Canadian Immigration News

Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Canada Minister Jason Kenney announced today that certain visa applications from Philippines residents whohave been affected by Typhoon Ketsana will be processed on a priority basis.

Beginning September 17, 2008, applications will be accepted under the Canadian Experience Class of Canadian immigration. This new category was designed specifically for Canada’s temporary foreign workers and international graduates with work experience, as a means to more easily transition these temporary residents into Canadian permanent residents.

Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Canada Minister Jason Kenney announced today that Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) will be providing Language Training Vouchers to new immigrants starting this fall. The vouchers are meant to encourage new immigrants to take advantage of settlement services and integrate into their new communities more successfully.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) announced today that it is providing funding for the Home Instruction for Parents of Pre–School Youngsters program (HIPPY), a program that helps parents prepare their children for school and connect with services in their communities.

Approximately 80 per cent of Canadian immigrants have chosen to settle in Canada's five largest urban centres (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary, Ottawa). A Statistics Canada study cited that, for the majority of immigrants, the most important reason for choosing a particular destination in Canada is because family and/or friends are already there. Whether there are good job prospects in the area is the second most important reason. The study underlines the importance of community networks and social ties to immigrant integration and settlement.

Effective December 23, 2007, a new amendment to Canada's citizenship laws has gone into effect to streamline the process of obtaining citizenship for children adopted abroad by Canadian parents. The process for these cases is now more in line with that for children born abroad to Canadian parents.

The province of Quebec has made changes to its immigration program in order to accept greater numbers of qualified immigrants. The adjustments to the Quebec Skilled Worker selection system are meant to favour more individuals who can successfully integrate into the province’s labour force and society, as well as welcome more young families.

A Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee report on illegal and temporary foreign workers has recently been tabled in the House of Commons, offeringdozens of recommendations to improve Canada's Temporary Foreign Worker Program.

Sunday October 21 will close out Citizenship and Immigration Canada's annual Citizenship Week, "a time we dedicate each year to celebrate our shared values of respect, freedom and justice, and reflect on what it means to be Canadian." Hundreds of people have become Canadian citizens this week and hundreds more have reaffirmed their allegiance to Canada at the many citizenship ceremonies across the country.

Finding a fulfilling job in Canada is the number one priority for most new Canadians as well as anyone thinking of immigrating to Canada. As part of our continuing commitment to making your Canadian immigration application process as smooth and as rewarding as possible, we are delighted to announce that we are teaming up with CareerJoy, Canada’s Career Coaching Company, to bring you the help you need to get started on your Canadian job search.