Canadian Immigration News

Last month, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) announced several Local Immigration Partnership initiatives for the cities and surrounding areas of Guelph, Niagara and York, in Ontario. Since then, CIC has announced that the cities and surrounding regions of Peterborough and Kitchener-Waterloo will also be receiving government funding for Local Immigration Partnerships of their own.

This week, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) announced several Local Immigration Partnership initiatives for Ontario cities and their surrounding areas.

The Canadian government has announced the creation of the Pan-Canadian Framework for the Assessment and Recognition of Foreign Qualifications, which will allow foreign-trained workers in some professions to have their credentials assessed quickly.

According to Ontario Immigration Minister Michael Chan, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has established a list of 38 occupations that will be usedfor the selection of Federal Skilled Worker applicants. CIC Minister DianeFinley informed provincial immigration ministers about the list earlier this month.

Yesterday's Canadian federal election resulted in Canada's third consecutive minority government, re-electing Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party. Though the Conservatives did not clinch the enough seats to make up a majority government, their minority was strengthened to 143 seats, up from 127 in the 2006 election.

Last week's federal budget announced an extra $50 million to improve the process of recognizing internationally-obtained education and work experience,so that newcomers to Canada can access jobs in their fields of specialization more quickly.

As of next year, a new stream of Canadian immigration will be available to certain temporary foreign workers andinternational students with Canadian degrees and Canadian work experience.

As of today, September 17, 2008, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) is accepting applications for the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) ofimmigration. Designed specifically for temporary foreign workers and international graduates with Canadian work experience, the CEC will converttemporary Canadian residents into permanent residents.

"Study in Canada and pursue your dreams," is the motto of the Canadian Education Centre (CEC), a non-profit organization with 20 international offices. Since 1991, the CEC has been organizing bi-annual Canadian Education Fairs to raise awareness about the many education options in Canada for foreign students from kindergarten to the graduate level.

Last month, the Bank of Canada declared that the recession in Canada was effectively over. This week, there have been more reports that the Canadian economy is growing.