Ray of hope - FSW - 1

[Kiran Jayachandran]

New report shows impact of pandemic on immigration to CanadaA Conference Board of Canada study measured the impact of COVID-19 on immigrant admissions to Canada and how the effects could be offset.


The COVID-19 pandemic caused a marked reduction in immigration processing capacity during its first 6 months.

From March to December of 2020, permanent resident admissions were down 56 per cent compared to 2019, a new report by the Conference Board of Canada shows.

Refugee and family class admissions were most hard-hit with 72 and 63 per cent reductions, respectively, but this was most evident early in the pandemic. By the end of 2020, the distribution of admissions across these different immigration classes was nearing pre-pandemic levels.

The Conference Board suggests that, based on the most recent trends in Express Entry draws, the share of immigrants with Canadian work experience will increase during 2021. The share of permanent residents having prior temporary work or study experience in Canada grew 10 per cent from 2019, according to the report.

At the beginning of the pandemic, Canada considered only Canadian Experience Class (CEC) and Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) candidates in Express Entry invitation rounds. Then, in the second half of 2020, Canada began considering all candidates, including those from the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) and the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP).

But since the start of 2021, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is again prioritizing transitioning those already in Canada to permanent residence and focusing on CEC and PNP candidates as they are less likely to be affected by the various disruptions related to COVID-19.

According to the report, the impact of reduced immigration numbers in 2020 was disproportionally felt outside of Ontario, British Columbia, and Quebec. This is partially due to policy decisions such as favoring CEC admissions since these candidates tend to be concentrated in Ontario and B.C.

Temporary worker admissions were down 33 per cent overall. However, given the importance of agricultural workers to Canada’s food security, the government took early steps to make it easier for them to enter and work in the country. These initiatives paid off as agricultural worker admissions were only down a comparatively minor 8 per cent.

Four recommendations to offset effects of pandemic
The Conference Board of Canada also looked at the impact of immigration on the Canadian economy. Their study has shown that increased levels of immigration over four years have the potential to raise Canada’s GDP growth by 44 per cent, increase public revenues by $50B and compensate for Canada’s otherwise aging demographics by increasing the ratio of working-age people to retirees by 15 per cent.

Given these potential impacts, the Conference Board recommends four strategic imperatives for Canada’s immigration policy and programs :

First, it is recommended to increase support for newcomers by promoting pathways for immigrants with a job offer, investing more in settlement services, and accelerating family class admissions to help economic immigrants participate in the labour force.


The second recommendation is to continue to focus on regionalization to attract immigrants to regions that receive fewer immigrants and have most felt the impact of the pandemic.

Third, it is recommended to introduce policy changes that would improve the economic outcomes of immigrants.

Finally, the Conference Board recommends increasing the number of family class immigrants and refugees admitted to Canada, particularly as they have not been shown to have a negative impact on the economy.

Will this have any impact on upcoming FSW Draws this year (Hopefully there will be few this year)

 

[dankboi]

Will this have any impact on upcoming FSW Draws this year (Hopefully there will be few this year)

Yes
they have left out FSW's. They have forgotten that there is a category called FSW. To add they have ignored the illegal immigrants who are indeed inland.

 

[ElvisRamaj]

Will this have any impact on upcoming FSW Draws this year (Hopefully there will be few this year)

Almost zero effect!

They had to do a conference, they did it and went home.

 

[ZAtoCD]

Same thing with my application. All passed except security

Me three, I think most FSW-O are. If I remember correctly someone said it would resume processing by August. Fingers crossed, we all can arrive in Canada before the year ends.

Me four lol. I hope they start processing applications soon. I don't understand why they are holding processing. They could complete processing applications and send COPRs when the travel restrictions are lifted.

Haha, shame y'all. I guess a little nicer to know we're in the same boat, but this is taking ages (understandably). Psyoptica, she didn't say they're intentionally pausing processing. In fact, she confirmed that they are actively processing FSW applications. It's just that because of COVID, you have problems like agencies being short-staffed (due to things like work from home or safety guidelines) and backlogs of apps. So, they can resume presumably once Canada beings opening up again after more vaccinations. Hopefully.

Which countries are you all from? In South Africa, things are open, so nothing here should hold up my app if processing needs to be done locally.

Yup, hope we're all in Canada before the end of the year!

 

[BussyBaby]

Haha, shame y'all. I guess a little nicer to know we're in the same boat, but this is taking ages (understandably). Psyoptica, she didn't say they're intentionally pausing processing. In fact, she confirmed that they are actively processing FSW applications. It's just that because of COVID, you have problems like agencies being short-staffed (due to things like work from home or safety guidelines) and backlogs of apps. So, they can resume presumably once Canada beings opening up again after more vaccinations. Hopefully.

Which countries are you all from? In South Africa, things are open, so nothing here should hold up my app if processing needs to be done locally.

Yup, hope we're all in Canada before the end of the year!

