Citizenship and Immigration Canada Archives - Immigration Lawyer Vancouver, Canada | Sas & Ing Immigration Law Centre
 

HomeTagCitizenship and Immigration Canada Archives - Immigration Lawyer Vancouver, Canada | Sas & Ing Immigration Law Centre

Canada welcomes tens of thousands of workers every year to become permanent residents under it’s Economic immigration program. These programs focus on attracting the best and the brightest from around the world to bring their skills and experience to Canada. Often, many of these workers already have job offers in Canada in managerial, professional or technical positions. However, there is currently no federal pathway to permanent residence for low or semi-skilled workers other than the Caregiver class. Under Canada’s immigration program, low and semi-skilled workers do not qualify to apply for permanent residence under Canada’s Express Entry System, leaving it to Canada’s provinces and territories to attract and retain these overlooked but important workers.

I am frequently approached by people who say to me "I want to get my Canadian citizenship - what do I need to do?" To which I reply, "Well, you need to walk before you run". Which means, you firstly need to become a Permanent Resident of Canada, and then, after several years, you may apply to become a Canadian citizen if you meet all the criteria. Let's look at the difference between what Permanent Residency and Citizenship entails.

On March 8, 2016, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, the Honourable John McCallum, announced the overall immigration targets for 2016. Ordinarily, the Minister is required to provide his annual report to Parliament on or before November 1 of each year. Given that last year was an election year that resulted in a change of government, a levels plan was not presented to Parliament for 2015.

For many years it has been possible to submit immigration applications online as an alternative to the traditional method of submitting paper applications. Only recently, however, has Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) begun introducing applications that can only be submitted online. This online trend affects many programs, including CIC’s Express Entry System.

The remaining revisions to Canada's Citizenship laws came into force on June 11, 2015. Last year the government introduced Bill C-24, the Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act which introduced many changes to the citizenship application process. However, many of those were not implemented until just recently. Most significantly the eligibility period for citizenship has increased and residency requirements have been defined to a strict physical presence in Canada. Prospective citizens must also be resident in Canada for tax purposes and demonstrate that they meet their personal income tax obligations.

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