HomeAuthorVictor Ing, Author at Immigration Lawyer Vancouver, Canada | Sas & Ing Immigration Law Centre - Page 5 of 11

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.

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.

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.

The federal government has recently announced that starting February 22, 2021, new rules and regulations will affect international travellers coming to Canada. With few exceptions such as for travellers offering essential services, air and land travellers to Canada must now present both a negative COVID-19 test and a suitable post-arrival quarantine plan for their trip.

2020 was a year of change and uncertainty in Canadian immigration law. The COVID-19 pandemic touched all aspects of immigration processing and there were times when it felt like the rules were changing weekly.

Beginning on December 15, 2020, BC employers looking to hire foreign workers through the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) stream or caregivers through federal the Home Child Care Provider Pilot or Home Support Worker Pilot will need to register online with the provincial government to receive a “certificate of registration”. Although there is no charge to obtain a certificate of registration, BC employers will no longer be able to access these immigration programs to hire foreign workers if they have not obtained one.

As we reach the end of 2020, the effects of COVID-19 on Canadian immigration levels has become apparent: the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has not processed and approved as many permanent residency applications as it expected to in 2020. In many cases, existing permanent residency applications will not be finalized in 2020 because of COVID-19 related shutdowns slowing down IRCC’s standard processing speed and preventing applicants from meeting basic immigration requirements such as obtaining police clearance results or completing biometrics (fingerprinting) enrolment.