I'm Nigerian. Everything is also open here in Nigeria. Fingers crossed that we're all in Canada before the end of the year

 

[Psyoptica]

Haha, shame y'all. I guess a little nicer to know we're in the same boat, but this is taking ages (understandably). Psyoptica, she didn't say they're intentionally pausing processing. In fact, she confirmed that they are actively processing FSW applications. It's just that because of COVID, you have problems like agencies being short-staffed (due to things like work from home or safety guidelines) and backlogs of apps. So, they can resume presumably once Canada beings opening up again after more vaccinations. Hopefully.

Which countries are you all from? In South Africa, things are open, so nothing here should hold up my app if processing needs to be done locally.

Yup, hope we're all in Canada before the end of the year!

That's good to know. I haven't seen progress on my application since October 2020. I'll be happy if there's any progress at all this year. I'm not in any rush to move to Canada so I'm happy to wait so long as there's progress on my application.
I have applied from Pakistan. Everything is open and Covid isn't so destructive here. I write this while in quarantine due to the infection lol.

 

[Windsor37]

Haha, shame y'all. I guess a little nicer to know we're in the same boat, but this is taking ages (understandably). Psyoptica, she didn't say they're intentionally pausing processing. In fact, she confirmed that they are actively processing FSW applications. It's just that because of COVID, you have problems like agencies being short-staffed (due to things like work from home or safety guidelines) and backlogs of apps. So, they can resume presumably once Canada beings opening up again after more vaccinations. Hopefully.

Which countries are you all from? In South Africa, things are open, so nothing here should hold up my app if processing needs to be done locally.

Yup, hope we're all in Canada before the end of the year!

The Philippines!

 

[willapp]

Haha, shame y'all. I guess a little nicer to know we're in the same boat, but this is taking ages (understandably). Psyoptica, she didn't say they're intentionally pausing processing. In fact, she confirmed that they are actively processing FSW applications. It's just that because of COVID, you have problems like agencies being short-staffed (due to things like work from home or safety guidelines) and backlogs of apps. So, they can resume presumably once Canada beings opening up again after more vaccinations. Hopefully.

Which countries are you all from? In South Africa, things are open, so nothing here should hold up my app if processing needs to be done locally.

Yup, hope we're all in Canada before the end of the year!

I don't think that the applications from the second half of 2020 are processed by visa officers yet at the Ottawa office. The eligibility part is most likely passed by an agent not a visa officer.

 

[FurioGiunta]

I think some members are overestimating the correlation between vaccination rate and border restrictions.

Here’s an example why I’m saying this - All Australian population is expected to be vaccinated by Nov 2021, but the Aus Govt has stated multiple times that their borders won’t open until after May 2022.

Bad comparison. Countries like Australia and New Zealand have adopted a zero covid policy. Of course, they are going to be more cautious about opening their borders. Canada's border policy has been closer to the EU than Australia. As vaccination numbers hit a certain target, borders are going to open, first to the US and the then the rest of the world. I predict US borders would reopen for vaccinated travellers end of June. July if you are being pessimistic. International borders not more than 2 months from then.

Vaccination rate is the strongest predictor for border reopening.

 

[Emil1]

Vaccination rate is the strongest predictor for border reopening.

And occupation in hospitals.

 

[FurioGiunta]

Canada plans to open the US-Canada border by September. The international travel might not resume till next year.

Any evidence for this? If you are stating your opinion then you have to qualify your statements as such. Otherwise it's just misinformation. People are already miserable here, don't add to their misery by doing baseless speculation.

 

[smash1984]

Any evidence for this? If you are stating your opinion then you have to qualify your statements as such. Otherwise it's just misinformation. People are already miserable here, don't add to their misery by doing baseless speculation.

Agreed I haven't heard anything like this about the reopening with so much certainty, and I live just 40 mins from the US border .

There is a lot of speculation but nobody has come out with anything sounding so certain about september border reopening.

 

[Emil1]

Based on vaccinations, daily covid cases reduction, and occupation in hospitals I believe that they're likely to reopen the US border after 21st June. I hope that they don't extend that.

 

[FurioGiunta]

Don't expect much that Canada will soon process FSW-O applications. There are still many pending CEC inland applicants. I saw that they are still doing the June 2020 CEC inland applications. That's a year worth of backlog. They also have to take care of those existing residents and citizens who lose their jobs during the pandemic. Additional immigrants would entail competition of looking for jobs with them. So I don't think they will allow outland immigrants to come to Canada anytime soon. At the earliest, we can assume that they will continue processing FSW-O applications by the summer next year.

Let's not wait in vain. Expect less and move on. It really is unfair and I have been waiting for over a year now. I suggest we already move on with our lives and pray that the world will return as it was before March 2020.

It's laughable you think that the earliest they will continue processing FSW-O is a year from now. They have said multiple times that they will continue to welcome outland applicants once border restrictions are removed, which is going to happen in the next couple of months.

 

[dankboi]

Any evidence for this? If you are stating your opinion then you have to qualify your statements as such. Otherwise it's just misinformation. People are already miserable here, don't add to their misery by doing baseless speculation.

Major ! you understand the feelings of folks in the pool and on behalf of pool cadets I'm paying respects to you for requesting the evidence.