Immigration News
- Updated the list of Express Entry certification occupations The primary reason for introducing Express Entry category-based selection is to fill shortage occupations with skilled newcomers. Canada is currently experiencing an improving economy with a low birthrate, aging population, and low unemployment, so addressing labor market imbalances is a top priority right now. One of the biggest challenges is the high demand for labor in certain occupations and the lack of supply from those who are already working in those occupations, especially those that require high-skilled workers. That's why we decided to create a separate category for those working in the skilled trades and offer permanent residency to applicants in those occupations. To date, we've only had one Express Entry class, and we don't know how many more we'll have depending on the level of labor demand, but it's clear that there's a growing demand from employers and communities, and the Canadian government is responding. A recent announcement by Citizenship and Immigration Canada is representative of this. On September 8, Citizenship and Immigration officially updated the list of skilled trades that are eligible for the Express Entry certificate of qualification, bringing the total number of trades on the list to 101. Skilled trades are eligible for a certificate of qualification, which is an official recognition by a recognized organization that you are skilled in a particular skill. If you earn one, you will receive up to 50 extra points in the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) on your Express Entry profile. It also has the huge advantage of not requiring a job offer from a Canadian employer for the other extra points. So if you have an Express Entry profile, or if you're an applicant living in Canada, it can be very beneficial to get certified in a technical occupation. Getting certified is also one of the most efficient ways to use your time, as it allows you to be recognized as an expert in your technical field, even if you don't have any previous work experience. In order to get these useful certifications, it's literally all about having the knowledge and skills in the relevant field, and once you've developed those skills, you can take an exam to get certified by one of the Canadian provincial governments. Since certification is handled on a provincial or semi-provincial level, it's a good idea to find an official certification organization in your area and give it a shot. Earning extra points for these certifications can put you in a better position in the Express Entry lottery for skilled trades occupations, so it's worth making it a priority to see if your field of work is on the list that issues certifications. There are 101 occupations on the list, which includes a lot of skilled trades, ranging from supervisory and technical positions in industry and construction to landscape gardening, plumbing, and electricians. It also includes skilled trades in lifestyle industries such as butchers, chefs, bakers, and hairstylists, so if you work in one of those industries, getting a certification may be a way to get you on the path to permanent residency a little faster. Once the category-based selection started, Express Entry opened up more opportunities for people who might have had a harder time immigrating to Canada, and it also created a group of applicants who needed to earn extra points. The current direction of the Canadian government is to recruit more needed workers for the Canadian economy and society, so I don't expect this to change for the foreseeable future. If that's the case, you'll need to think about ways to score more points, and you'll need to be diligent about finding different solutions to do so. Certificates can be understood in the same way, and certificates from officially designated provincial organizations are more beneficial in terms of employment, so it's worth giving them a second look to give you a competitive edge. 2023-09-20 Read more >
- The next three months for immigration The period between now and the Christmas holidays is typically a busy time for Citizenship and Immigration Canada, with an overhaul of the immigration system and policies. In particular, 2023 was a year of change, with the arrival of a new immigration minister and the introduction of a new immigration system, so there are a few key things to keep an eye on as we approach the end of the year. These include potential changes to Canada's immigration policy priorities and permanent residency levels, as well as updates to parent and grandparent sponsorship, international student, and work permit programs. First, it's worth noting the new ministerial mandate letter. Prime Minister Trudeau may issue letters of mandate to new ministers in the coming months. Of course, this is not mandatory, so we can't be sure, but the last immigration minister's immigration policy had the same letter of mandate as his or her appointment letter, so this could be pretty significant in terms of judging immigration policy. Mandate letters serve as the prime minister's instructions to his or her ministers on the government's goals for the term, and they will shape the country's immigration policy and provide direction on how the ministry will make policy decisions going forward. In fact, the last mandate letter sent to former Immigration Minister Sean Fraser indicated that the minister wanted to see an aggressive influx of newcomers, with an immigration level plan focused on helping families reunite and Canada's economic growth and post-pandemic recovery. There will also be an announcement of the Immigration Level Plan 2024-2026. In non-election years, Citizenship and Immigration Canada is legally required to publish an immigration level plan by November 1. The immigration level plan outlines targets for the number of permanent resident admissions and then breaks them down by program: economic, family-based, refugee, and humanitarian. The Immigration Level Plan is one of the most important processes for Citizenship and Immigration Canada, as it is based on the Immigration Level Plan that the organization renews