Canada Immigration Visas

Under new immigration law, Canada’s Minister for Migration and Citizenship, Diane Finley, and her staff will have the power to dictate which categories of migration applications are prioritised, held pending future consideration or returned with a refund.

The move comes as a further means of reducing a migration application backlog, which can last up to six years. Under the new legislation, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) aims to cut this down to six to twelve months.

Moreover, the law aligns Canadian immigration with the country’s labour shortages, allowing much needed professionals to obtain visas more quickly, thus addressing the workforce crisis as efficiently as possible.

According to the CIC website, consultations held under the new migration system will: “focus on identifying critical occupational shortages, the role of immigration in responding to them, and any barriers to foreign credential accreditation.

They will help develop instructions to immigration officers on which applications are identified for priority processing, particularly in the federal skilled worker category.”

“We committed to consulting across the country and we are delivering on that commitment,” said Minister Finley. “I believe this inclusive approach will help identify the categories of workers who get priority, and will allow us to prepare instructions that reflect the knowledge and expertise of the provinces, territories and stakeholders.”

Canadian migration expert Eric Katz said the following of the new migration system: “This is a clear indication that the Canadian Government is committed to changing its system of selection to a labour market style program. In addition, it also appears that they are committed to reducing the processing times to between 6 and 12 months – somewhat similar to the Australian model.”

“I really think this is positive news for Canada as a country in that it will be able to seriously address labour shortages in specific sectors and parts of the country. It also will prioritise migrants based on their skills and not offer false hopes to those who would file an application and wait years and years for it to be processed.”