Farmers wanting to immigrate to Canada can do so under Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s (CIC) Business Immigration Program under the Self-Employed category. This category is open only to individuals with prior self-employed experience as farmers, athletes (at an international level), or artisans. To qualify under the Self-Employed category, an applicant must demonstrate an intention and […]

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Toronto Pride Week’s theme “fearless in 2006”, serves as a reminder to some Canadian refugees that in many parts of the world, being gay means the difference between life and death. Canada inarguably has one of the world’s most progressive positions on civil liberties and it, along with a handful of other nations (Belgium, the […]

The post In some parts of the world it’s still dangerous to come out of the closet first appeared on CIC News.

New fairness commissioner would make regulatory bodies accountable for how they treat immigrants New legislation would have Ontario’s 34 regulated professions face scrutiny by a new ‘fairness commissioner’, ensuring their admission procedures are clear, open and fair to all. Edmonton wants federal government to streamline immigration A survey by Manpower Inc. found that Edmonton’s net […]

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Former Immigration and Refugee Board appeals division judge Yves Bourbonnais pleaded guilty yesterday to multiple counts of obstruction of justice stemming from his leading role in a bribery scheme that targeted cases he was scheduled to hear. He was sentenced to six years in prison. Read Full Blog on CanadaVisa.com…

The post David Cohen’s Blog: Corrupt Canadian Immigration Judge Jailed – The Bigger Story first appeared on CIC News.

In a recent speech, Prime Minister Stephen Harper defended the need to keep Canadian borders open against calls that immigration was breeding terrorism in Canada. As if we have a choice. Read Full Blog on CanadaVisa.com…

The post David Cohen’s Blog: Missing the Point first appeared on CIC News.

Apparently “respect your elders” is a proverb that officials at Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) have never heard. While Canadian citizens and permanent residents have little problem gaining status for their spouses and children, there is an increasing backlog of parents and grandparents hoping to reunite with their family members. A 2005 promise by the […]

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Canada welcomes more immigrants per capita than any other immigrant-receiving nation in the world. Last year, Canada received over 260,000 newcomers and newly-appointed Immigration Minister Monte Solberg has expressed his desire to “see the numbers stay about where they are right now”. Demographically, Canada is being re-shaped by immigration. Assuming no changes occur to the […]

The post Canada – a nation of immigrants first appeared on CIC News.

Oilsands production is expected to bounce from 45% to 80% of production capacity by 2020. The province of Alberta’s unemployment rate is at a near record low and the demand for manpower far exceeds the available supply of skilled workers in many sectors of the economy. The country’s production of crude will nearly double over […]

The post Canada’s oil industry, lacking critical manpower, projected to grow nearly two-fold by 2020 first appeared on CIC News.

Ontario’s Immigration minister Mike Colle says the “career bridging” program will benefit more than 3,000 newly-landed Canadian immigrants. The money is set to be invested into 24 “bridge training” programs that will directly help thousands of foreign-skilled professionals in regulated and unregulated professions over the course of three years. “These programs are the most pragmatic […]

The post Ontario will invest $14 million into programs that will help foreign-trained professionals first appeared on CIC News.

In the first 100 days of the Harper government, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has been busy strategically charming Canada’s massive immigrant population.Traditionally, the Conservative party was never all that appealing to Canadian immigrants. Although the party was once thought to harbor a tough line on immigration, it is working diligently to transform its image […]

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The Province wants to attract more immigrants by allowing economic immigrants to establish businesses in all sectors of the provincial economy. Effective May 18, 2006 immigrants will no longer be limited to certain economic sectors such as agriculture, and energy. The province will invest an additional C$4.6 million from their previous 2004/2005 budget to persuade […]

The post Saskatchewan to invest C$6.3 million on comprehensive immigration strategy first appeared on CIC News.

Effective as of May 1st, 2006 the 90-day retake policy regarding candidates who must redo their IELTS was amended. The restriction on re-taking IELTS within 90 days will be removed and candidates will be able to repeat the test whenever they wish. All candidates from 1 May will be able to repeat at the next […]

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Government plans to make it easier for Canadian parents to adopt foreign-born children Monday, May 15, 2006 – the Honourable Monte Solberg, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, introduced a new bill in the House of Commons to reform the Citizenship Act. The plan is intended to streamline the foreign adoption process by amending bureaucratic hurdles […]

The post What’s New first appeared on CIC News.

