Monday, November 30, 2009

Federal, provincial and territorial governments speed up foreign credential recognition for newcomers to Canada

Under the new Pan-Canadian Framework for the Assessment and Recognition of Foreign Qualifications, foreign-trained workers who submit an application to be licensed or registered to work in certain fields will be advised within one year whether their qualifications will be recognized. The Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and Co-Chair of the Forum of Labour Market Ministers, and the Honourable Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, today endorsed a new framework to enhance foreign qualification recognition for internationally trained workers.

ThePan-Canadian Framework for the Assessment and Recognition of Foreign Qualifications is part of the Government of Canada’s strategy to have the best educated, most skilled and most flexible workforce in the world. Recognizing foreign credentials is part of the strategy, and foreign qualification recognition is the process of verifying that knowledge, skills, work experience and education obtained in another country are comparable to the standards established for Canadian professionals and tradespersons.
“Attracting and retaining the best international talent to address existing and future labour market challenges is critical to Canada’s long-term economic success,” said Minister Finley. “Ensuring that foreign credentials and qualifications are assessed and recognized in a timely manner will enable newcomers to maximize their talents.”

Minister Finley and Minister Kenney thanked the Forum of Labour Market Ministers, consisting of federal, provincial and territorial representatives, for its work on the Framework.

“This framework is another important step in paving the road to success for Ontario’s newcomers,” said the Honourable Michael Chan, Ontario Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. “This builds on the plan our government already has in place to help newcomers get licensed in their field and get jobs.”

The Framework follows the Government of Canada’s commitment in the 2008 Speech from the Throne to “work with the provinces to make the recognition of foreign credentials a priority, attract top international students to Canada and increase the uptake of immigrant settlement programs.”

The Framework states that governments across Canada will work towards better pre-arrival services, assessments that are fair, transparent, consistent and timely across Canada, and improved workforce participation services for newcomers. These services will help internationally trained workers put their training and knowledge to work sooner.

“A priority of this government has been to make our immigration system more competitive globally and more responsive to Canada’s needs,” said Minister Kenney. “This framework complements initiatives such as the Action Plan for Faster Immigration, as they make our immigration system better meet the needs of our labour market. We want newcomers to be able to use their skills and work to their full potential. It’s good for them and good for the Canadian economy.”

Minister Finley and Minister Kenney also met with community leaders in the Greater Toronto Area to discuss foreign credential recognition and its place in Canada’s economic recovery. In particular, the discussion highlighted the commitments made by the Government of Canada to improve the process for newcomers to get their education, skills and experience assessed and recognized.

The Economic Action Plancommitted $50 million to work with the provinces and territories to address barriers to credential recognition in Canada. This investment will do four things:

•Develop the principles of timeliness, transparency, fairness and predictability that the federal, provincial and territorial governments set out to guide the process;

•Develop standards for the timely handling of requests;

•Identify the priority occupations for developing recognition standards; and

•Help people who want to come to Canada start the assessment process before they arrive.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Government of Canada Tables 2010 Immigration Plan

Ottawa, October 30, 2009 — Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, tabled Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s 2009 Annual Report today in Parliament.

“While other countries have cut back immigration levels as a short-term response to the global economic downturn, our government is actually maintaining its immigration levels to meet the country’s medium- to long-term economic needs,” said Minister Kenney.

“Canada plans to welcome between 240,000 and 265,000 new permanent residents in 2010, the same number of immigrants as in recent years. In 2010, Canada will again welcome more new permanent residents than the average annual intake during the 1990s,” said Minister Kenney. “The focus of the 2010 plan is on economic immigration to support Canada’s economy during and beyond the current economic recovery.”

In particular, the admission ranges for immigrants nominated by the provinces and territories have been increased. Provinces and territories are in the best position to understand how Canada’s immigration intake can be aligned to their labour market needs. Second, by increasing the admission ranges in the Provincial Nominee Program, the Government of Canada is helping to ensure that the benefits of immigration are distributed across this country. Canada and the provinces will work together to manage growth in the provincial nominee program. Increasing the total number of immigrants processed under the economic category will also allow CIC to continue reducing the backlog of federal skilled worker applicants as part of the Action Plan for Faster Immigration.