or changes its immigration policies. In fact, the 2023-2025 plan states that by the end of 2025, Canada will accept 500,000 new permanent residents per year, 301,250 of which will be through economic immigration and 114,000 through Express Entry. A new plan for the 2024-2026 level, released in November of this year, will give us a better idea of what the changes will be compared to the last baseline. According to Immigration Minister Mark Miller, the immigration level plan will not decrease, so I would expect it to be similar or slightly higher. Breaking down the immigration programs by category can help you understand the year-end roundup. Express Entry has undergone some big changes this year: in May, it introduced six new categories for category-based lotteries, where a candidate's skills or occupation are the primary consideration instead of their Composite Ranking System score (CRS) - a significant departure from the traditional immigration system. According to recent reports, there will be a greater emphasis on applicants with STEM work experience in the future, with 28-31% of Express Entry category-based selection invitations this year expected to go to people in STEM occupations such as software developers and data scientists. Of course, we're also running the traditional Express Entry all-program lottery in parallel, and there's no indication that we'll be reducing that significantly. The Parent and Grandparent Program (PGP) is one of the main topics that comes up every time there is a change in immigration ministers. In 2022, sponsors were only eligible to apply if they were selected through a lottery. In order to clear the massive backlog during the COVID-19 pandemic, the program was only open to those who applied between October 13, 2020 and November 3, 2020. This resulted in 23,100 people receiving invitations in 2022. Under current immigration level projections, the program is expected to accept 28,500 new permanent residents in 2023 under the program, with plans to increase that number to 36,000 by the end of 2025, but based on the September 8 announcement, it will hold a random selection on October 10 for those who applied in 2020, the same as the last selection, sending invitations to a total of 24,000 people, about 4,000 fewer than the targeted number. Beyond that, the rest of the year is likely to see the Department of Immigration busy reviewing and refining the policies it has introduced or is implementing, and it will be interesting to see what the new immigration minister's appointment letter will contain, as it could all depend on the direction it reveals. From everything we've heard so far, it doesn't look like there will be a reduction in immigration numbers, and we can expect to see more stability in category-based selection, more family migration, and more ways to attract more international students. Immigration is likely to be very busy in the run up to Christmas. 2023-09-13 Read more >
- Express Entry selection, how to finish in 2023 The summer of 2023 has been a big one for Express Entry in Canada. The new system has been rolled out as promised, and with a few selections under our belts, we are well on our way to changing the face of the Canadian immigration system. Of course, we're still in the early stages of the new system, so it's impossible to make accurate predictions, but over the past few weeks, we've seen some developments that can help us understand how Express Entry selections will look for the rest of the year. Let's take a look at how Express Entry will look for the rest of 2023. Perhaps the biggest change this year is the introduction of category-based selection, where candidates with specific occupations or skills are selected, as opposed to the traditional nominee system. Previously, Express Entry had only been linked to provincial nominees, including the CEC, FSWP, and FSTP. However, since last year, the government has announced that it will introduce nominees for occupations that require workers to stabilize Canada's labor market and advance the economy, and we are finally seeing the introduction of six new categories of skills and occupations. To help revitalize French-speaking communities, we are now allowing French-speaking individuals with skills in six occupations - health care; science, technology, engineering, or STEM; trades such as carpentry and plumbing; transportation; and agriculture and agri-food manufacturing - to receive an invitation within those categories through Express Entry. This is designed to increase the number of newcomers with work experience in high-demand sectors of the Canadian economy and to revitalize French-speaking minority communities outside of Quebec. While it's still early days, an analysis of recent selections suggests a mix of different types of selections. A Globe and Mail report, which also predicted the percentage of category-based selections this year, found that between 28% and 31% of Citizenship and Immigration Canada's Express Entry invitations will be issued to applicants in the STEM occupation category. The report predicted that immigration would give 11 to 15 percent of all Express Entry invitations to French-speaking applicants, 9 to 12 percent to applicants in healthcare occupations, 3 to 4 percent to people in technical occupations, and 1 percent to applicants in agriculture, agri-food occupations, and transportation. STEAM occupations are currently expected to receive the most invitations, which is part of a number of initiatives to actively attract new technical talent. It looks like they'll be running a mix of category-based and general selections in this way, and since 3,500 candidates were invited through three separate all-program draws even after the actual category-based draws began, it seems even more obvious that all programs will be running in combination. The scores will also be interesting to watch. So far this year, the CRS has ranged from a high of 791 in the PNP-only draw on February 15 to a low of 375 when 3,800 Francophone candidates received invitations on July 12. Since category-based selection began, there has been a difference in CRS scores between the overall program