On July 19, 2021 the Public Health Agency of Canada announced plans to fully reopen Canada’s borders to international travellers by September 7, 2021. This inspiring news reflects the fact that more than 75% of our adult population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and over 50% are fully vaccinated.
One of the challenges that prospective immigrants to Canada face is to secure employment in Canada prior to applying for permanent residence. In the Express Entry (EE) program’s Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) scoring criteria, after education and language proficiency, the factor that garners the most point is Canadian work experience. How does one qualify for a job in Canada from abroad? It is indeed challenging for prospective workers abroad to obtain a work permit in Canada without first being offered a position by a Canadian employer.
Starting July 5, 2021, fully vaccinated travellers will be exempt from the requirement to quarantine upon arrival to Canada. This exciting news, which was announced on June 21, 2021, represents the first phase of a gradual plan to lift border restrictions currently applicable to international travellers. As vaccination rates in Canada continue to rise over the summer, we can expect that further announcements will be made to facilitate international travel and to re-open immigration streams that have been suspended over the past year.
BlogCanada Supports Immigration from Hong Kong! Ottawa Announces Two New Permanent Residency Pathways
8 June 2021
Today, the Honourable Marco E.L Mendicino, Minister of Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”) announced two new pathways that offer Canadian permanent residence for Hong Kong residents who are currently in Canada. Canada and Hong Kong share a long historic relationship and Canada has continuously shown a commitment to support the citizens of Hong Kong. In June 2020, China imposed controversial National Security Laws in Hong Kong which threatens the security, liberty and privacy of Hong Kong nationals.
BlogCanada’s immigration program still welcomes international students in the midst of the pandemic
26 May 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has created many unique immigration challenges over the past 14 months. From processing delays to travel restrictions, immigration norms have been completely upended. One thing that has remained constant throughout the pandemic, however, is that interest in immigrating to Canada remains strong. With so much uncertainty around the future of Canada’s immigration programs, many clients are turning to reliable immigration pathways like Canada’s international student program to achieve their immigration goals.
This year 2021 has already been a busy year in the immigration world. A couple of months back, we predicted that significant changes were likely coming to Canada’s immigration programs to address the challenges created by the global pandemic and to reach the high immigration targets set by the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
BlogChanging Your Mind: Why some international students should withdraw their recent applications from the TR to PR Pathway.
11 May 2021
On April 14, 2021, Minister Mendicino introduced the Temporary Resident to Permanent Resident Pathway (“TR to PR”) class providing a marvelous opportunity for health care workers, designated essential workers and international students currently within Canada to apply for permanent residence. The threshold for success is much lower than the requirements under Express Entry and a total of 90,000 applicants were tagged for this new program with maximum targets of 20,000 for health care workers, 30,000 for essential workers and 40,000 for international students.
BlogMinister Announces New Pathway to Canadian Permanent Residence for Temporary Workers and International Graduates
22 April 2021
On April 16, 2021, Canada’s Immigration Minister, The Honorable Marco Mendicino announced new, progressive pathways to Canadian Permanent Residence status for up to 90,000 temporary workers in health care, and in essential occupations as well as international graduates who are currently in Canada. The new policies extend to temporary foreign workers in 40 health-care-related occupations, such as nurses, social workers, and doctors, as well as workers in 95 other occupations, which include a variety of essential occupations ranging from cashiers to caregivers, and factory workers.
BlogThe red flags of job hunting in Canada
23 March 2021
Working in Canada has long been one of the most reliable pathways to qualify for Canadian permanent residency. Canada’s economic immigration programs favour candidates who have earned Canadian work experience, particularly those with coveted job offers from Canadian employers, because they have shown that they have skills and experience that are needed in Canada and can therefore successfully establish themselves and their family members.
A popular pathway for immigration to Canada for business people is the Owner/Operator (“O/O”) Labour Market Impact Assessment (“LMIA”) category. Business persons seeking to purchase or establish a business under the O/O program could apply to Service Canada for an LMIA which would entitle them to apply for a work permit of up to two years. At the introduction of Canada’s Express Entry (“EE”) immigration selection program in January of 2015, the O/O LMIA became a popular immigration strategy for many business persons as it would qualify as Arranged Employment and garner 600 points in the EE scoring process and often lead to permanent residence for the O/O LMIA work permit holder.
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