Canadian Immigration News

The government of Canada has made an important change to the owner/operator category of foreign workers who wish to work in Canada. Foreign owner/operators must now own more than 50 percent of the business in order to qualify for an exemption from the advertising requirements that are typically a prerequisite for a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) application.

The International Skilled Worker: Occupations In-Demand sub-category of the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP) reopened the morning of Tuesday, August 30, 2016. This SINP sub-category allows skilled workers with experience in an in-demand occupation in Saskatchewan to make an application for a provincial nomination certificate, which is then followed by an application for Canadian permanent residence. Interestingly, applicants do not require a job offer in order to make an application. Up to 700 new applications for immigration to Canada may be accepted in this intake.

On August 24, 2016, a total of 598 candidates for immigration to British Columbia, Canada were issued Invitations to Apply (ITAs) to the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP). These ITAs were issued to a range of candidates who had previously expressed an interest in immigrating to the province.

The vast majority of ITAs were issued to candidates in categories under the BC PNP Skills Immigration Registration System (SIRS), with the remaining ITAs issued to candidates in the Entrepreneur Immigration stream pool.

A total of 714 candidates for immigration to Canada through the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP) have been issued a Letter of Advice to Apply (LAA) in the latest draw under the Expression of Interest (EOI) immigration system, which took place on August 24, 2016. This is the 20th draw in total since the system was first introduced last year. This province, located in central Canada, issues LAAs through two sub-categories of the Skilled Workers category of the MPNP. A total of 176 LAAs were issued to candidates through the Skilled Workers in Manitoba sub-category, while 538 LAAs were issued through the Skilled Workers Overseas sub-category.

The Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal has called on the government of Quebec to increase the overall annual intake of immigrants to the province, from around 50,000 to 60,000. The recommendations were presented yesterday to the Committee on Citizen Relations as part of consultations on immigration planning in Quebec for the period 2017-2019.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has issued Invitations to Apply (ITAs) for Canadian permanent residence to 750 candidates in the Express Entry pool. The latest draw from the pool, and the 41st in total since the selection system was launched in January, 2015, took place on Wednesday, August 24, 2016. Candidates with 538 or more Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points were issued an ITA.

Canadian authorities in Sarnia, Ontario had some unexpected guests on Sunday, August 21, after approximately 1,500 US residents accidentally floated to Canada during the Port Huron Float Down, an annual event on the St.Clair river that divides the US state of Michigan from Ontario. The trespassing flotilla of dinghies, inner tubes and rafts was no match for strong winds that whipped up throughout the afternoon.

The Chief Executive Officer of one of Canada’s leading pension funds has recommended that Canada more than triples its existing levels of immigration over the coming years. John Ruffolo, CEO of OMERS Ventures, the venture arm of OMERS, one of Canada's leading pension funds, says that innovation and talent acquisition can solve Canada’s growth dilemma. Ruffolo also serves as vice-chair of the Council of Canadian Innovators.

Canada’s Minister of Immigration, John McCallum, has said that the government of Canada hopes to bring even more newcomers to Canada, but as housing prices skyrocket in Vancouver and Toronto his government hopes to lure them to other locations. Minister McCallum also cited labour market shortages and aging populations as further reasons to populate certain regions.

The submission period for applications to the Quebec Skilled Worker Program (QSWP) has closed at 1:19 p.m. on August 16, hours after opening at 8:30 a.m. the same day. The maximum number of 5,000 applications to the QSWP were received through Mon projet Québec, the online immigration application management system used by the government of Quebec to receive applications for the QSWP.