draw and category-based selection: the highest score for category-based selection so far is 486, which is 19 points lower than the lowest overall program score of 505 after the first category-based selection draw on June 28. It's true that category-based selection benefits applicants who have the right job or skill set because they can be selected with a significantly lower score. However, since USCIS says it will still rank candidates and issue invitations to those with the highest scores, having a high CRS score can be interpreted as having a better head start in more than one type of lottery. Either way, it's true that a high score will help you get a green card invitation. Immigration says it will accept more newcomers under the 2023-2025 Immigration Level Plan. It is targeting 109,020 people through Express Entry in 2024 and 114,000 in 2025. The 2023 target is 82,880, but with 73,448 Express Entry candidates already invited this year, the Department of Immigration is on track. Perhaps more Express Entry candidates will receive invitations this year than planned to help meet the 2024 goal. This is because, given that those receiving invitations now have a six-month processing time for their applications, invitations need to be planned for now in order to meet the 2024 target. Therefore, if current selection patterns continue, the remainder of 2023 is likely to be a more even mix of draw types. 2023-09-06 Read more >
- Immigrate to Canada with the Startup Visa Program In an Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) survey, Canada was ranked as the most attractive country for immigrant founders and entrepreneurs among 24 OECD countries, including the United States, France, and the United Kingdom. The OECD report shows that there is a growing global interest in attracting foreign entrepreneurs to create jobs through business innovation and to spur foreign investment and economic development, and Canada stands out as a leader. Canada is a hotbed for foreign entrepreneurs because it has taken a number of steps to create a favorable environment for new and innovative companies to thrive, including developing an entrepreneurial ecosystem, promoting research and innovation, and making it easier for prospective entrepreneurs to access funding and human capital. One of the reasons for this environment is the ease of obtaining permanent residency. Canada, along with Australia, is one of the first countries to offer permanent residency to startup visa applicants from day one, making it a great choice for entrepreneurs. This has made it a very attractive place for immigrant entrepreneurs to settle, with favorable conditions for doing business. In addition, Canada offers a number of pathways to work permits and permanent residency for migrant entrepreneurs. Immigration programs for entrepreneurs include the federal Start-Up Visa program, the Quebec Entrepreneur Program, and provincial entrepreneur programs. The federal Start-Up Visa program encourages immigrant entrepreneurs to grow their companies in Canada. Applicants who qualify for the program can connect with the Canadian private sector to get the funding and expertise they need to create and run their companies. The Start-Up Visa program, as the name suggests, tends to focus on creative ideas for starting a business. This is because the program itself aims to attract innovative foreign entrepreneurs who will drive economic growth and create new jobs in Canada, so eligibility is less about what you already have in place, such as capital, and more about what you can do. In a nutshell, you need to have a qualifying business, have a letter of support from a designated organization, a language grade of CLB 5 or higher, and sufficient settlement funds based on the size of your family. A business entity is a venture based on an innovative idea, and up to five equity holders may apply for permanent residence. The applicant's shareholding must be at least 10% of the total shareholding, and the applicant and the designated organization must jointly hold at least 50% of the voting rights of the corporation's total shares. As one of the requirements, the letters of support from the designated entities must come from venture capital funds, angel investor groups, and business incubator organizations that are eligible to participate in the Canadian Immigration's designated startup visa program. Through them, the applicant must secure funding for the startup, which requires a minimum investment of $20,000 CAD through venture capital and a minimum of $75,000 CAD through angel investment. In addition, the applicant does not need to secure investment from a business incubator, but must be accepted into the Canadian Business Incubator Program. On the other hand, as a startup, applicants don't have to invest any of their own money, and the big advantage is that if the Canadian startup doesn't succeed, they'll still have permanent residency status. The startup visa program is relatively flexible. While there is a settlement fee requirement, there is no specific threshold for capitalization, as the main goal is to attract entrepreneurs with innovative ideas, so the program is relatively free from investment and capitalization constraints. There are also no residency restrictions, and immigrant entrepreneurs can even apply for a work permit to enter the country first if they have a valid reason. Other options include the Quebec Entrepreneur Program, which is designed to help qualified business owners and managers obtain permanent residency in Canada if they can effectively create or acquire an agricultural, commercial, or industrial business in Quebec, and various entrepreneurial programs run by provincial governments. Most provinces welcome the immigration of qualified businesses and entrepreneurs because they are positive about entrepreneurs creating jobs and contributing to the economic vitality of Canada through start-ups. If you have the passion, ideas, and entrepreneurial flair, there are many avenues open to you to establish yourself as an entrepreneur in Canada with support. 2023-08-30 Read more >
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