News

Effective April 25, 2012, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC)/Service Canada is implementing a new Accelerated Labour Market Opinion (A-LMO) Initiative. This new Initiative applies to employers hiring temporary foreign workers in higher skilled positions such as: management, professional and technical occupations. However, at the present time, the Initiative does not apply to the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program, the Agricultural Stream and occupations in the film and entertainment sectors. NOTE: The Initiative is currently not implemented in the province of Quebec. The 2 main objectives of the new A-LMO Initiativ...

Operational Bulletin 412 - April 27, 2012 Pilot Project for the Direct Distribution of Permanent Resident Cards to existing Permanent Residents Issue The purpose of this Operational Bulletin is to provide instructions for the direct distribution of Phase II Permanent Resident (PR) cards during the period of the pilot, which is to take effect on April 30, 2012. Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) will begin a Pilot Project to mail the majority of Phase II Permanent Resident Cards (PR cards) directly to applicants. The Pilot Project will be evaluated after one year. Background Currently, 100% of the Phase II PR cards issued ...

In response to an advance recommendation by the Premier’s Immigration Task Force following consultations in Fort St. John, the BC Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP) is implementing a two-year Northeast Pilot Project that builds on the existing Entry Level and Semi-Skilled (ELSS) category. The Northeast Region is experiencing an extremely tight labour market driven by rapid growth in the energy sector, and is forecast to have the highest growth in labour demand of any of BC’s eight Development Regions over the coming decade. This Pilot expands the existing ELSS category to include all Temporary Foreign Workers in the region who are employe...

On March 15, 2012 the BC PNP launched a new pilot project in partnership with Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) to reduce processing times for select Federal Skilled Worker applicants.  The Federal Skilled Worker Backlog Reduction Pilot targets CIC clients who submitted their applications for permanent residence prior to February 27, 2008 and who have experience in a select group of high demand engineering, information technology and construction occupations.  Those who are invited to participate will receive a letter from CIC and will be eligible to submit an application to the BC PNP without a job offer from a BC employer.  The BC PN...

Globally, Canada is planning for MORE immigrant visas to be issued from overseas processing posts: an overall increase from 217,800 visas in 2011 to 255,100 visas in 2012...a remarkable increase of 17% over 2011! The largest boost will be for the Parents/Grandparents, who will see an increase from 11,200 visas in 2011 to 36,500 visas in 2012. There is a planned slight increase in the number of visas to be issued to skilled workers (Federal, Quebec, and Provincial Nominees) from 129,000 visas in 2011, to 139,800 visas in 2012. There is a planned decrease in the number of visas to be issued to Business Immigrants (Federal and Quebec) from 12,00...

Validity of Arranged Employment Opinions Operational Bulletin 394 - March 8, 2012 Summary Effective immediately, officers do not require a new Arranged Employment Opinion (AEO) from Service Canada (SC), the service delivery arm of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC), in cases where the AEO has expired while the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) application is in process. Officers may still issue a permanent resident (PR) visa as long as the AEO was valid at time of receipt of the application, they are satisfied that the job offer is still valid and no adverse information on the employer has come to light. Background ...

Limited Validity Period for Labour Market Opinions Operational Bulletin 152-A - March 19, 2012 (Modified) Update Under the heading “Additional details regarding concurrent processing”, the words “TBD for CAQ” have been removed to clarify that the CAQ process is not part of the concurrent processing provisions currently in place. Background Not all Labour Market Opinions (LMOs) issued by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) have a date by which they must be used to apply for a work permit (WP). In order to ensure that LMO represent an accurate assessment of current labour market conditions and to provide a sound...

The Ministry of Immigration and Cultural Communities of Quebec (MICC) has taken a decision to limit the intake of new applications for selection certificate (CSQ) in an attempt to reduce processing times and thus be able to select economic immigration applicants faster. In the past three years, MICC has received large volumes of CSQ applications, which are significantly beyond its processing capacity and do not reflect the real needs in Quebec. The above decision, which is pending adoption by the National Assembly of Québec will be retroactive from March 21, 2012 and will limit the maximum number of INVESTOR applications to 2700 (receiv...

Instructions to visa officers on making determinations on membership in the Family Class Operational Bulletin 396 - March 7, 2012 Summary This Operational Bulletin (OB) provides instructions to visa officers when assessing applications submitted for permanent residence as members of the family class (FC). In all FC cases, officers should make a decision as to whether the applicant is a member of the FC. Background Citizenship and Immigration Canada has the authority to determine if an applicant is a member of the FC. Section 117(1)(a) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR) defines that a foreign national w...