Skilled Worker Program
Following the tradition of recent years, on July 1 the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration Canada announces a new list of priority occupations for the Skilled Worker category, and also sets the quota for the number of applications accepted under various immigration programs for the next year. Therefore, it is logical to expect that the innovations that have been widely discussed recently will be introduced no later than July 1, 2012. Of course, these are only my assumptions, but the probability of such a scenario is quite high.
Having analyzed the recent statements by the head of the immigration department, Mr. Kenney, it can be concluded that the new selection system under the Skilled Worker program is fully ready, and the new ones will be announced soon. Most likely this year. I have already written in detail about how the selection is planned to be carried out in my previous articles, so there is no point in repeating.
I will only remind you that it is planned to create two streams: one for specialists with higher education, and another for people with skilled trades, with different point scales for each of these streams. Proficiency in one of Canada's official languages (English or French) will be decisive. Age is also an important factor, as priority will be given to young people.
Programs for Business People
The situation with the federal business programs, which are currently virtually closed, remains unclear. Let me remind you that on July 1, 2011, a limit was introduced on the number of applications accepted under the Investor program, which was reached within the first two days, and since then the acceptance of applications has been suspended.
Also, on July 1, 2011, the acceptance of applications under the Entrepreneur program was suspended, and the program itself was sent for review. A considerable amount of time has passed since then, so it is logical to expect that the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration Canada should make some announcements on this matter before July 1, 2012.
There is no clarity yet on what changes will occur to these programs, but it can be assumed that the requirements are unlikely to remain the same. Apparently, the selection criteria will become stricter.
From Mr. Kenney's latest messages, it follows that the ministry is working on a new program for business people, which should be announced by the end of the year. It is assumed that this program will target business people who work in high technology, renewable energy, and other advanced fields that have good prospects for further development and lead to job creation.
It is planned that persons under this program will work in cooperation with local investors and large companies that will help them set up a business in Canada. This program will be given the highest priority, meaning short processing times for immigration applications can be expected. For now, there is nothing more to add on this issue; one can only assume that participants in the Entrepreneur program will have to invest much larger sums in Canada than is currently required.
From Mr. Kenney's statements regarding the Entrepreneur program, it can be concluded that it is planned to keep it to allow small business owners to obtain permanent resident status and start a business here. However, the government is probably not showing much interest in this program, so it is difficult to guess what the requirements will be, whether a limit on the number of applications will be introduced, and when it will be opened.
It is also not entirely clear what Mr. Kenney's words mean that Canada is interested in attracting business people evenly from all regions of the world. Currently, the main flow of applications under the Entrepreneur category comes from four countries – China, India, South Korea, and Egypt. Perhaps it is intended to introduce quotas for accepting applications by embassy.
The intrigue is heightened by the fact that many provinces offer their own business programs, and the government must either open similar federal programs or force the provinces to align their programs with federal ones. Otherwise, what happened with the federal Investors program will occur, which has been virtually closed since July 1, while under the similar program of the province of Quebec, the acceptance of applications is unlimited. It is absolutely unclear what the federal government achieved by closing the Investor program. Apparently, the government is well aware of the sensitivity of the situation.
Provincial Programs
It is worth noting that currently quite interesting relations are developing between the federal immigration department and the provinces. On one hand, the federal government understands that provincial programs are a source of uncontrolled inflow of immigrants, leaving room for fraud and the entry of persons with questionable backgrounds. Therefore, the federal government is currently seeking to bring everything related to immigration under its full control.
At least, proposals have already been made that provincial immigration authorities can select those they need from among applicants under federal programs. Persons selected by the provinces will have priority in processing applications. That is, provinces will get priority rights to select immigrants for themselves, but the federal government would like to regain control over the immigration process.
On the other hand, the provinces want much greater freedom in conducting immigration policy than they currently have. In particular, the province of Ontario, which for years relied on immigrants coming through federal programs, has recently begun to experience a shortage, as a large flow went to the western provinces. This is explained by two factors – a high demand for labor in the resource-extraction-oriented provinces of Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia, and the existence of their own immigration programs.
In this regard, the Ontario government decided to develop its own immigration strategy and began negotiations with the federal center on this issue. That is, the Ontario government seriously concerned itself with creating a channel to attract more immigrants to the province, and specifically those that it needs. But that's not all.
The western provinces, experiencing a shortage of working population, would like to have much more freedom in developing and implementing immigration programs. They would also like to significantly increase the limit on the number of immigrants accepted, or even have the right to unlimited admission of needed specialists. At the same time, representatives of all three western provinces 'point to' the province of Quebec, which has a special status within Canada and, as a result, a much greater level of autonomy in various programs, including immigration.
The situation at the moment looks indeed very strange, and the western provinces have every reason to ask, why are they worse? The same goes for the province of Ontario, where the main production facilities of Canada are concentrated, and where more than a third of the country's population lives.
It is not yet clear how this issue will be resolved, but it is obvious that the provinces will play a much larger role in the process of selecting immigrants.
To be continued.
Elena RYABININA.
"Russian Toronto"