DEPARTMENT OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
IMMIGRATION AND REFUGEE PROTECTION ACT
Updated Ministerial Instructions
Notice is hereby given, under subsection 87.3(6) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, that Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has established the following Ministerial Instructions that, in the opinion of the Minister, will best support the attainment of the immigration goals established by the Government of Canada.
1780 Canada Gazette Part I June 30, 2012
Overview
Authority for Ministerial Instructions is derived from section 87.3 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). Instructions are directed to officers and their delegates who are charged with handling and/or reviewing applications for permanent or temporary visas to enter Canada.
The Instructions are consistent with IRPA objectives as laid out in section 3 and are compliant with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Instructions do not apply to refugees or protected persons or persons making a request on Humanitarian or Compassionate grounds from within Canada.
The Instructions respect all previously established accords and agreements including the Quebec-Canada Accord and all existing agreements with provinces and territories.
These Ministerial Instructions identify eligibility criteria for applications and requests for certain immigration categories. Applications meeting these criteria are eligible for processing under these instructions. In all cases, applicants meeting eligibility criteria set out in Ministerial Instructions are still subject to all other applicable legislative requirements of the class to which the applicant is applying.
These Instructions will come into force on July 1, 2012, and apply to applications received by designated CIC offices on or after July 1, 2012.
All applications received by designated CIC offices prior to July 1, 2012, shall continue to be considered for processing according to the Ministerial Instructions in place at the time of their receipt.
Any categories for which Instructions are not specifically issued shall continue to be processed in the usual manner, as per processing priorities established by the Department.
Economic Class applications
Federal Skilled Worker Class
Temporary pause
No new Federal Skilled Worker applications will be accepted on or after July 1, 2012, excluding those applications for the PhD eligibility stream and those with a qualifying offer of arranged employment.
This temporary pause is being applied to manage inventory pressures and to align future intake with the implementation of proposed regulatory changes to the Federal Skilled Worker Class.
Complete applications for the PhD eligibility stream, the criteria for which were established by Ministerial Instructions that came into force on November 5, 2011, will continue to be put into processing until the annual cap of 1 000 is reached. The current cap year for the PhD stream ends on October 31, 2012, unless otherwise indicated in a future Ministerial Instruction. Subsequent years will be calculated from November 1 to October 31, unless otherwise indicated in a future set of Ministerial Instructions.
Complete applications with a qualifying offer of arranged employment will continue to be put into processing without regard to a cap, as established in the Ministerial Instructions that came into effect on July 1, 2011.
In all cases, applicants meeting eligibility criteria set out in Ministerial Instructions are still subject to the requirements of the Federal Skilled Worker Class and all other applicable requirements under the IRPA.
Federal Immigrant Investor Class
Temporary pause
No new applications in this class will be accepted on or after July 1, 2012. This pause is being implemented until further notice to manage inventory pressures.
Federal Entrepreneur Class
As per Instructions that came into force on July 1, 2011, a temporary pause remains in place for all new applications in this class.
Family Class applications
Any categories for which Instructions are not specifically issued shall continue to be processed in the usual manner.
As per Instructions that came into force on November 5, 2011, a temporary pause remains in place for new sponsorship applications for parents and grandparents.
No Humanitarian and Compassionate requests to overcome requirements of Ministerial Instructions
Requests made on the basis of Humanitarian and Compassionate grounds from outside Canada that accompany any permanent resident application affected by Ministerial Instructions but not identified for processing under the Instructions will not be processed.
Temporary Resident applications
All complete applications for temporary residence, including Temporary Foreign Workers, Foreign Students and Visitors shall continue to be placed into processing immediately upon receipt.
Retention/Disposition
Applicants in the Federal Skilled Worker and Federal Immigrant Investor Classes whose applications are received on or after July 1, 2012, and which do not meet the criteria described above, shall be informed that their application does not qualify for processing and their processing fees shall be returned.
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