 18, 2015

Each year, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) publishes a list of the top cities in the world in which to live.

This year’s list was just published and 3/5 of the top cities were in Canada: #3-Vancouver, #4-Toronto, #5-Calgary.

According to the EIU, these cities have “relatively few challenges to living standards,” and enjoy a good infrastructure, healthcare system and a low murder rate.