Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced on June 26, 2010, that the Government of Canada has amended its current immigration procedures to further reduce the Federal Skilled Worker application backlog and put an even greater emphasis on economic recovery. The changes,effective immediately, include:

1) a change in the occupations that are currently ‘open’ under this program,
2) a change in the documentation required for an application under this program, and
3) the creation of a limit on the number of applications which will be considered by Visa Offices.

These changes do not affect any applications received at the Central Intake Office before June 26, 2010.

Under these updated instructions, an application is eligible for processing if the applicant:

• has at least one year of continuous, full-time (or equivalent) paid work experience in the past 10 years in a qualifying occupation, which have been identified as the most in-demand occupations in Canada at this time; or
• qualifies for Arranged Employment with a full-time permanent job offer from a Canadian employer.

Applicants, who formerly qualified because they had been living in Canada with legal status as a Temporary Foreign Worker or an international student will no longer be eligible under the Federal Skilled Worker program, but may still meet the eligibility criteria of the Canadian Experience Class program.

The former list of 38 qualifying occupations has been amended to include 11 new occupations with 20 previously listed occupations having been removed.

Effective immediately, the following occupations have been added to the list:

0811 Primary Production Managers (Except Agriculture)
1122 Professional Occupations in Business Services to Management
1233 Insurance Adjusters and Claims Examiners
2121 Biologists and Related Scientists
2151 Architects
3113 Dentists
3131 Pharmacists
3222 Dental Hygienists & Dental Therapists
4151 Psychologists
4152 Social Workers
7216 Contractors and Supervisors, Mechanic Trades

The following occupations remain on the list:

0631 Restaurant and Food Service Managers
3111 Specialists in clinical medicine
3112 General practitioners and family physicians
3142 Physiotherapists
3152 General duty registered nurses
3215 Radiological technologists
3233 Licensed practical nurses
6241 Chefs
6242 Cooks
7215 Contractors and Supervisors, Carpentry Trades
7241 Electricians (Except Industrial & Power System)
7242 Industrial Electricians
7251 Plumbers
7265 Welders & Related Machine Operators
7312 Heavy-Duty Equipment Mechanics
7371 Crane Operators
7372 Drillers & Blasters - Surface Mining, Quarrying & Construction
8222 Supervisors, Oil and Gas Drilling and Service

Candidates for the Federal Skilled Worker program and for the Canadian Experience Class Program will now be required to submit the results of a language proficiency assessment exam, along with a complete set of supporting documents (such as copies of passports, evidence of educational history, documentation of marital status, proof of settlement funds, police clearances, etc.) with their application forms. As such, the language proficiency results and additional documentation must be gathered to create an initial application.

For those skilled workers applying under the occupation list, the government will limit the number of applications considered for processing to 20,000 total per year. Within the 20,000 limit, a maximum of 1,000 applications per occupation will be considered. This limit does not apply to applicants with a job offer.

The authority for the changes, known as ministerial instructions, comes from amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act approved by Parliament in 2008 as part of the Action Plan for Faster Immigration.

The new rules and the closure of some of the Federal Skilled Worker occupations should not discourage potential immigrations from considering Canada as a destination. There are 60 immigration programs across Canada from which to choose. If the Federal Skilled Worker program is no longer an option, there are other alternatives.

One such alternative is the Quebec Skilled Worker program, which uses completely different criteria for selecting applicants. The Quebec selection model relies on the concept of “human capital”, and tries to select candidates based on the likelihood of successful economic and social integration.