The Minister of Immigration announced that Canada had issued approximately 1,000 “Super Visas” per month since introducing the program in 2012. The Super Visa is a helpful and welcome tool for people who want to visit Canada for prolonged periods of time and who are waiting for approval of family...
New Federal Skilled Worker Program to Reopen
The following is a press release from CIC regarding the introduction of the new Federal Skilled Worker Program which should reopen in May, 2013.March 1, 2013 – With new criteria for the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) set to take effect in May, many prospective immigrants may already be preparing...
Canada Issues Record Number of Visas in 2012
The following is a press release from CIC concerning the government’s efforts to issue more visitor visas and streamline the visa issuance process globally. Full text of the article can be found at www.cic.gc.ca Ottawa, February 20, 2013 — Canada issued a record number of visitor visasin 2012 with almost 1...
Canada Opens New Federal Skilled Trades PR Program
The government moved to open its highly tauted “Federal Skilled Trades Program” last month. This program is geared toward occupations which are deemed to be in serious shortage supply in Canada. Applicants who have certain qualifying experience in 43 trade-based occupations are invited to apply. In the first year of...
Canada Announces New Entrepreneur Start-Up Visa
The Minister of Immigration announced recently that Canada will launch a new visa aimed at helping immigrant entrepreneuers comes to Canada to launch their businesses. This is the first visa of its kind ever introduced in the world. I applaud this government’s focus on business-based immigration. I am hopeful that...
USCIS Invites Stakeholders to Discuss “EIR” Entrepreneur Initiative
USCIS has announced that it will be holding a stakeholder meeting for persons interested in its “EIR” – Entrepreneurs in Residence initiative. USCIS has been attempting to improve immigration review services provided in business visa cases including the popular L1 and E2 visa categories. Officers are being better trained with...
Canada’s New Asylum System Being Implemented
The following is a press release from the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration which confirms that Canada’s new asylum (refugee) system will be implemented effective December 15, 2012. The Conservative government has been very active in its revision of immigration policy since taking office. The government has signalled for a...
Ontario Asks Ottawa for More Immigrants
The following article from The Globe and Mail highlights the fact that changing demographics in Ontario, among other provinces, require the admission of more foreign workers to Canada. Ottawa must either make it easier for business to acquire foreign workers through the Temporary Foreign Worker program, or it must allow...
BC Suspends Immigrant Investor Program
The following article from The Globe and Mail highlights the problems associated with British Columbia’s immigrant investor provincial nominee program. That province had been offering a fast-tracked permanent residence option for applicants who agreed to post a bond of $125,000. Succesful applicants were supposed to then enter the province and...
Canada To Maintain Immigration Levels for 2013
The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Jason Kenney, announced today that Canada intends to maintain existing levels of overall immigration for the year 2013. This is welcome news. Demographic trends in Canada continue to require high levels of immigration both to replace retiring baby boomers in the labour market, and...
