Today, Friday, May 26, 2023, the Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship announced new measures to strengthen family reunification, which include:

• faster temporary resident visa (TRV) processing times for spousal applicants
• new and dedicated processing tools for spousal TRV applicants
• a new open work permit for spousal and family class applicants
• open work permit extensions for open work permit holders expiring between August 1 and the end of 2023

Minister Fraser announced that, going forward, most TRV applications will be processed within 30 days, and applicants will benefit from processing measures specific to their circumstances as spouses and dependants.

Once in Canada, spouses, partners and dependants are now able to apply for and receive an open work permit as soon as they submit a complete permanent residence application under the spouse or common-law partner in Canada class (SPCLC) or other family class programs.

Finally, Minister Fraser announced that spousal applicants, along with other open work permit holders, whose open work permits expire between August 1 and the end of 2023, will be able to extend their work permits for an additional 18 months.

There is good news for foreign-trained engineers who wish to immigrate to Canada with Ontario as their province of intended destination.  They will no longer be required to have Canadian work experience to become licensed in Ontario.  The province is adopting a new law to remove the barriers keeping skilled immigrants from working in their former professions.

On Tuesday, May 23, 2023, Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO) became the first professional regulatory body to remove the requirement from their application criteria.  By doing so, PEO has made it easier for foreign-trained engineers to earn professional designations in Ontario and enter the workforce as licensed engineers quicker.  There are roughly 7,000 vacant engineering positions in Ontario that need to be filled.

Despite the removal of the Canadian experience requirement, licensing applicants to the engineering profession are still required to have 48-months of professional experience in engineering and pass a national professional practice exam that includes ethics, professional practice, engineering, law and professional liability.

In 2022, Canada welcomed more than 431,000 new permanent residents.  This marked the largest annual increase in Canadian Immigration history, as the Government of Canada seeks to ease the country’s labour shortages.

Canada has set a target of 465,000 new permanent residents in 2023 and plans to raise that target to 500,000 in 2025.

Immigration accounts for nearly all of Canada’s labour-force growth and about 75% of the nation’s population growth.  During the 2021 Census, nearly one in four people counted were a landed immigrant or permanent resident of Canada (or had been at one time).  Among the Group of Seven economies, Canada has the largest proportion of immigrants.

By 2036, immigrants will represent almost a third of Canada’s population.

On Wednesday, November 16, 2022, The Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), announced the implementation of the National Occupational Classification (NOC) 2021 for Immigration programs managed under the Express Entry system.

The NOC is the national reference for occupations in Canada. It provides a systematic classification structure that categorizes the entire range of occupational activity in Canada. IRCC uses the NOC to determine and assess the occupational eligibility criteria under its temporary and permanent residency programs.

With the implementation of the 2021 NOC, foreign nationals with work experience in the following sixteen (16) occupations are now eligible to apply through Express Entry:

• payroll administrators
• dental assistants and dental laboratory assistants
• nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates
• pharmacy technical assistants and pharmacy assistants
• elementary and secondary school teacher assistants
• sheriffs and bailiffs
• correctional service officers
• by-law enforcement and other regulatory officers
• estheticians, electrologists and related occupations
• residential and commercial installers and servicers
• pest controllers and fumigators
• other repairers and servicers
• transport truck drivers
• bus drivers, subway operators and other transit operators
• heavy equipment operators
• aircraft assemblers and aircraft assembly inspectors

By making these occupations eligible under Express Entry, the Government of Canada is working to welcome newcomers who bring the skills the Canadian economy needs to help address acute labour shortages across the country.

If you have work experience in any of these occupations and would like to have your eligibility to immigrate to Canada assessed or reassessed by Abrams & Krochak, please visit https://www.akcanada.com/assessment1.php and you will receive your eligibility assessment, via e-mail, within one (1) business day.