Immigration
CANADA: PROSPECTS FOR 2013 (Part 2)
Continued. Beginning: CANADA: OUTLOOK FOR 2013<\/a><\/strong><\/p>
Please note that these are only assumptions based on information obtained from various sources. How the program will work and what the final requirements will be will only become clear at the time of its opening.<\/p>
It is worth noting that, according to several statements by representatives of the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the opening of the program was expected as early as January 2013. The postponement of the resumption of application intake to May 4, 2013 suggests that by that time the immigration department plans to process all applications previously submitted under this program (at least those submitted after February 2008).<\/p>
Canadian Experience Class<\/strong><\/p>
As of January 1, 2013, the eligibility requirements for the Canadian Experience Class program are changing. Under the new rules, to apply you need to have at least one year of work experience in Canada within the last three years in an occupation at NOC skill type 0, NOC skill type A, or NOC skill type B (managerial positions, professional jobs, and technical jobs).<\/p>
In addition, you must demonstrate English language proficiency at a sufficiently high level – at least level 7 on the Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) scale for NOC skill type 0 and A occupations, and at least level 5 on the CLB scale for NOC skill type B occupations.<\/p>
Recall that previously, to apply under this program, you needed either two years of work experience in Canada or at least two years of study in Canada followed by one year of work. With the introduction of the new rules, the requirement to study in Canada for at least two years with a mandatory diploma lost its logical meaning and was removed from the eligibility criteria.<\/p>
Nevertheless, studying in Canada remains relevant for qualifying under this program, because graduating from a Canadian university or college greatly facilitates finding a job. Most importantly, after graduating from a Canadian university or college, the graduate receives an open work permit, which allows them to stay in the country for up to three years and work in any job without needing additional permits.<\/p>
For a foreigner who has not studied in Canada, obtaining a work permit is much more difficult, and in most cases the job offer they receive must be approved by HRSDC, which is far from easy. Therefore, studying at a Canadian college or university has not lost its relevance and can still be considered as a first step towards immigrating to Canada.<\/p>
Business Programs<\/strong><\/p>
Currently, the intake of applications for the federal Investor and Entrepreneur programs (which are business programs) is closed, and there is no official information about when these programs will be opened, or if they will be opened at all. At least, recently these programs are hardly mentioned anywhere. It looks as if either work on them is still in the initial stage, or they have been shelved entirely, making skilled worker and professional programs the top priority.<\/p>
As for the latest regarding the Investor program, the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration Canada announced that until September 4, 2012, the immigration department is collecting proposals and ideas about what the selection criteria for this program should be, how investments should be used, and what the conditions for issuing immigrant visas should be. The conclusions based on these proposals, which will form the basis of the Investor program, are planned to be published in winter 2013.<\/p>
At the moment, it is completely unclear what the requirements for this program will be. Evidently, the amount of required investment in the Canadian economy will be increased, and they may become much riskier than before, when their return was guaranteed by the Canadian government. It can also be expected that applicants immigrating under this program will be required to demonstrate proficiency in one of Canada's official languages at an appropriate level. That is for now all that can be said with any certainty.<\/p>
There is also no news yet about the timing of the resumption of applications under this program. Possibly, applications may resume on July 1, 2013 (since it will be one year after the suspension of applications under this program), but given the current situation, such assumptions seem overly optimistic. Considering the emerging trends and the fact that processing times for already submitted business program applications are seriously delayed, it is still not realistic to expect the Investor program to open anytime soon. In my opinion, it is realistic to expect the resumption of applications under this program only at the beginning of next year, 2014, or at best in the fall of 2013.<\/p>
At least, work on the Investor program is ongoing, so sooner or later it should be opened. The same cannot be said about the Entrepreneur program, whose application intake was stopped back on July 1, 2011, and which has not been mentioned anywhere since. It feels like this program was either completely closed or is planned to be merged with the Investor program, which would make sense. In particular, most provincial business programs are a symbiosis of the federal Investor and Entrepreneur programs, since on the one hand they require mandatory investments in the economy, and on the other – the need to manage a business with the condition of hiring a certain number of employees. Therefore, it is possible that the updated federal Investor program may be formed on the same principle, absorbing the Entrepreneur program.
That is, the situation with business programs is so unclear that it is extremely difficult to make predictions about when and in what form they will be opened.
Ontario Provincial Investor Business Program
At the moment, in my opinion, the best alternative for those who want to immigrate through business is the Ontario Provincial Investor immigration program. To qualify, one must set up a business in the province of Ontario with investments of at least 3 million dollars. These investments can be made by a group of three investors, each of whom must invest at least 1 million dollars.
Personally, I believe that this is currently the most accessible, most reliable, and most promising program for businessmen who want to immigrate to Canada. A great advantage of this program is also that it is not widely advertised, so there is no large flow of applications.
The difficulties of qualifying for it include that you first need to set up a functioning business in the province, obtain approval of its development plan from the relevant provincial ministry and the immigration ministry, and only then submit documents for immigration.
Since this program is rather poorly formalized and is based solely on an assessment of the business being opened in the province, it clearly requires the involvement of local specialists. Therefore, if you are interested in this program, I advise you to contact me directly (www.HelenRiabinin.com) or the office of Dest Group Ltd. (www.dest.ca), which prepares business projects for people going through immigration under business programs.
Conclusion
So far, everything the Conservative government has done in the field of immigration could be attributed to preparatory work that requires breaking the old system to make way for the new one. However, the experiments that have been carried out since 2008 have clearly dragged on, and the promises that were made have mostly remained unfulfilled. At the same time, the measures taken by the government were quite harsh and caused a great public outcry.
Suffice it to recall the closure of application intake for almost all immigration programs; the decision to return without review all applications submitted under the Skilled Worker Class program before February 2008; changes to the rules for processing refugee status applications; and a number of other, albeit less high-profile, but still sensitive measures. All of this can be explained if the new system actually works. But if everything remains the same, the question immediately arises: what was all this done for?
For example, 2013 should show whether anything will change regarding the issuance of visitor visas to Canada after new rules concerning refugee status came into effect on December 15, 2012. So far, both the processing times for applications and the practice of visa refusals leave much to be desired.
The same can be said about the processing times for applications submitted under various immigration programs. Obviously, closing programs is not a solution; in any case, it is necessary to establish a system for selecting the immigrants the country needs, with the ability to process applications quickly.
Obviously, the government is well aware of all this, so with a high degree of confidence we can expect important changes in the immigration sphere in 2013.
Elena RYABININA.
