Aged, South Asians unwelcome in Canada
Mon, Aug 27th, 2012 5:44 pm BdST
Shaugat Ali Sagor
From Toronto
Toronto, Aug 27 (bdnews24.com)— The Canadian government is reorganising its immigration rules allowing privileges for workers aged 18 to 35 and having good language skills to migrate to the country.
The Conservative government has finalised the rules with a sweeping overhaul of the points system used over the last 10 years for approving foreign worker applications.
Under the new rules, which will take effect next year, workers aged 47 and over will receive no points for age, compared with 12 for those between 18 and 35, reported The Globe and Mail.
Applicants above 35 years will lose a point for each year of increasing age. People above 46 years of age will not get any point at all.
The government says the change, announced over the weekend, is based on clear evidence that older immigrants are much less likely to succeed in the work force, said the report.
"An aging population … represents a significant policy challenge for Canada," a government analysis of the changes says.
"Immigration of young people able to work at relatively high wages for a number of years can help lessen the consequences of this phenomenon," said the government analysis quoted by The Globe and Mail.
The decision to restructure the rules came following independent researches suggesting that younger immigrants perform better financially.
On language, the new rules will give significantly more points to applicants who have strong language skills in either English or French.
Some immigration experts say this provision could, at least temporarily, have the effect of curbing immigration from regions with relatively poor average English or French skills like China and South Asia.
Under the new regulations, 28 points were allocated for language skills, increasing it from 24 points.
The rules also decrease the points for work experience outside of Canada, reported the Canadian newspaper.
The previous 21 points earmarked for working experience was reduced to 15 points and receiving the full point in working experience will require an experience of working six years in Canada instead of the previous four years.
On educational qualifications, an applicant will have to have all his educational certificates assessed by the Canadian government approved 'assessment centre' before being considered for the points.
Professionals like farmer, chef and cook can apply under the new category of Federal Skilled Trades Class to be introduced under the new reorganisation considering increasing demand for construction workers.
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