Canadian Immigration News

With Prime Minister Stephen Harper's recent cabinet shuffle, Jason Kenney, the former Secretary of State for Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity has been appointed as the new Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism.

In 2002, the Government of Canada officially designated the month of May as Asian Heritage Month. Since then, celebrations and festivals highlighting Asian arts and culture have been held across Canada throughout the month of May.

Earlier this year, Citizenship, Immigration, and Multiculturalism Canada Minister Jason Kenney announced that Canada was considering revising immigration targets, given economic uncertainty and rising unemployment in certain parts of the country.

According to Monte Solberg, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development Canada (ESDC), Canadian labour force growth is projected to increase by only 11 per cent over the next 50 years. This figure is in stark contrast to the 200 per cent growth of the labour force over the past 50 years (from 1956–2006), which was the key contributor to Canada's economic expansion.

According to a Statistics Canada report, Canadian employers created 51,100 jobs in September, three times more than economists had predicted. This swell of employment brought the national unemployment rate down to 5.9 per cent, its lowest level since November 1974. Employment has been growing significantly faster in 2007 compared to last year, fueling the strong

The Government of Canada is working to help new Canadian immigrants integrate into the work force more quickly. Employment and Social DevelopmentCanada (ESDC) Minister Diane Finley and Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism (CIMC) Minister Jason Kenney recently announced an investment of$50 million over the next two years to help newcomers have their internationally-obtained education and work experience assessed and recognized morequickly; so that they can work in their fields and contribute to the Canadian workforce more effectively.

The provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have recently been allotted new funding for immigrant integration and skills enhancement to help newcomers succeed.

The Canadian government introduced a new program that will facilitate travel through Canadian airports yesterday. Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Canada Minister Jason Kenney, Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan and International Trade and the Pacific Gateway Minister Stockwell Day announced the Transit Without Visa program, which will allow certain international travelers en route to the United States to pass through Canadian airports without a Canadian transit visa.

Manitoba is the third Canadian province to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Philippine government to streamline the recruitment of Filipino workers to various sectors of Manitoba's growing economy.

Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Canada (CIMC) Minister Jason Kenney has recently returned to Canada from an official trip to the Middle East, where he met with senior government officials and important community and religious leaders in Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, and Israel.