Canadian Immigration News

Along with the federal government, the provincial governments of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador have agreed to work together through the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency to promote immigration to the region.

Atlantic Canada’s (Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland and Labrador) share of immigration in 2007 was 2.4 per cent, the highest it has been since 1980. Although immigrant attraction and retention rates have improved over the past few decades, the numbers are still low, considering that the region constitutes 7.1 per cent of Canada’s total population.

PM apologizes for the Chinese head tax of the 19th and early 20th centuries, offering compensation packages of $20,000 to surviving payers of the tax and commits $35 million to cultural education programs in a recent speech.

All individuals born in Canada are granted citizenship, as are people born abroad who undertake the Canadian citizenship process and are approved.

Last month, a team of Alberta government and industry leaders went to India on a trade mission. Though the focus of the GO-India mission was meant to be trade and investment, it served just as much as a recruitment fair for labour-strapped Canadian employers.

A Foreign Qualifications Recognition Plan for Alberta, recently released by the provincial government, will improve the process of recognizing internationally-obtained qualifications, training, and experience so that newcomers to Alberta can get to work faster.

As Alberta's service and retail sectors are heating to a boil; the province is left scrambling to find unskilled labour.

A recent Fraser Institute survey named the province ofAlbertaas having North America's best-performing labour market over the past five years, beating out 50 American states and all other Canadian provinces andterritories.

Alberta's unemployment rate fell again last month as the province created 13,600 jobs in July. Alberta's 3.3 percent unemployment rate was the lowest in the country for the 13th straight month, according to Alberta Employment, Immigration and Industry.

The provincial government recently announced that Canadian citizens and Permanent Residents living in Alberta can now sponsor their close relatives under a new section of theAlberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP) for fast-tracked Permanent Residency.