Although the Action Plan has been in place for less than a year, early indications are that it is paying off. “People applying now under the federal skilled worker program can expect to receive a decision within six to twelve months, compared to up to six years under the old system,” said Minister Kenney. “We’ve also brought the backlog of federal skilled worker applicants down from over 630,000 to 425,000—a reduction of more than 30%.”

The backlog consists of people who applied before February 27, 2008, the date the Action Plan took effect. Since then, almost 240,000 people have applied to the new federal skilled worker program under the Action Plan. But even with those additional applicants, the total number of people currently awaiting a decision on their application is still 12% lower than when the Action Plan took effect.

“Before we changed the system, we had to process every application received. Since many more people applied every year than could be accepted, a backlog was created,” said Minister Kenney. “Now that we are processing only those applications that meet specified criteria, our Government is making significant progress in reducing the backlog.”

Improving the federal skilled worker program is part of the Government of Canada’s overall commitment to modernizing the immigration system to maximize its contribution to our overall economic growth.

“The Government of Canada will continue to work with provinces, territories and stakeholders to make sure immigration meets the needs of communities, employers and families now and in the future,” concluded the Minister.

Friday, October 2, 2009

Guidelines for Priority Processing – Response to Typhoon Ketsana affecting the Philippines

Permanent Residents

Effective immediately, priority processing will be applied to new and existing applications from Canadian citizens, permanent residents and protected persons who have close family members in the Philippines (specifically, spouses, common-law and conjugal partners, dependent children, parents, grandparents and orphaned family members) who identify themselves as being directly and significantly affected by the current situation and who notify CIC.

Visa offices are asked to pull the applications of affected persons to the front of the queue for review. Please note that it remains the applicant’s or sponsor’s responsibility to demonstrate that they are negatively affected by the situation.

New sponsorship applications
New sponsorship applications should have “Philippines” written on the mailing envelope. Such applications will be assigned a higher processing priority. Nevertheless, all sponsorship requirements must be met. Incomplete applications will be handled as usual.

The Case Processing Centre (CPC) will carefully consider self-identified requests from sponsors with relatives in the affected areas. It remains the sponsor’s and/or applicant’s responsibility to complete all the required steps (including being available for interviews, medical examination, etc.).

Existing applications in-Canada
Sponsors and in-Canada permanent residence applicants whose applications include persons residing in the Philippines and who have been directly and significantly affected by the situation must identify existing applications, by notifying the CIC Call Centre. They must provide information regarding their application as well as their relatives in the affected areas (including the HPM [Handling Public Money] receipt number).This information will be forwarded to the appropriate CPC or local office, which will retrieve the application and take appropriate action.

Upon notification that the file has been forwarded to the visa office, the onus is on the sponsor or in‑Canada applicant to inform the overseas relative(s) to contact the visa office.

The in-Canada confirmation of permanent residence appointments for protected persons and live-in caregivers “ready for landing” at the local offices will be facilitated in order to expedite visa issuance to dependants.

Temporary Residents
As to applications for temporary residence from affected applicants, the visa office will prioritize temporary resident applications from nationals of the Philippines who can demonstrate that they are negatively affected. It remains the responsibility of the applicant to demonstrate that they are negatively affected.

In-Canada – Temporary residents (extensions for visitors, work permits and study permits)
No priority processing is required as applicants have implied status until a decision is made and they are notified [R183(5)]. Where a client has identified a hardship due to the situation in the Philippines, the CPC in Vegreville will take this as an additional factor to be considered within existing guidelines. No special measures have been created due to the events in question.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Priority Processing – Response to the Situation in Iran

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has developed the following special procedures to respond in a flexible and humane manner to the operational situation in Tehran.

These instructions provide procedures for officers inland and overseas to assist Iranian nationals applying for temporary residence in Canada, particularly those with close family ties to Canadian citizens and permanent residents living in Canada.

