Prior to the last major change in legislation that took place in June of 2002, Canadian immigration applicants in the skilled worker category had an Education and Training Factor (ETF) and Occupational Demand with specific points for each of those two areas assigned to every profession. In that way, it was clear that immigrants to Canada with certain professions had an easier time in meeting the pass mark. With the proposed legislation, the Minister is really turning back the clock as she will be announcing a list of professions that will receive priority, resulting in the others having to wait longer in the line before they are processed. Since these changes only affect applications recently received, it will be some time before the current changes make a dent in the current Canadian Immigration applicant backlog, if at all.

Immigrating to Canada? Visit www.akcanada.com for more information or a free assessment.

On Monday, June 16, 2008, the proposed immigration changes received the third and final reading in the House of Commons. Despite objections to the contents of the proposed legislation, the opposition did not vote against the Conservative government’s bill in order to avoid triggering an unwanted election. Consequently, the proposed changes appear destined to become law in the foreseeable future. The Minister will then be able to dictate which professions in the skilled worker category in the Canadian Immigration process can receive faster processing regardless of when the applications were received. Once the Minister has announced which professions will be processed faster, we will have a clearer picture of the impact the new legislation will have on processing applications for Canadian Immigration as a whole.

Immigrating to Canada? Visit www.akcanada.com for more information or a free assessment.