News

14-04-2021 New pathway to permanent residency for over 90,000 essential temporary workers and international graduates:


Today, the Honourable Marco E. L. Mendicino, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, announced an innovative pathway to permanent residence for over 90,000 essential workers and international graduates who are actively contributing to Canada’s economy.

These special public policies will grant permanent status to temporary workers and international graduates who are already in Canada and who possess the skills and experience we need to fight the pandemic and accelerate our economic recovery.

The focus of this new pathway will be on temporary workers employed in our hospitals and long-term care homes and on the frontlines of other essential sectors, as well as international graduates who are driving the economy of tomorrow.

To be eligible, workers must have at least 1 year of Canadian work experience in a health-care profession or another pre-approved essential occupation. International graduates must have completed an eligible Canadian post-secondary program within the last 4 years, and no earlier than January 2017.

Effective May 6, 2021, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will begin accepting applications under the following 3 streams:

  • 20,000 applications for temporary workers in health care

  • 30,000 applications for temporary workers in other selected essential occupations

  • 40,000 applications for international students who graduated from a Canadian institution

The streams will remain open until November 5, 2021, or until they have reached their limit. Up to 90,000 new permanent residents will be admitted under these 3 streams.

To promote Canada’s official languages, 3 additional streams with no intake caps have also been launched for French-speaking or bilingual candidates. Communities across Canada benefit from French-speaking and bilingual newcomers, and this pathway will contribute to the vitality of these Francophone minority communities.

A detailed explanation of all eligibility requirements is available within the public policies.

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12-04-2021 IRCC no longer automatically extending deadlines for incomplete immigration applications:

As immigration services start to reopen around the world, Canada’s immigration department is scaling back a coronavirus measure that automatically extends deadlines for incomplete immigration applications.

However, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will still provide deadline extensions to people who cannot produce all the required documents for their application, as long as it is due to a COVID-19 disruption.

The change affects citizenship, permanent residence, and temporary residence applicants. Over the coming months, IRCC will contact these applicants and request supporting documents or a reasonable explanation of how a coronavirus-related disruption prevents them from submitting a complete application.

The updated measure is an IRCC effort to speed up decision-making on immigration applications. The department wrote in a media release that having its clients provide their documents will help minimize the impacts to future processing times for all applicants by reducing IRCC’s current workload.

IRCC also said that Visitor Visas and Confirmation of Permanent Residence holders are still not allowed to travel to Canada, unless they are otherwise exempt from travel restrictions.

If IRCC asks you to provide a document

IRCC will send an email or letter that will tell you want documents you need to provide. The immigration department advises affected individuals to get these documents as soon as possible.

“As it can take time to get this information, it’s important to start collecting the documents now, so you will be able to submit them on time when we ask for them,” the IRCC media release says.

This means biometrics appointments, for example, should be booked as soon as possible. You can check to see if a service near you is open by viewing the government webpage.

IRCC will send you another request in the coming weeks or months, and you will have 30 days from when you receive it to submit the supporting documents. Afterwards, an immigration officer will make a decision on your application.

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07-04-2021 Former prime minister wants Canada’s population to grow to 100 million:

Former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney has a message for Canadians, “we need more people— a lot more.”

Mulroney, who is remembered for tripling immigration over his term as prime minister, called for Canada to grow its population to 100 million by 2100. Last week, he spoke at a forum hosted by the Globe and Mail and Century Initiative, a think tank planning for Canada’s future prosperity.

The former prime minister floated ideas that were already in Century Initiative’s agenda, to accelerate Canada’s population growth. As it is, Canada’s birth rate is not enough to replenish the population on its own. Without immigration, this low birth rate coupled with an aging workforce would put financial pressure on the working-age population. The effects would be felt this decade as 9 million baby boomers reach retirement age.

To counteract these demographic challenges, Canada has turned to high levels of immigration. In 2019, immigration was responsible for more than 80 per cent of Canada’s population growth. This year Canada set out to welcome 1.2 million immigrants between 2021 and 2023. However, Century Initiative says more needs to be done.

“This business-as-usual approach to population growth will not create the economically vibrant, socially generous future Canadians want and expect,” the Century Initiative report says.

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