Canadian Immigration News

A new report from the Conference Board of Canada recommends that Canadian immigration policies should continue to evolve to prevent labour shortages that could stunt future economic growth. To accomplish this, the report states that Canadian immigration policy should place more importance on the skills of prospective immigrants and whether they match Canada's labour needs. This will be increasingly important because steady job growth tends to be the norm in Canada and Canada’s large baby-boomer generation is approaching retirement age.

Today, Canada celebrates its 143rd birthday. As people all across the country celebrate Canada, we pause to reflect on what makes Canada worthy of celebration. Canadians have long considered themselves a multicultural success story. “The world seems to agree,” says Andrew Cohen, the President of the Historica-Dominion Institute.

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.

“Canada is leading the world in the global economic recovery,” said Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty. A report released yesterday highlights Canada’s strong economy, sound fiscal position, and favourable foreign investment conditions.

From 2005 and 2009, the average overall processing time for Canadian immigration applications decreased to 26 months from 50 months. A recent analysis has found this improvement is linked to legislation introduced in 2008 which fast-tracked applications by skilled-workers such as registered nurses, crane operators, financial auditors, construction managers and 34 other qualifying occupations for the Federal Skilled Worker Category. The approximate processing time now for a skilled worker application is seven months, which represents a drastic reduction since previously the overall processing time could take up to five years.

Immigration ministers from the provinces and territories held a meeting in Ottawa yesterday with federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney to discuss ways to improve Canada’s immigration system given the importance of immigration to Canada’s future competitiveness and prosperity. The Ministers discussed the status of several key issues including the common goal of ensuring foreign credentials and qualifications are recognized consistently and fairly, the ability of the provincial nominee programs to respond to local labour market needs, and the support newcomers need to join and help build vibrant communities.

Today, people from around the world will be watching in anticipation as the 2010 FIFA World Cup begins in South Africa. Over the following month, an estimated one billion viewers will watch teams from 32 countries come together in sport, culminating into a final game which receives more viewers and international attention than the Olympics.

Although Canada does not yet have a soccer team strong enough to compete in the top 32, Canada is making a beautiful and enduring offering to this year’s World Cup.

A hot topic at a conference today in Montreal was the projected shortage of skilled workers in the information technology sector. Representatives from some of Canada’s largest technology firms said they are concerned a labour shortage will impact their ability to sustain growth. “Integrating immigrants into our workforce is very important to maintain the quality and the quantity of our workforce,” said Renaud Caron, vice president of Montreal-based IT company CGI, at the conference this morning.

Canada is being recognized in China this week for being a world-class destination for potential investors. Canadian Minister of International Trade, Peter Van Loan, said Canada is one of the best locations in the world to invest in sophisticated, cost-effective science and technology partnerships.

Last week, the governments of Canada and Saskatchewan announced they have signed an agreement to help protect temporary foreign workers from exploitation and abuse.