It may seem odd that in certain circumstances a grandson or granddaughter can sponsor a grandparent but a father or mother can’t sponsor their child. However, the immigration law surrounding sponsorship is not as straightforward as it seems, and more often than not, the reverse is true: it is harder to sponsor a grandparent than a daughter or son.
This past Friday, May 31, 2019, while speaking at the Canadian Bar Association’s National Annual Immigration Law Conference, Minister of Immigration and Refugees, Ahmed Hussen announced before the Immigration bar that R.117(9)(d) - collectively viewed by the majority of Canada’s immigration lawyers as the most odious and draconian piece of legislation in all of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) - would no longer apply to many Canadians sponsoring their spouses or dependent children.
The number of international students that have come to Canada to complete post-secondary education has increased significantly in recent years. Unfortunately, while many international students are successfully obtaining student visas to Canada, many of them are not successfully achieving their long-term goals of becoming Canadian permanent residents.
This past February 23, 2019, Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Ahmed Hussen announced the “Interim Pathway for Caregivers” program to provide a means to permanent residence for in home care-givers for children and the elderly who may not otherwise qualify due to changes to the program in 2014. Historically Canada’s caregiver programs have always provided a path to permanent residence and caregiver applicants were always assessed as potential immigrants when applying for their work permits.
One of the most important aspects of my work as a Vancouver immigration lawyer is to help clients plan an efficient pathway to achieve their immigration goals. While most of my Canadian immigration clients have a good understanding of which immigration programs they might be eligible to apply under, many clients do not have a good understanding of how their past criminal history can affect their eligibility to immigrate to Canada.
BC recently launched its new Regional Entrepreneur Pilot program to promote economic development in the province’s smaller communities. The program builds upon the BC PNP Entrepreneur Base program but features lower investment thresholds and partners with smaller communities with populations of less than 75,000 who are actively seeking investment in specific economic sectors.
On February 23, 2019, Canada’s Minister for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) Ahmed Hussen announced that he would be launching two new 5-year Caregiver immigration pilot programs along with a new interim program for permanent residence for caregivers currently in Canada. This is welcome news for both aspiring caregivers abroad as well as for those currently in Canada. Canada’s caregiver program can only be described as utterly confusing over the past five years. This announcement, while welcome, does not provide the much-needed clarity that our caregivers deserve. Let’s try and understand the significance of these announcements and what it means for caregivers currently in Canada.
At the same time as the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”) re-launches its popular Parents and Grandparents Sponsorship program, the fate of another popular program – the Inland Spousal Open Work Permit (“OWP”) pilot program for spouses and common-law partners living in Canada – remains in limbo merely days before it is set to expire on January 31, 2019.
If you are a business owner, odds are that one of the greatest challenges that you face is finding skilled and capable workers. Canada has experienced an ongoing shortage of workers in many sectors for over a decade and demographic projections indicate that this will continue for the foreseeable future.
Sas and Ing Immigration Law Centre LLP
A partnership between Catherine Sas Law Corporation and Victor Ing Law Corporation
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