Last year the Canadian Immigration minister Jason Kenney stated that there would be certain changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. But, the discontinuation of Parliament session left no scope for the proposed changes to come forth as regulations. However, as the Parliament session is starting for this year, we can expect to get some updates on those changes.

However, if the proposed changes are to be enacted, that will have deep impact not only the foreign workers in Canada, but their families in their home countries and employers altogether. At present, the country has about 300,000 overseas workers, who have been an integral part of the Canadian economy. Reportedly, an estimated number of 10,000 foreign workers have contributed to the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Game to make it a success.

Below are a few changes that have been proposed in context of the Canadian Work Permit Holders:

According to the proposal, workers who have been working and living in Canada for the four years would not be allowed to work there for further six years.

Workers, who intend to stay in Canada for over four years, would require following the same procedure that one is required to follow to obtain permanent residence in the country.

These are only a few highlights of the proposed changes that could make the situation miserable for foreign workers, as well as their employers and families in the native countries. If these changes are to come into force, foreign workers on Canadian work permits, who have been a part of the reason as to why the Canadian economy is doing well at this time of economic uncertainty, will suffer a lot and many would lose their jobs!

Applying for jobs in Canada will now become easier! Canada has recently declared the commencing of new credential offices in India, along with other countries, including China, UK and Philippines.

Every year, lacs of immigrants move to Canada from all over the globe, with thousands of them coming from India. People regard it as one of the most applauded countries to craft one’s future and get some of the best jobs in accordance to one’s forte and skills.

Talking about the application process, a majority of overseas applicants with foreign degrees find it hard to get Canadian degrees, often leading them to get low paid jobs like cab drivers or cooks in Canadian provinces. In an attempt to ease out the pain of new applicants, the Canadian government has come out with announcement to open offices which would further accelerate the Credential Recognition Process for overseas applicants.

It is speculated that every year, almost $2 billion is lost for not utilizing the skills of new overseas applicants. Minister Jason Kenney confirmed that the “Canadian Immigration Integration Project” would be given $15 million to assist newcomers with their attestation process. He went on to say that the government wants overseas immigrants to use their skills in Canada and the fund would further boost the credential recognition process even further.

The move is good for the prospective applicants as well as the Canadian economy, according to the minister.

The Quebec Government has come out with a new Immigration program to enhance PR status for overseas trained employees.

Yolande James, Quebec Immigration Minister confirmed the news, stating that their technology market is one of the facets which suffer from the deficit of skilled workers which leaves them with no option but to bank on workers from overseas workers in Canada.

This move would allow their economy to retain overseas workers and overcome the shortage faced by their technology sector too. The conference was also arrayed with executives from the technology sector including executives from Montreal International, which are involved in fulfilling the demands of skilled workers in the market.

Bernard de Jaham from Montreal International affirmed that the program would assist Quebec in fulfilling the shortage of skilled workers faced by its technology market. This way they don’t have to take assistance from the Canadian immigrants. He confirmed that the program would make it easy for the immigrants to get a certificate of selection, which is one of the most important facets to get a Permanent Residence.

The program is also draped with a marketing facet, which is clear from their tag line: MONTREAL: FOR YOUR CAREER AND FOR YOUR LIFE! In order to fulfill the eligibility criteria, immigrants need to have a work experience of a minimum of twelve months in Quebec, along with having proficiency in the French language. The speech was made at Montreal’s Science Centre.

Tim Uppal and Minister Kenney, the Canadian politicians confirmed that the approval rate for Indian students immigrating to Canada has almost doubled in its percentage in the recent times. Courtesy the Student Partners program, the quantity has seen a huge hike in the number of Indian students studying in the Canadian institutions.

The program was launched in April 2009 and holds an association with a joint venture between twenty member colleges of the Association of Canadian Community Colleges and Canadian Visa officials in India. The main motto of the project was to enhance the acceptance rate for Indian students intending to enroll themselves in Canadian colleges.

