An internal government document, obtained under the Access to Information Act, shows that Ottawa has contemplated an amnesty program to grant legal status to at least 10,000 undocumented immigrants living and working in Canada’s vast underground economy. The program, known as ‘special measures,’ was proposed in 2001 but not included in the new Immigration and […]
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Q. I am a British citizen living in the UK and have a PR application in process. However my company have now offered me a position in Canada through the intra-company transferee scheme enabling me to get a work visa. What I’m unsure about though is, will this create any problems for my PR application […]
The post Minister’s Permit first appeared on CIC News.
Nearly all the immigrants who came to Canada in the 1990s settled in the country’s largest cities, a report says – a large jump over the number who settled in urban centres in the previous decade. About 1.8 million people settled in Canada’s 27 metropolitan areas in the 1990s, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. Toronto, Vancouver […]
The post News Briefs – Most Immigrants Settled in Cities in Past Decade first appeared on CIC News.
Karen Grose knows exactly what her downtown Toronto school will do with its share of the $65-million in additional funds announced by the provincial government yesterday to help improve reading and math skills for students from low-income and single-parent families. The former principal of Parkdale Public School said the elementary school will use the money […]
The post Struggling pupils to get boost from reading and math funds first appeared on CIC News.
Q. I wish to have my spouse come to Canada to visit me. I would like to apply for a Minister’s permit for her. How do I go about that? Answer: The Minister’s Permit does not exist since the implementation of the new laws and regulations in June of 2003. These provisions have been replaced […]
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Going into election day, many people anticipated a fierce two-way fight with the Conservative Party in this newly created riding, Mississauga-Brampton South. But as in other ridings across the 905 region, that did not happen. Once again, this vote-rich suburban area that sweeps around Toronto proved almost impenetrable to the Conservative Party, despite it being […]
The post News Briefs – Foreign-born influx affects election first appeared on CIC News.
While skilled immigrants face great difficulties finding jobs in the Greater Toronto Area, they play an important role in keeping the economy growing, according to a survey of attitudes toward immigration. The Environics survey, commissioned by the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council and to be released today, sought to discover what people living in the […]
The post Immigrants important to economy, survey finds first appeared on CIC News.
Q. I became unemployed soon after submitting my skilled worker application. How is this going to effect my PR application. Anybody with same situation? Answer: Your application is based on the qualifications that you possessed at the time of the submission of your application. Although unemployment would not necessarily have a negative impact on an […]
The post Effect of unemployment first appeared on CIC News.
The number of foreigners seeking refugee status in Canada dropped so sharply in early 2004 that the year-end total could prove to be the lowest in two decades, internal statistics show. During the first five months of the year, 9,956 people sought asylum inside Canada — a 35% drop from the 15,379 newcomers who filed […]
The post News Briefs – Decrease in refugee applications first appeared on CIC News.
Don Drummond, chief economist at Toronto-Dominion Bank, thought “it was the right thing to do” but he was unsure about the advantages when he agreed to give a four-month internship to a recent immigrant to Toronto who had a degree from a Chinese university. But he had no idea how impressed he would be by […]
The post Program helps skilled workers gain valuable experience first appeared on CIC News.
Q. My wife and I would like to emigrate to Canada as skilled workers. Can we live in Canada while the paperwork for residency is being processed? Answer: It is possible to reside in Canada while you are in the process of applying for permanent resident status. However, you would be required to obtain the […]
The post Applying for permanent resident status while residing in Canada first appeared on CIC News.
Hiring international medical graduates is a key to solving a doctor shortage in Ontario that has reached “unprecedented proportions,” a report by the College of Physicians and Surgeons says. Over the past five years, the college representing Ontario doctors has registered 800 international medical graduates, but there needs to be more, says the 19-page discussion […]
The post News Briefs – Hiring of foreign doctors recommended first appeared on CIC News.