Procedures
A) Overseas – New applications for temporary residence

Effective immediately, Damascus, Abu Dhabi, and Ankara are designated as processing offices to receive and process new applications for temporary residence from Iranian nationals still in Iran for the purposes of section 11 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations. Due to legal restrictions on the movement of Iranian passports across international borders, applicants applying to the three new missions may choose to submit their applications in person. Alternatively, they can submit their applications with the corresponding fee and a photocopy of their passport by mail or by courier, following the procedures of each mission pertaining to the submission of fees. When the visa office has made a determination on the application, they will notify the applicant of the decision. Those who have been approved will be asked to submit their original passport in person to the visa office where they applied.

Priority processing will be applied to applications for temporary residence from applicants with family emergencies or other compelling humanitarian and compassionate circumstances that would justify priority processing. The visa office will continue to identify, where possible, those cases in their temporary resident inventory to which these factors apply.

Should the operational situation in Iran change, the visa office will prioritize temporary resident applications from Iranian nationals who can demonstrate that they are negatively affected. It remains the applicant or sponsor’s responsibility to demonstrate that they are negatively affected.

B) Medical and security requirements

The safety and security of Canada remain CIC’s top priority. All immigration requirements, including security and medical criteria, must still be met.

Cases which require further investigation will be processed as usual. Visa officers must continue to follow established security screening protocols.

C) Enquiries to the Call Centre

In situations where general advice is being sought, for example where Canadian citizens or permanent residents are inquiring about how to advance the priority of a relative’s temporary resident visa application that is already in process, they should be advised to instruct their relative overseas to demonstrate to the visa office that they are negatively affected, if they have not already done so.

D) In-Canada – Temporary residents (extensions for visitors, work and study permits)

No priority processing is required as applicants have implied status until a decision is made and they are notified [R183(5)]. Where a client has identified a hardship due to the situation in Iran, the Case Processing Centre (CPC) in Vegreville will take this as an additional factor to be considered within existing guidelines. No special measures have been created due to the events in question.

E) Landings of protected persons (that include a person residing in Iran)
Existing applicants in Canada – CPC-Vegreville

If the applicant has already submitted an application for landing as a protected person to the CPC in Vegreville, and the application includes a person overseas who has been directly affected by the situation in Iran, these cases will be processed on a priority basis as well.

The onus is on the client (sponsor or protected person in Canada) to identify existing applications by notifying the Call Centre. They must provide information regarding their application and their relatives in Iran (including the HPM receipt number).This information will be forwarded to the appropriate CPC or inland local office, which will retrieve the application and take appropriate action.

Upon notification that the file has been forwarded to the visa office, the onus is on the sponsor or in-Canada applicant to inform the overseas relative(s) to contact the visa office.

F) Processing fees
There is no fee exemption unless already prescribed by the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and its Regulations.

Context of the Enhanced Driver’s Licence (EDL) and Enhanced Identification Card (EIC) Programs

As of June 1, 2009, a new Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative rule requires that all travellers to the United States (U.S.A.) present a passport or other secure document that is deemed acceptable by the U.S.Customs and Border Protection for entry by land and water into the U.S.A.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has worked closely with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to support interested provinces and territories in the development and implementation of the Enhanced Driver’s Licence (EDL) and/or the Enhanced Identification Card (EIC). These secure documents denote identity and Canadian citizenship for the purpose of cross-border travel into the U.S.A. at land and water ports of entry. They are an alternate document to the Canadian passport. For the purposes of this operational bulletin “EDL” will refer to both the EDL and the EIC.

The EDL is a voluntary program open to all Canadian citizens residing in a province or territory that has implemented an EDL program. As part of the application process, EDL applicants are required to provide proof of Canadian citizenship to the provincial EDL issuing authority as well as to complete a citizenship questionnaire.