The Liberal Party leadership race has been a pretty uninspired affair so far. No candidate has yet to position himself/herself as the favorite, and the leading candidates haven’t distinguished themselves anymore than as “that guy who taught at Harvard”. Read Full Blog on CanadaVisa.com…

The post David Cohen’s Blog: That Guy with the Immigration Platform first appeared on CIC News.

Last week I was interviewed by a reporter from the CBC, Canada’s national television network, for a story they were doing about the sad situation of Laila Elumbra. Television being what it is, most of the interview ended up on the cutting-room floor by the time it reached television screens. I feel strongly about the […]

The post David Cohen’s Blog: Yes, But What Have You Done For Us Lately? first appeared on CIC News.

Do you want to feel ridiculous? Go try and tell someone who is enjoying a meal that they aren’t eating like a Canadian. Now try telling that to a seven-year old boy. That’s exactly what happened to Luc Cagadoc, a grade two student in Montreal who dared to eat his lunch at school in the […]

The post David Cohen’s Blog: As Canadian as…A Knife and Fork? first appeared on CIC News.

Saskatchewan has launched a test program which provides a facilitated means for Ukrainian skilled workers to obtain work permits through the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). The newly-developed immigration model uses a “virtual selection system” wherein prospective Canadian employers, the province of Saskatchewan, and reliable source-country educational institutions, facilitate the processing of work permits for Ukrainian […]

The post New pilot project may pave the way to the future of Canadian Immigration first appeared on CIC News.

A recent global study conducted by brand expert and developer of the “National Brand Index” Simon Anholt claims that “the image of Canada [internationally] is almost spookily positive”. Anholt, who is a British citizen, has developed a global rating system which tallies the image of thirty-five countries based on surveys of nearly 26,000 respondents across […]

The post Canada ranked third most desirable place on the planet according to U.K. based National Brand Index. first appeared on CIC News.

As the American Senate debates new immigration policy, gays of America are complaining about the systemic discrimination disuniting bi-national same-sex couples. A U.S. Census report concludes that there are at least 35,800 same-sex bi-national couples in the United States. However, the U.S. government refuses to acknowledge same-sex partners in its definition of “family.” Moreover, the […]

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The Honourable Monte Solberg, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, has announced that effective April 27, 2006, foreign students enrolled in public post-secondary institutions can apply for off-campus work permits. The work permit is valid for the duration of their study permit. “Foreign students make a significant contribution to Canada,” says Solberg. “They enrich campus and […]

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Statistics Canada (StatsCan) conducts a national census poll every five years. In the last census conducted in 2001, there were 30,007,094 people living in Canada, about 1.2 million more than there were in 1996. However, the Canadian birth rate remains anemic and the growth of the population hinges on immigration, says StatsCan. “I can’t give […]

The post Canada’s growth will depend solely on immigration by 2017 first appeared on CIC News.

A Gallup poll was commissioned recently by The Association for Canadian Studies (ACS) regarding Canada ‘s attitude towards immigration. The census reveals Canadians as “more open” to the idea of immigration than many other immigrant-receiving nations. The census data also shed light on international perspectives regarding immigration. Where Canadians feel that immigration is a positive […]

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Potential European immigrants will be given access to Canada through British Columbia ‘s (BC) Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). The initiative will expedite work permit processing as well as Permanent Resident applications. B.C is currently undergoing a labour shortage that is affecting its booming construction industry. This month Vancouver ‘s Regional Construction Association (VRCA) president, Keith […]

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Ontario has officially launched two new immigration-centric websites. The online resources facilitate both settlement and career services, respectively. Ontarioimmigration.ca welcomes Canadian Newcomers to Ontario and provides them with comprehensive settlement information. The new online service is intended to help ease the transition for over 120,000 newly-landed immigrants that settle in Canada ‘s most populous province […]

The post The Government of Ontario launches new online immigration services. first appeared on CIC News.

In his first public address as Immigration Minister, Monte Solberg announced that a federal agency will be developed to respond to the needs of Canada ‘s skilled immigrants. He also re-iterated his government’s plan to reduce the immigrant landing fee by half. Speaking at the Public Policy Forum Convention held In Toronto recently, Solberg did […]

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