Quebec Immigration Minister Michelle Courchesne announced Thursday an ambitious, three-year plan to slowly increase the number of immigrants to the province by 2007, to better prepare them for the job market and to encourage employers – especially in the regions, outside Montreal – to hire them. The $35-million strategy follows weeks of National Assembly hearings […]
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Q. I applied under the skilled worker group in 2000 when I had only one son. I have just been written to go for medicals but my family has increased by one. Do I include him for the medical or have to apply for him separately? Answer: In the case that an change to your […]
The post Adding a new family member first appeared on CIC News.
The Ontario government has launched a new bid to obtain hundreds of millions of dollars from the federal government to upgrade language and other services for immigrants in the province. It would take an additional $1.5-billion to bring federal payments to Ontario for immigrants’ services up to the level of funding that Ottawa provides to […]
The post News Briefs – Ontario Seeks More Cash to Help Newcomers first appeared on CIC News.
Immigrants represent an untapped “pot of gold,” the executive director of the Catholic Immigration Centre says. Carl Nicholson said yesterday “there’s a pot of gold waiting for us if we reorganize ourselves to take advantage of this.” And that gold will last well into the future, he added. “What we’re trying to do is to […]
The post Ottawa Improves Efforts to Recognize Foreign Credentials first appeared on CIC News.
Q. What is the typical duration between a selection interview and the issuance of visas? Answer: after an interview is completed (or an interview waiver has been granted), the process usually enters another phase in which the Canadian Government engages in security background verifications and checks. (Note: sometimes the security background verification phase begins even […]
The post Delays After Interview first appeared on CIC News.
Vancouver MP Hedy Fry led a roundtable discussion on the subject of Canada’s recognition of the career credentials of immigrants. “It is a tall order in a short time,” said Fry, who was given a mandate by Prime Minister Paul Martin in early December to report on the problem of assessing foreign credentials and helping […]
The post News Briefs – Prime Minister seeks to Improve Foreign Credential Accreditation first appeared on CIC News.
Refugee claimants in the U.S. will have limited time to seek asylum in Canada before a controversial agreement comes into effect requiring them to seek a safe haven in the first country they reach. The move could decrease the number of refugee claims in Canada by as much as one-third, and has already prompted anxiety […]
The post Safe Third Country Agreement to Limit Refugee Applications first appeared on CIC News.
Q. I intend to come to Canada as a visitor for several months. If I find a job during that time, can I change my status while in Canada? Answer: Specific provisions to ‘change’ status under such circumstances do not exist, but an applicant can apply for a work permit or for permanent resident status […]
The post Change Status within Canada? first appeared on CIC News.
The Minister of Immigration, Judy Srgo, have begun investigations into private language schools in order to enhance the foreign student program. Amidst complaints that many such private institutions do not offer an adequate education, the process of accrediting such colleges is being reviewed. The 11 immigration ministers will also discuss how ESL courses can assist […]
The post News Briefs – Language Schools being Investigated first appeared on CIC News.
A looming and “severe” labour shortage will put “significant strain” on Canada’s public and private pension system, according to a study by Watson Wyatt Canada. The consulting company predicts that over the coming decade, Canada’s pool of workers will grow more slowly than the population, then stagnate, before shrinking in the 2020s and eventually lead […]
The post Labour Shortage may Require Increase in Immigration first appeared on CIC News.
Q. If I submit my case now and the pass mark changes again, how will that affect my application? Answer: Although no changes to the Regulations or pass mark are presently under official discussion, this is always a possibility. In the last case in which this took place, we saw that the immigration department sought […]
The post Effect of Any Changes first appeared on CIC News.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM), an inter-governmental body with more than 100 member states, tries to address migration issues outside of the U.N. system and cooperates with the U.N. in the Geneva Migration Group. A single global agency should be created to deal with the wide range of issues surrounding the increasingly important migration […]
The post News Briefs – World Migration Organization Proposed first appeared on CIC News.
Stricter security measures brought in for the new year have left dozens of landed immigrants stranded overseas, barred from Canada-bound flights because they do not have permanent-resident cards. At least 36 people were turned away from flights to Canada since the new rules went into effect on Dec. 31, Citizenship and Immigration spokeswoman Maria Iadinardi […]
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