The provinces of Quebec, Manitoba, Ontario and British Columbia have negotiated a Memorandum of Understanding with CIC and the CBSA prior to the implementation of their respective EDL programs. This initiative may have an impact on the operations of the Case Processing Centre in Sydney, Nova Scotia and the Call Centre, as it is possible that many cross-border travellers will seek confirmation of Canadian citizenship in order to apply for an EDL. It is also possible that provincial EDL issuing authorities will contact the local CIC office for information.

Who can apply for an EDL?

Provinces require that each applicant complete an EDL application and provide documentary evidence of Canadian citizenship and identity. For additional information on each province’s individual application requirements consult their website:

British Columbia: www.icbc.com/licensing

Manitoba: www.mpi.mb.ca/EIC/Guide/ApplicantGuide.html

Quebec: www.saaq.gouv.qc.ca/en/driver_licence

Ontario: www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/dandv/driver/index.shtml

Some provinces will also issue an EIC to persons who are not licensed to drive. Individuals will be allowed to hold either an EDL or an EIC, not both.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Resources better spent on UN-approved refugees: Kenney

By Laura Payton Published September 9, 2009

As part of its efforts to reform Canada's refugee system, the government wants to bring in more refugees designated by the UN High Commissioner on Refugees, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says.
This, he argues, would be a much more effective and efficient use of taxpayer dollars, benefitting people who are really facing persecution, instead of the thousands of "fake" applicants who apply within Canada each year.
In recent months, Mr. Kenney has spoken extensively about his desire to reform Canada's refugee system. He has made it clear that he wants to lower the number of applications made within Canada, which has created a backlog of more than 60,000 applications and costs the government millions of dollars in social assistance while claimants await their hearings.
"My concern is more broadly with how easy it is to abuse Canada's generosity and for non-refugees to immigrate to Canada through the back door of our asylum system using the long processing times and the...various levels of appeal, to string out a fake asylum claim to several years of residency in Canada and sometimes ultimately to gain permanent residency on humanitarian and compassionate grounds," Mr. Kenney said in an interview last week.
The minister says resources aren't properly spent the way the system works now, and that real refugees in desperate need of assistance are being allowed to languish in limbo as others take advantage of Canada's system. He wants to see that situation reversed.
"It's a question of a compassionate allocation of resources away from massive legal costs and social support for de facto immigrants who are gaming our system and abusing our generosity to additional resources for real victims of persecution abroad, most of whom are living in untenable situations in UN refugee camps," he said.
"It's ridiculous that Canada provides enormous benefits to fake refugee claimants, who are de facto immigrants, who have the effect of clogging up our asylum system and delaying processing times for real victims of persecution, and of wasting hundreds of millions of dollars of public resources on people who are making fraudulent asylum claims, while at the same time there are millions of people stuck in UN refugee camps who can't return to their home[s]."
Canada is accepting thousands of Bhutanese Hindu, Burmese Karen, Burmese Rohingya and Iraqi refugees, all of whom live in refugee camps, said Mr. Kenney.
The Conservative government, over the years, has made a point of highlighting the admittance of such groups into Canada whenever they have occurred, and Mr. Kenney said he would like to increase such intakes.
"Those who are opposing any kind of positive change or reform, those who are ideologically married to the status quo, don't have a leg to stand on. They're saying we should spend billions of dollars and gum up our asylum system [here] rather than using those resources to help resettle bona fide UN convention refugees to Canada. I don't think they could be more wrong on this issue," Mr. Kenney said.
But Janet Dench, executive director of the Canadian Council on refugees, says Canada has international human rights obligations to help refugees who apply inside the country.
"We hear very frequently about people casting the refugees 'over there' as being the good refugees, while those who are in Canada are portrayed as the bad refugees. We totally reject this division of the world's refugees," she said. "They're not different categories of people, they're refugees who are in need of our protection."
She is also skeptical that a government that saves money on its refugee claimant process will spend it on helping refugees living abroad.
"Many people say...if we spend less money in Canada we can do more for refugees overseas. That is a kind of trade-off that is often spoken about but rarely acted upon," said Ms. Dench.
lpayton@embassymag.ca

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Limited validity period for Labour Market Opinions

