Total complete Federal Skilled Worker applications received since June 26, 2010

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November 4, 2010

On Saturday, June 26, 2010, Citizenship and Immigration Canada announced major changes to the Federal Skilled Worker Class with no advance notice. Unless an applicant has arranged employment, he/she must now have at least 1 year of continuous full-time paid work experience or 2 years of continuous half-time paid work experience in at least 1 of 29 occupations to even be eligible to apply. Citizenship and Immigration Canada also imposed a quota. A maximum of 20,000 Federal Skilled Worker applications will be considered for processing until July of 2011 AND within the 20,000 cap, a maximum of 1,000 applications will be accepted per eligible occupation (i.e. any 1 of the 29 occupations that appears on Canada’s General Occupations (Demand) List).

On Monday, November 1, 2010, Citizenship and Immigration Canada released approximate figures as to how many Federal Skilled Worker applications were received as of that date and…of those…how many were received in each of the 29 eligible occupations.

According to Citizenship and Immigration Canada, approximately 3,309 Federal Skilled Worker applications were received as of November 1, 2010. The maximum for the category is 20,000. Of the 3,309 Federal Skilled Worker applications received, the breakdown, according to eligible occupation, is as follows:

Applications received toward the overall cap: 3,309 of 20,000 as of November 1, 2010

Applications received per eligible occupation

(by National Occupational Classification [NOC] code) Number of Complete Applications Received*

0631 Restaurant and Food Service Managers 134
0811 Primary Production Managers (except Agriculture) 32
1122 Professional Occupations in Business Services to Management 1,000 (No Longer Available – Quota Reached)
1233 Insurance Adjusters and Claims Examiners 45
2121 Biologists and Related Scientists 158
2151 Architects 181
3111 Specialist Physicians 138
3112 General Practitioners and Family Physicians 167
3113 Dentists 208
3131 Pharmacists 284
3142 Physiotherapists 57
3152 Registered Nurses 461
3215 Medical Radiation Technologists 11
3222 Dental Hygienists and Dental Therapists 4
3233 Licensed Practical Nurses 21
4151 Psychologists 37
4152 Social Workers 95
6241 Chefs 17
6242 Cooks 48
7215 Contractors and Supervisors, Carpentry Trades 26
7216 Contractors and Supervisors, Mechanic Trades 58
7241 Electricians (except Industrial and Power System) 34
7242 Industrial Electricians 40
7251 Plumbers 8
7265 Welders and Related Machine Operators 10
7312 Heavy-Duty Equipment Mechanics 14
7371 Crane Operators 0
7372 Drillers and Blasters – Surface Mining, Quarrying and Construction 2
8222 Supervisors, Oil and Gas Drilling and Service 19

*The number of complete Federal Skilled Worker applications received as of November 1, 2010, is approximate.

NOTE: Because application intake fluctuates, these figures are meant as a guide only. There is no guarantee that an application sent in now will fall within the cap.

What does this mean? It means several things.

1. Canada is still accepting skilled workers and has not yet met its 20,000 quota for the category.

2. If your work experience is in occupation 1122 Professional Occupations in Business Services to Management (whose quota has been reached), you must either find another occupation on Canada’s General Occupations (Demand) List in which you have a minimum of one (1) year of paid full-time work experience within the past ten (10) years to satisfy eligibility requirements OR you must wait until the new General Occupations (Demand) List is released on July 1, 2011 to see whether 1122 Professional Occupations in Business Services to Management is still on the list OR obtain Arranged Employment.

3. If your work experience is in an occupation in which many applicants have already applied (i.e. 3152 Registered Nurses), you should proceed with your proposed Canadian Immigration plans as soon as possible and move quickly to file your completed Application package before the quota for your occupation is filled.

4. If your work experience is in an occupation in which not many applicants have already applied (i.e. 3215 Medical Radiation Technologists/3222 Dental Hygienists and Dental Therapists), that is not a reason to delay or defer your proposed Canadian Immigration plans to a later date. The overall quota for the Federal Skilled Worker category is 20,000. Once that number is met, no further applications will be accepted, regardless of whether your particular occupation has met its own 1,000 applicant quota or not.

*Because application intake fluctuates, these figures are meant as a guide only. There is no guarantee that an application sent in now will fall within the cap.

If you are an existing client of Abrams & Krochak and have any questions, regarding this information, please send your questions, in the form of an e-mail, to info@akcanada.com

If you are not yet a client of Abrams & Krochak but had your eligibility to migrate to Canada as a Federal Skilled Worker favourably assessed by the firm and you have questions, regarding this information, please send your questions, in the form of an e-mail, to askus@akcanada.com

If you are not yet a client of Abrams & Krochak and have not yet had your eligibility to migrate to Canada as a Federal Skilled Worker assessed by the firm, but you wish to receive such an assessment, please visit http://www.akcanada.com/assessment.cfm

We look forward to representing you and to seeing you soon in Canada.

