Canada Immigration Visas

The Canadian government has released a timetable of meetings to be held between Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) and state officials in various Canadian provinces. The meetings will be aimed at discussing which occupations will be considered worthy of allowing migrants into Canada under the new fast-track immigration system and which would not.

Following the changes made to the Immigration and Refugee Act on 18 June, the government now has the right to process the applications of certain migration hopefuls over others based on their occupation.

If an application is lodged by someone who possesses much-needed skills, they could be granted the right to live and work in Canada in as little as six to twelve months. Recently, applications have taken as long as six years to be processed due to a crippling backlog.

According to the CIC website, the government aims to achieve three goals during the meetings with provincial representatives, they are: to Improve Canada’s competitiveness and more closely align the skills of newcomers with Canada’s labour shortages; to ensure that immigration targets are met and to ensure the backlog does not grow; and that people who apply for Canadian migration receive a decision quickly.

The CIC has also mentioned that three main discussion themes will form the basis of the consultations:

1. The role of the immigration program in addressing specific labour market needs
2. Occupational pressures in each participants’ workplace, industry, sector and region
3. Federal skilled worker applications filed on or after February 27, 2008: prioritization of those applications meeting labour market needs, return of others.

Canadian migration expert Eric Katz commented: “It is clear that Canada is going the way of Labour Market immigration. In other words, demand for certain types of immigrants with specific skills will dictate who gets in or more specifically who gets in quickly (i.e. in 6 - 12 months).

I honestly believe that this occupations that are currently under pressure on a Province by Province basis will be getting their cases fast-tracked to between 6 and 12 months. If you look at the Regional Occupational lists of jobs under pressure or some of the Provincial Nominee Programs, you will be able to read between the lines to see where the Feds are going with this.

Since the last National Roundtable of consultations is August 15th, it is likely that the actual job list will come into effect sometime in September”.

Follow the links to view the Regional Occupations Under Pressure Lists for:
Alberta
British Columbia
Ontario

The Canadian government has stated its intention to attract British workers to its shores by offering them fast-tracked immigration visa applications which will exploit the rising cost of living in the UK.

Canada expects that large numbers of Britons will be lured in by the scheme, with increasing unrest as a result of soaring food and fuel prices in Great Britain, as well as the diminishing quality its hospitals and the state school system.

Hector Goudreau has been sent to Britain to target such individuals in an audacious and aggressive recruitment raid. He will be targeting doctors, nurses, teachers, electricians, construction workers, engineers, carpenters and joiners, management consultants and cardiac and diabetes experts, all of whom will be eligible for fast-track immigration applications.

Mr. Goudreau commented: “Somebody from London might be able to sell their small flat and come to Alberta where they can buy a detached house with a huge back yard and huge front yard for the same amount.

‘The cost of living is considerably less than in the UK. Our salaries are comparable or even higher, so anyone who moves over would be able to make money and set some aside.”

He then went on to speak exclusively about the province of Alberta, stating: “We are looking at attracting 50,000 foreign workers within the next year alone.

‘There is beautiful scenery, the health care system is second to none in the world and our educational system is second to none in the world. We have some of the lowest business taxes, there is no province sales tax on goods.”

Alberta’s population is just 3.4 million, less than half of London’s, though it covers an area twice the size of Japan. The average annual salary for a civil engineer in Alberta last year was £44,428.

Mr. Goudreau continued: “There has been a recent change in the UK economy which is part of the reason we are targeting it, it is a very important priority for us.
“If there are a lack of future or opportunities here we will encourage the individuals who feel this way to come to Alberta.

“There are tremendous opportunities, all over the world the people are feeling the housing crunch, but we aren’t. We might have some very little dips, but we have a very stable economy which is set up for the future.”