Background
Not all labour market opinions (LMOs) issued by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) have a date by which they must be used to apply for a work permit (WP). In order to ensure that LMOs represent an accurate assessment of current labour market conditions and to provide a sound basis for the evaluation of WP applications, HRSDC will no longer be issuing LMOs without expiry dates.
Current status
As of May 19, 2009 HRSDC has established a maximum period of six months during which an LMO may be used to apply for a WP. This six month period is defined by the LMO expiry date.
General guidelines
The LMO expiry date is the date by which a WP application must be received by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) or the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). If an application is received after the LMO expiry date, it is deemed to have expired and can no longer be used to support a WP application. These applications will be returned as incomplete.
Information now included in the LMO
The LMO expiry date is indicated in the Annex to the LMO under “Opinion Expiry Date”.
In FOSS, CAIPS and CPC systems, the LMO expiry date will be recorded in the “Offer Valid From and To” field and is for a maximum period of six months. The date indicated in the “Offer Valid To” field is the date by which the worker must use the LMO in order to apply for a WP.
Note: These instructions supersede Section 6 of FW 1. Specifically, the “Offer Valid To” date (LMO expiry date), will no longer be extended. Applicants initiating a WP application at a port of entry are required to have a valid LMO expiry date. CBSA will finalize applications that have already been initiated overseas even if the LMO expiry date has past: the missions will have ensured that the LMO expiry date was still valid at the time of the initial application receipt.
The LMO expiry date should not be confused with the LMO duration of employment or the WP expiry period (which may be longer in duration depending on the employment situation). The LMO expiry date determines if the LMO is valid at the time the WP application is submitted, whereas the work duration in the LMO is the timeframe of work that the employer has requested and to which HRSDC has agreed. The duration of the WP is still at the discretion of CIC /CBSA .
In the event that an expired LMO is received in support of a WP, it will be treated as an incomplete application and the application will be returned. In the case of expired LMOs, employers will be required to apply for a new LMO if they still wish to hire a temporary foreign worker (TFW). HRSDC is no longer granting LMO extensions, so a new LMO application will be required in every case.
Additional notes
In certain cases where an employer has specific timelines for a short employment opportunity, HRSDC/Service Canada may issue LMO confirmations that expire in less than 6 months.
The LMO expiry date does not affect the processing time needed by CIC after the LMO is submitted with a WP application. The WP may be issued after the LMO expiry date, as long as the application was received before the expiry date.
Additional details for overseas procedures
WP applications received with an expired LMO should be treated as incomplete applications and returned to the applicant.
Missions working with and without Visa Application Centers should develop a process that will allow them to identify TFW applications received with an expired LMO. If the application is intercepted before a file is created it can be returned as an incomplete application as per section 10 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations. TFW files created with an expired LMO will also be considered incomplete and will be returned to the applicant with a refund of fees paid. Old procedures outlined in RIM 07-010 will not apply in this case. HRSDC will no longer extend an expired LMO.
Exception
LMO expiry dates of six months will apply except in the processing of live-in caregiver applications in Quebec. In Quebec, applicants first apply for an LMO and then, upon receipt of the LMO and before applying for a WP, must apply for the certificat d’acceptation du Québec (CAQ). Due to the timelines associated with the CAQ, these LMOs will always be valid for 3 months following the issuance of the CAQ, regardless of the LMO expiry date. Service Canada will indicate in Canada Immigration Center notes (FOSS and CAIPS), that “the LMO is valid for three months after the CAQ is issued”. Officers can refer to the date the CAQ was issued to determine if the request for a WP was made within three months of that date.
Transition period
As of November 28, 2009, any LMOs issued before May 19, 2009 with an opinion expiry date of more than six months will be considered to have expired. Therefore, as of November 28, 2009, applications with an LMO containing an opinion expiry date of more than six months after the issuance will be returned as incomplete and the TFW may advise their employer to seek a new LMO. This change is posted on the HRSDC TFW program website. In addition, HRSDC will be posting a more explicit notice on the website homepage and sending advisories to industry groups, employer associations and other groups such as the Canadian Bar Association and the Canadian Association of Professional Immigration Consultants, to notify them of this change.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Immigration Fraud