Kenney to learn about human smuggling in Australia

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September 20, 2010

OTTAWA – Canada’s immigration minister is travelling to Australia to see what can be learned about dealing with boatloads of illegal immigrants and refugee claimants.

Jason Kenney is currently on a 10-day trip through India, China and the Philippines to deal with the issue of overseas immigration fraud.

On a conference call with reporters on Thursday he announced that he would add a trip to the Australian capital of Canberra.

In addition to meeting with Australian officials, Kenney will also tour a detention centre for passengers on migrant boats.

Australia adopted a policy of processing these boats on remote Pacific islands back in 2001, a year that saw more than 5,000 people arrive by sea claiming refugee status.

The policy was discontinued in 2007 but brought back after more than 60 boats landed in 2009. The issue was a major factor in the Australian election last month that saw the Labour Party lose several seats and only hang onto power with the help of independents.

In addition to visiting Australia, Kenney announced that former CSIS director Ward Elcock has been asked to review the human smuggling situation.

The former spymaster will travel to Sri Lanka, Thailand and Australia to see what can be done to prevent more boats from heading to Canada.

Officials at the foreign affairs department say they are already working with other countries to prevent a repeat of the MV Sun Sea, which carried about 500 Tamil asylum seekers when it arrived in British Columbia last month.

The government acknowledges that more boats are likely but will not confirm rumours regarding how many. Estimates range from one ship to five heading to Canada over the next few months.

Illegal Migrant Ship Heading for British Columbia, Canada

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August 3, 2010

Canadian Immigration Officials are monitoring a ship that may be headed to British Columbia. According to a Sri Lanka newspaper the ship is carrying Tamil migrants. According to the newspaper, the Colombo Observer, the ship is carrying 200 migrants, some of them Tamil Tigers.

The Colombo Observer reported that the ship was last spotted in May in the Gulf of Thailand.MV Sun Sea earlier known as Harin Panich 19, is captained by an LTTE Sea Tiger leader Vinod and manned by a 24-member crew. The Colombo Sunday Observer reports that the ship was heading towards Australia two weeks ago and the Sri Lankan Government tipped off the Australians. It also says that Canada is likely to admit the ships entry, but deny citizenship to those identified as LTTE.Just last October a ship that had crossed the Pacific Ocean and was intercepted in Canadian waters.

There were 76 Tamils aboard, which are now in the refugee system. Their claim was that Tamils were still being persecuted by the Sri Lankan government. Canada’s Immigration Minister, Jason Kenney, is trying to streamline the refugee process. Last year it announced VISA requirements for Mexicans and citizens of the Czech Republic due to bogus refugee claims. Refugee Claims are bogged down in bureaucracy with bogus claims, while real refugee claims are also held up. The governemnts new procedures are said to speed up those claims.

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Need A Job? Try Canada, Where Hiring Is Booming And Home Prices Are Rising

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July 9, 2010

Stubbornly high unemployment rates got you down? Not sold on the economic recovery? Look no further than America’s polite neighbor to the north, where jobs numbers are surging and home prices have been rising steadily for nearly a year.

Last month, Canada, a nation with roughly one tenth of our population, created about 10,000 more new jobs than America.

Yes, Canada’s economic recovery is outpacing our own. In terms of sheer job creation, June saw Canada create jobs at a pace that was five times the rate predicted by economists, Bloomberg News reports. Canada added 93,200 jobs in June, while U.S. private employers added just 83,000.

Thanks to strong hiring in the service sector,Canada’s unemployment rate fell to 7.9 from 8.1 percent, while America’s unemployment ratecame in at 9.5 percent in June, falling only because of a large exodus of Americans looking for work. All told, the U.S. lost 125,000 jobs in June because of a wave of Census layoffs.

Real estate prices tell a similar story. After 10 straight monthly gains, Canadian home prices rose0.3 percent in May, reports Bloomberg News. In the States, things are somewhat bleaker. Many areas showed small home price gains in May, , but in many other areas prices remain close to their April 2009 lows, according to the latest data from the widely-watched S&P/Case-Shiller index.

Canadian real estate broker Royal LePage predicts Canada’s home prices could rise an average of 6.8 percent in 2010. Meanwhile, the IMF, though remaining relatively upbeat on the U.S. housing and job markets, warned that the foreclosure crisis could lead to a double-dip in home prices.