Throughout Canada's history, its immigration policy has seen changes in priorities and principles for selecting immigrants, but the main thing has not changed - the country remained open to an influx of new residents and has always been oriented towards them. At present, Canada is perhaps the only developed country pursuing such an active policy of attracting immigrants. As «Русский Торонто» writes, the fact that the country is constantly adjusting its immigration policy in order to optimize the influx of immigrants and select those who best meet the country's needs also speaks to how important immigration is for Canada.
On June 28, 2002, Canada's new immigration law, the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), came into force. In accordance with it, several classes are distinguished for the selection of immigrants.
Skilled Worker Class («skilled workers»)
This category is worth paying attention to for those planning to immigrate to Canada. This class replaced the previously existing class of Independent applicants (also called «professional immigration»). This class includes people who, thanks to their good education and work skills in a specialty needed in Canada, have the potential to successfully settle in Canada. An obligatory condition is excellent command of at least one of Canada's official languages (English or French). This category of immigrants is very important for Canada, as it ensures an influx of skilled labor. In percentage terms, the number of visas issued to those in this category accounts for more than 50% of the total. Applicants are assessed on a points system. The assessment is based on several factors, each of which earns a certain number of points. To obtain an immigrant visa, an applicant must score no lower than the established passing minimum. Currently, that passing minimum is 75 points.
Business class («business immigrants»)
The peculiarity of this class is that persons in this category run a business and do not plan to get a job in Canada - they intend to run their own business. That is why business immigration to Canada requires the applicant to have the necessary amount of money needed to run a business or to invest in the country's economy. Candidates for an immigrant visa in the business immigrant category are selected through a quota system, which is updated by the Canadian government annually.
This class includes three categories:
l Investors («investors»). Persons in this category must have significant funds (at least 800.000 Canadian dollars) and be ready to invest at least 400.000 Canadian dollars in the Canadian economy. In addition, they must have business experience.
l Entrepreneurs («entrepreneurs»). Persons in this category must have business experience, sufficient personal funds (at least 300.000 Canadian dollars), and skills to organize a new or purchase an existing business in Canada. Applicants in this category receive a conditional visa. The condition is that within three years of entering Canada, they must organize a new or purchase an existing business, actively manage it, and hire one or more Canadian residents for at least one year. If the applicant fails to meet this condition, they may be deprived of the immigrant visa and deported from Canada.
l Self-employed («person engaged in private practice»). Persons in this category must have sufficient professional skills to begin providing professional services as a private entrepreneur in areas related to art, sports, or farming.
Family class («family sponsorship»)
To qualify under this class, the immigrant must have close relatives living in Canada who are willing to take on legal obligations to the Canadian state to provide the immigrating relative with necessary financial assistance if needed.
Refugees
Refugees (Refugees) are a separate stream. To obtain refugee status in Canada, a person must prove that in the country whose citizen they are, there is a real threat to their life from the state, or that this danger exists due to the policies pursued by the state.
This class receives a lot of attention in the new legislation. The main idea is to minimize the number of those who obtain refugee status without grounds. It is planned that much stricter selection criteria will be applied, and a refugee claimant will have to provide irrefutable evidence of persecution in their home country. The timeframes for reviewing applications will be significantly reduced, and the number of appeals that can be filed in a refugee case will be limited. Liability for providing deliberately false information has been increased.
An important feature of Canada's immigration policy is the existence of annual quotas for immigrant visas issued. On average, 220-230 thousand visas are issued per year. It should be noted that CIS countries are not among the top ten countries providing the largest influx of immigrants to Canada.
It is important to understand that Canada has been and will long remain the world's main “immigration” country. On the one hand, it is a highly developed country in all respects, occupying the very top positions in terms of quality of life, having the richest natural resources, a stable democratic society, developed infrastructure and industry, which attracts people from all over the world to Canada. On the other hand, it is the only country in the world that has such a broad program for accepting immigrants, in operation for such a long time, and the need to continue it in the future is beyond doubt.