Government of Canada to prevent immigration fraud through international cooperation
Ottawa, August 21, 2009 — A new international initiative puts Canada at the forefront of worldwide efforts to identify and combat immigration fraud, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney and Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan announced today.
Under this landmark initiative, Canada, the United Kingdom (U.K.) and Australia will be able to share the fingerprint information of asylum seekers and foreign nationals facing deportation, including dangerous criminals. This will improve our ability to identify foreign nationals who are seeking to enter Canada and who are trying to hide their past from authorities.
Under the partnership, Canada will be able to securely and confidentially check fingerprints with those stored in Australian and U.K. databases.
The initiative was developed under the Five Country Conference (FCC) – a forum for immigration and border security – between Canada, Australia, the U.K., the United States and New Zealand. The United States will be joining the initiative shortly, and New Zealand is considering legislation to join in the near future.
“Canada has had a long-standing collaborative relationship with the FCC countries and I am pleased that we are building on this partnership,” said Minister Kenney. “Through this initiative, we are tackling identity fraud and abuse of our immigration and refugee programs, while at the same time ensuring that Canada continues to welcome genuine refugees.”
“Along with our international partners, we are making a commitment to ensure the safety and security of our respective countries,” said Minister Van Loan. “This is one way that we are balancing Canada’s priority of economic prosperity while using innovative ways to enhance border security.”
Information sharing among FCC countries will allow Canada to:
Better identify fraudulent claimants, ensuring that we are more successful in confirming the identities of genuine refugee claimants;
Improve our ability to detect people who misrepresent themselves;
Protect public safety by removing those who are found to be inadmissible to Canada; and
Protect Canadians from violent foreign criminals.
The benefits of information sharing have already been demonstrated by partner countries in previous trials. In one case, an asylum claimant in the U.K. was found to have previously been fingerprinted on arrival in the United States while travelling on an Australian passport. Australia subsequently confirmed that the individual was an Australian citizen wanted on criminal charges. This resulted in his deportation to Australia, where he is now in jail.
Each country involved in this initiative has employed a number of safeguards to protect privacy and has completed a comprehensive privacy impact assessment. To view Canada’s privacy impact assessment summary, visit the Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) website at www.cic.gc.ca.
CIC is undertaking this initiative in partnership with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and with the assistance of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
CIC, the CBSA and the RCMP are also leading a five-year project to introduce biometrics into Canada’s temporary resident program. The project, announced in the 2008 budget, will cover visitors who require visas or work or study permits and is scheduled to be rolled out between 2011 and 2013. The Government of Canada is moving toward eventually using biometrics for all foreigners entering the country.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Northwest Territories Nominee Program

News Release
Government of Canada signs first-ever immigration agreement with Northwest Territories
Ottawa, August 5, 2009 — Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney today announced the signing of an agreement to help attract new immigrants to the Northwest Territories. Minister Kenney made the announcement with his territorial colleagues, Education, Culture and Employment Minister Jackson Lafferty and Industry, Tourism and Investment Minister Bob McLeod.
“I am very pleased to announce the very first nominee agreement with the Northwest Territories today,” Minister Kenney said. “This pilot initiative will better extend and strengthen the benefits of immigration for the Northwest Territories and allow it to bring in the immigrants it needs faster. Provincial nominee programs are an important part of our government’s focus on ensuring that our immigration system aligns with labour market needs.”
The Northwest Territories Nominee Program (NTNP) is operated by the Government of the Northwest Territories through an agreement with Citizenship and Immigration Canada. The program will help strengthen the Territories’ economy by attracting qualified individuals to fill critical labour shortages and promote business development.
“This program will allow us to encourage the migration of skilled workers to the Northwest Territories,” Minister Lafferty said. “Foreign workers can assist us in building a strong, balanced and diversified economy that will benefit all Northerners.”
Individuals nominated by the territorial government are eligible to have their application processed on a priority basis for permanent residency through Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC). Final authority rests solely with CIC to issue permanent residency.
Applicants can be nominated for permanent residency under one of four program categories:
Skilled Worker
Critical Impact Worker (Service and Hospitality Sector Occupations)
Entrepreneur Business
Self-Employed Business
The Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment is responsible for the Entrepreneur and Self-Employed Business categories of the program. “Entrepreneurship is important in developing the Northwest Territories’ economy. This program is a new way of bringing entrepreneurs into the Territory,” Minister McLeod said. “We will all benefit from the arrival of entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds and experiences.”Beginning today, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment will be delivering the NTNP at its service centres. This is a three-year pilot program.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