Minister Kenney confirmed that the foreign students are decked with new and fresh ideas, along with experience that would contribute to the Canadian economy and the institutions where they would study. He said that these types of Visa programs act in the mutual benefits of both the countries as well as for those participate in them. Later the graduates may make Canada their home after applying under the Canada Experience Class.

As far as the source countries for students to Canada are concerned, India ranked seventh in the year 2008. The quantity of students has almost doubled since the year 1998, with a majority of them contributing in a major way to the Canadian economy.

The success of the program can be depicted from the stats that the first nine months of the commencement of the program saw more than 4,000 applications from Indian students by the CIC’s officers.

The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada is a legal (informal) body that takes decisions on cases linked with immigration related issues. The body consists of four major divisions. They are:

• Refugee Protection Division
• Immigration Division
• Immigration Appeal Division and
• Refugee Appeal Division.

We shall discuss the working of Immigration Appeal Division in this blog. Canada’s Immigration regulations offer various review mechanisms that allows the applicants to make appeal on immigration matters. It would be a wise decision to hire a lawyer or consult an Immigration expert before representing your case at “Immigration Appeal Division.” The IAD has the power to reconsider the original case after determining whether the decision performed in the favour of the applicant was wrong or right.

There is no judge in this informal court but a person takes all the decisions, taking aid from informal rules. The most common cases that are addressed in “Immigration Appeal Division” are those of rejected application for a PR, sponsorship of spouse or relatives, applications with criminal background, to name a few.

For instance, if the sponsor has applied for sponsoring a relative (applicant), but there case receives a denial, then the applicant has 30 days to file the appeal, after which the appeal cannot continue in the IAD.

Taking the example of criminal cases, the IAD accesses as to how much serious the crime was, what is the background of the applicant, and other related facets. Similarly in the case of sponsorship cases, IAD takes into consideration certain aspects like the hardship that would be faced by the sponsor after the separation, how much burden can the immigrant may leave on the Canadian economy and so on.

At the IAD hearing, the applicant may be required to prove evidences, documentation, and witnesses in support of his case. If not satisfied with the IAD decision, the applicant has the right to appeal further.

As per the report by the immigration minister Jason Kenney, Canada is going to accept fewer refugees and family class immigrants in 2010. Instead, the country expects to focus the 2010 immigration levels plan on economic immigration, thereby helping the country to recover from the recession.

Jason Kenney’s annual report presented in parliament in late 2009 makes it clear that the immigration department has reduced the immigration levels for refugees by 3,000 and family class immigrants, including spouses, children, parents, grandparents and relatives by 8,000. However, the department sets the total immigration targets for 2010 same as the recent years at between 240,000 to 265,000.

This time the government is aiming to accept more of immigrants under the economy class, including future entrepreneurs, skilled workers and live-in caregivers. It is hoping to welcome a total of 166,800 under the economy class in 2010, who would play an important role in Canadian economy.

The Immigration department’s stance on the refugee immigration levels issue made critics raise their voices! Some went on to say that the image of Canada would be affected by this decision. Kenney’s report says that, the country will accept somewhere between 9,000 to 12,000 immigrants, including dependents in 2010, from people applying for refugees after arriving in the country. The number strikes a dramatic reduction of refugee immigrants from 2006, when the country’s former Liberal government allowed 22,500 to 28,800. Similarly, the maximum target for family class immigrants for 2010 is 63,000, a significant drop from 71,000 in 2009!

It seems that immigrants as well as temporary migrants play an important role in Canada’s demographic pattern, besides their contribution to the Canadian economy. According to the reports from Statistics Canada, in the third quarter of 2009, the country’s population increased by 133,500, largely contributed by foreign migrants.

The aforesaid gain was the strongest demographic growth in the third quarter since 1990. From July to October, Canada welcomed a total number of 90,500 international migrants, which accounted for more than two third of the population growth. In the third quarter of 2008, overseas migrants totaled 90,000.

Amongst all the states in Canada, stronger demographic growth was recorded in Western provinces. However, this does not mean that other states did not welcome immigrants. Almost every province and territory in Canada saw demographic growth, barring the Northwest Territories.

