Canadian Immigration News

Canada's Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, has appointed Somali-born Member of Parliament Ahmed Hussen to the position of Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship. Hussen replaces John McCallum, who is set to become Canada's ambassador to China. The move is one of many in a cabinet reshuffle that will see a number of ministers move department or leave cabinet altogether.

On January 9, 2017, Quebec’s Immigration Minister Kathleen Weil announced that, as of January 26, Quebec will stop receiving new requests for groups to privately sponsor refugees. While the province stated that this pause is temporary, no date has been announced for when the private refugee sponsorship program may resume receiving applications.

There was a flurry of activity in the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP) over the final days of 2016, with two draws for its Skilled Worker immigration stream taking place on December 21 and December 30. In total, 316 Letters of Advice to Apply (LAAs) were issued to eligible candidates who had previously made a formal 'Expression of Interest' in immigrating to the province. These individuals may now submit an application for a provincial nomination certificate. With this certificate, the individual, as well as his or her accompanying family members, may then apply for Canadian permanent residence.

The International Skilled Worker – Express Entry sub-category of the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP) re-opened for 500 new applications on January 4, 2017. Through this sub-category, eligible individuals who are already in Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada's (IRCC) Express Entry pool may apply for a provincial nomination certificate from Saskatchewan. A provincial nomination certificate through this sub-category gives the candidate 600 additional points under the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS), and that candidate will then be in line for selection at a subsequent draw from the pool.

On January 4, 2017, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) issued 2,902 Invitations to Apply (ITAs) for permanent immigration to Canada. This is the largest ever draw since the Express Entry system was launched in January, 2015.

The International Skilled Worker - Occupations In-Demand sub-category of the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP) reopened for 500 new applications on January 4, 2017. This SINP sub-category allows skilled workers with experience in an in-demand occupation to make an application for a provincial nomination certificate, which is then followed by an application for Canadian permanent residence. Interestingly, applicants do not require a job offer in order to make an application.

San Marino has become the latest country to sign a bilateral agreement with Canada that allows its citizens to live and work in Canada under the popular International Experience Canada (IEC) program. Citizens between the ages of 18 and 35 from the tiny country, which is entirely surrounded by Italy and has a population of just 33,000, may now participate under the Working Holiday IEC category.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has issued 2,878 Invitations to Apply (ITAs) for Canadian permanent residence to candidates with 475 Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points in an Express Entry draw that took place on December 22, 2016. This draw — the largest ever since Express Entry came into operation nearly two years ago — came as a surprise to many candidates, coming just six days after the previous draw. Over recent months, IRCC had stated that more regular draws could be expected, that the number of ITAs would increase, and that there would be a corresponding decrease in the CRS cut-off point. On all three fronts, IRCC has been as good as its word.

Further in-depth analysis of the December 22 Express Entry draw is available on CICNews.com.

British Columbia (BC) conducted two separate draws on December 21, inviting a range of workers, international graduates, and entrepreneurs to immigrate to the province through the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP). The majority of the 276 individual candidates who were invited were candidates who had already created a profile in the Skills Immigration Registration System (SIRS), a mechanism unique to the BC PNP that allows the province to rank and select potential newcomers across a range of sub-categories.

The latest Express Entry draw for immigration to Canada has resulted in 1,936 candidates in the pool with a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 497 being issued an Invitation to Apply (ITA). Unlike the previous draw, which took place on November 30 and only issued ITAs to candidates with a provincial nomination, the December 16 draw was not program specific; all candidates in the pool with at least 497 CRS points received an ITA, regardless of the program they were eligible under or whether or not they had a provincial nomination certificate.