English Language Test

CELPIP–G test scores are approved and recognized by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) for use by individuals applying for immigration to Canada in the Federal Skilled Worker Class.
Vancouver, BC, July 22, 2009. Should there be any confusion about the acceptability of English language test results for immigration applicants in the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) Class, please be advised that CELPIP–G scores are approved and recognized by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) for this Class. The acceptability of CELPIP for the FSW Class is confirmed in section 10.7 of CIC’s own Operational Manual – OP6 – Federal Skilled Workers.
At the recent CSIC-CMI National Conference in Toronto on May 2, 2009 during the presentation on the Federal Skilled Worker Class, presenter Nigel Thomson, CCIC, FCMI, confirmed that “individuals applying for permanent residence in Canada under the Federal Skilled Workers Class may fulfill a requirement to undergo English-language testing by taking the CELPIP–G English language test. Individuals can qualify for up to 16 points on the Language Factor based on their CELPIP-G test scores.”
CELPIP–G (Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program–General) is one of only two English language proficiency tests approved by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) for applicants in the Federal Skilled Workers Class to prove their English language skills. Developed by the Department of Applied Research and Evaluation Services (ARES) at the University of British Columbia (UBC), CELPIP–G is a complete computer-based English language test used to assess individuals’ functional English in the four skill areas: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. ARES has been developing English language proficiency tests for over 20 years.
CELPIP-G is the only CIC-approved English language test that is fully Canadian.
The Toronto CELPIP-G test sitting now open for registration is August 29, 2009 at the Seneca@York campus. To register for this sitting, click here. The next CELPIP–G test sitting scheduled for Toronto will be in December of 2009.
For more information about the CELPIP–G exam and for instructions on how to register and purchase study guides, please refer to the CELPIP website: http://www.celpip.com/. See also the CIC website: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/language-testing.asp.
-30­Contact: Roseann Kinsey, Marketing and Communications Assistant, Applied Research and Evaluations Services (ARES), UBC—mailto:andrea@ares.ubc.ca, 1-604-822-9168.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Safe Tird Country

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) announced a change to the Canada–U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement. Effective July 23, 2009, individuals from countries under a temporary suspension of removals (TSR) coming through the Canada-U.S. land border to make a refugee claim in Canada will no longer be eligible to make a refugee claim in Canada and will be turned back to the United States unless they qualify for one of the remaining exceptions under the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement. To read CIC's July 23rd press release, click on the following link: Minister Kenney announces removal of exception relating to Safe Third Country Agreement

Thursday, July 23, 2009

MICC announces faster processing for certain students and workers

The Ministère de l’Immigration et des Communautés culturelles will give priority to the selection of those qualified workers who stand the best chance to integrate professionally in Québec
In order to accelerate the selection and arrival in Québec of workers whose professional profile corresponds to a job that is in demand, the Ministère de l’Immigration et des Communautés culturelles will give priority to certain applications for a Selection Certificate, as of October 14, 2009.
Applications that will be given priority are those submitted by qualified workers who have obtained a diploma in one of the fields in the 2009 List of Preferred Areas of Training during the five years preceding their application.
This measure will apply to all applications received and not yet processed on October 14, 2009 as well as those submitted on or after this date.
Applications submitted by candidates whose area of training is not included in the List will continue to be processed according to their order of submission.