To be very precise, British Columbia’s population grew by over 0.56% in the third quarter of 2009. During the same period, the province also recorded the largest inter-provincial migration gain since the third quarter of 2007. Similarly, Alberta’s population increased by 0.44%. Some other provinces that saw significant population growth in the third quarter of 2009 include Saskatchewan (0.47%) and Manitoba (0.35%).

Ontario also saw an increase of 0.38% in the third quarter, however the province’s inter-provincial migration declined to a record level since 2002. Quebec’s population also increased by 0.36%, mainly due to the flow of international migrants! This was highest population growth rate for Quebec since 1988!

The Canadian government is very particular against the exploitation of its foreign workers. The government is now especially being vigilant on the employers hiring these foreign workers. Since the Canadian government considers its immigrants as an asset, it is being looked into that they are being treated fairly. With this, strict action would be taken against companies who are unfair with the immigrants.

This ruling has been issued in the interest of the temporary foreign workers since they are one of the most important contributors to the Canadian economy. The Canadian government feels that it is its duty to protect its new resident in return to their major contributions to its country.

However, some changes have been proposed to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. The changes involve stringency in the assessment regarding the credibility of the job being offered to the immigrant. On the other hand, it is also now catering to an immigrant’s residence in Canada.

In addition, a probation period for the duration of two years is also under consideration for all those employers hiring foreign professionals. This is especially for all those employers who have been found to be treating foreign nationals unfairly. Many organizations have been found to be paying low wages and poor working conditions to the immigrants compared to the market worth for the same job.

All in all, a temporary foreign worker would not be eligible to work in Canada for more than four years. This is because this program is meant to cater to the short term labor fulfillment.

With stricter restrictions in place, it can be assured that Canada is one of the best places to immigrate in times of day. So, contact an Immigration and Visa expert to know more on the same.        

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It is always better to apply and qualify under a Provincial Nominee program as it can be considered as being more advantageous compared to the other visa programs. There are many reasons for the same.

Firstly, it leads to faster processing of your application. This could lead to faster grant of a Permanent Resident status. With a faster approval, it would mean no more standing in queues or checking your status online or waiting endlessly for that matter.

Secondly, the programs under the Provincial Nominee system tend to differ for each state. There are many applicants who end up not qualifying under the Federal Skilled Worker program. The Provincial Nominee program is a fresh breather for such candidates. The criteria are different for each and every province which makes it very flexible for the candidate to apply. These provincial programs do not have criteria with respect to the Point Based System. Their skills could be sufficient enough to contribute to the Canadian economy.

When compared to the Federal program, the eligibility criteria on the Points Based System are very stringent. The criteria include age, educational qualifications, work experience and language skills and so on.

With the above two key points, an applicant stands a better chance in terms of immigration. This way, it would be easier for you select your options for residence accordingly.

For instance, some provinces are very employer friendly. In such a case, if an employer finds someone who he thinks would be efficient in contributing to the Canadian economy, province would generally abide by the employer. However, the employer has to show proof of his good faith and that he is bona fide.

If you are planning to immigrate to Canada, this program is more than worth to given a thought to. With this, consult a Canadian visa expert who is always updated in this regard.

Immigration and Refugee Protection Act replaced the already existing Immigration Act of 1976 of Canada and came into force on June 28, 2002.

The act was passed on November 1, 2001. IRPA elaborates on the goals and deadlines of the Canadian government for Immigration rules set for the International migrants. The Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR) has all the laws that specifies as to how IRPA should be applied.

Objectives with respect to Immigration:

• To permit Canada to aspire the maximum benefits of Immigration.
• Strengthen the Canadian society
• Respect the federal, bilingual and multicultural facets of the country
• Assist the minority official languages communities
• Strengthen the Canadian economy and see to it that the benefits of Immigration are distributed all over
• Ensure that Families are reunited in Canada and see that Permanent residents are well settled in Canada
• Facilitate the entry of new migrants and provide health and safety measures to everyone
• Denying entry of applicants having criminal records

If you are one of those who are planning to Immigrate to Canada, it is advised to hire the services of an Immigration expert and brighten your chances of a better future.