Skilled Workers
Regarding the category of qualified specialists, the most significant changes are planned for the Skilled Worker Class program. This program, which is currently suspended for applications (with few exceptions), has undergone a fairly deep revision. In a publication by Citizenship and Immigration Canada, a detailed explanation is provided of the system by which they plan to calculate passing scores, and what additional requirements will be imposed on potential immigrants.
If we highlight the main points in the immigration department's publication on this program, we get the following:
* much more attention will be paid to knowledge of one of Canada's official languages (English and French), with increased requirements for proficiency;
* preference will be given to young specialists;
* the approach to assessing education obtained outside Canada is being tightened.
It is expected that the new rules will come into effect in January 2013. That is, Citizenship and Immigration Canada plans to begin accepting applications under this program already at the beginning of next year.
The question remains open whether the list of priority occupations will be retained, and whether the quota on the number of applications accepted will continue. I remind you that this concerns innovations of the last two to three years that have significantly complicated life for those who had plans regarding immigration to Canada. Judging by the fact that there is no mention of this, one can hope that there will be neither a list of priority occupations nor a quota on the number of applications accepted. However, until the new rules with detailed application instructions are officially announced, there is no certainty.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada also confirmed that it plans to create a new category for skilled workers, the Skilled-Trades Class, aimed at specialists in occupations that do not require higher education and correspond to level 'B' of the Canadian National Occupational Classification (NOC). In particular, such occupations include: cooks, butchers, workers in the natural resource extraction and processing industries, in agriculture, etc.
The draft of this program provides the following list of such occupations: Industrial, Electrical and Construction Trades; Maintenance and Equipment Operation Trades; Supervisors and Technical Occupations in Natural Resources, Agriculture and Related Production; Processing, Manufacturing and Utilities Supervisors and Central Control Operators; as well as Chefs and Cooks, and Bakers and Butchers.
Under this program, applicants will also be required to have an adequate level of proficiency in one of Canada's official languages, have at least 24 months of work experience in the occupation within the last five years. There must also be either a job offer from a Canadian employer or a qualification certificate obtained in one of Canada's provinces.
When this program will start operating is not yet reported. There is also no more detailed information about the points system and the application procedure.
The Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration confirmed earlier statements regarding the Canadian Experience Class program about reducing the work experience requirement in Canada from 24 months to 12 months. Apparently, these changes will also come into effect in January 2013.
Business Programs
Although the latest publication from Citizenship and Immigration Canada says nothing about business programs, some information on this topic has periodically appeared recently.
I note that we are mainly talking about the Investor program, which is currently being discussed at the federal and provincial levels. In particular, until September 4, 2012, the immigration department is collecting proposals and opinions on what the selection criteria for this program should be, how the investments should be used, and what the conditions for issuing immigration visas should be. The conclusions drawn from the proposals received, which will form the basis of the Investor program, are planned to be published in the winter of 2013.
So it is still completely unclear what the requirements for this program will be. But I have almost no doubt that the amount of necessary investment in the Canadian economy will be increased. There are also indications that applicants under this program will be required to demonstrate adequate proficiency in one of Canada's official languages. That is all that can be said with relative certainty for now.
Nothing has been reported yet about the timing of the start of applications for this program. Based on a combination of indirect signs, it can be concluded that applications for the Investor program may begin as early as April 1, 2013, but these are only my assumptions.
At least, work on the Investor program is ongoing, and sooner or later it should be opened. The same cannot be said for the Entrepreneur program, which suspended applications on July 1, 2011, and has not been mentioned anywhere since. It feels like this program has either been decided to be closed, or they plan to integrate it with the Investor program, which would make sense in principle.
In particular, most provincial business programs represent a symbiosis of the federal Investor and Entrepreneur programs, as on the one hand they require mandatory investment in the economy, and on the other hand, 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.
At the moment, applications under business programs submitted before July 1, 2012 are being processed. In particular, in this year alone, it is planned to issue about 5,500-6,000 immigration visas under this stream. However, it should be remembered that this number includes not only the applicants themselves, but also their family members. That is, the actual number of investors and entrepreneurs whose applications will be considered this year should be approximately 1,500-2,000 people.
By the way, since 1999, about 9,500 investors have received immigration visas under business programs, and the total amount of investments was about $4 billion.
Given the positive effect that business programs have for Canada, there is great hope that the Investor program will be reopened in 2013, and quotas for the number of visas issued under this category will be increased. At least, the main reason why processing times for applications under business programs remain quite long is the small quotas allocated for this category.
Elena Ryabinina.
«Russian Toronto»