Canadian Immigration News

Effective May 4, 2014, employers wishing to hire a foreign worker on a full-time, permanent basis must apply for and receive a positive Labour Market Opinion (LMO) instead of an Arranged Employment Opinion (AEO).

Quebec’s Immigration Minister, Kathleen Weil, has gone on record stating that the province will seek an exemption from a recent moratorium placed on hiring foreign food service workers.

Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander announced today that Canada is taking action to make it “faster and easier” for Mexican visitors to enter the country. This will be done by making a pilot program, called CAN+, a permanent fixture of Canada’s immigration system.

A new quality of life report, called the “Better Life Index”, has ranked Canada as the fifth happiest place in the world.

“Canada performs very well in many measures of well-being, as shown by the fact that it ranks among the top countries in a large number of topics,” read the report.

Leaders from Canada, the US, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand are meeting in Quebec City this week to discuss collective immigration and border management issues.

The Government of Nova Scotia announced today that the Regional Labour Market Demand Stream is now closed and will no longer be accepting any applications that are not received in the office and/or postmarked by April 28, 2014. The stream will re-open on January 1, 2015.

Employment and Social Development Minister Jason Kenney recently announced that some occupations in the food services industry would no longer be eligible for Labour Market Opinions (LMOs). Receiving an LMO is an important first step for securing many temporary work permit applications.

Effective immediately, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) will no longer process any new or pending Labour Market Opinions for applications related to work in the food services sector. In addition, any unfilled positions that are tied to a previously approved LMO will be suspended.

Last year broke several records for visitors and immigrants from the three largest source countries for newcomers to Canada. Every year tens of thousands of individuals from China, India, and the Philippines become permanent residents of Canada. Hundreds of thousands more travel to the country to visit,

The Canadian provinces of Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia are three of the most popular locations in North America for venture capital investment.