The main essence of the changes to Federal Skilled Worker is that the number of allowed applications for immigration is increasing and the list of occupations for which applications are accepted is expanding. In practice, this means that the opportunity for immigration is reopened for skilled professionals who do not have a job offer in Canada.
The announcement that the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration Canada is changing requirements for immigration programs for professionals was made on April 23 of this year. Minister Chris Alexander noted that starting May 1, 2014, the number of applications accepted for immigration under programs such as the Federal Skilled Worker Program, Federal Skilled Trades Program, and Canadian Experience Class is increasing.
Thus, for the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the number of applications accepted increases to 25,000 per year, and the list of occupations is expanded to 50. Most importantly, this list now includes professions that have always been the main flow of those wishing to immigrate to Canada.
For the Federal Skilled Trades Program, aimed at representatives of skilled trades, the number of applications accepted also increases – to 5,000 per year.
For the Canadian Experience Class program, intended for professionals who have worked in Canada for at least one year, the number of applications accepted is set at 8,000 applications per year.
It is worth noting that this is the last chance to apply for immigration to Canada under the above programs, including the Federal Skilled Worker Program.
The fact is that starting January 1, 2015, a completely new system for selecting immigrants from among skilled professionals will come into effect in Canada – Express Entry, which will replace the current programs. Therefore, for those who meet the requirements of the existing immigration programs, it makes sense to apply before the end of this year, as selection rules will be significantly changed from the beginning of next year.
Federal Skilled Worker Program
This program for a good two decades was the main one for skilled professionals immigrating to Canada. Unfortunately, its popularity turned into big problems because a long queue accumulated due to the large number of applications, resulting in processing times stretching over several years.
In order to somehow solve the problem of queues and long processing times, the government took the simplest path – establishing limits on the number of applications accepted and compiling a list of occupations. Moreover, these lists were so limited and so out of touch with reality that it was time to talk about the actual suspension of application acceptance. These measures began to be introduced in the summer of 2010, tightening them every year. In particular, for the period from May 3, 2013 to April 30, 2014, a total quota of only 5,000 applications was allocated for this program, with a quota for each occupation no more than 300 applications.
At the same time, the list of permitted occupations under current rules consists of 24 professions, most of which require licensing in Canada, or which are so unique that they made this list practically useless for the majority of potential immigrants.
In particular, at the present time (that is, actually a year after the start of accepting applications under this list), quotas for the number of applications accepted have been filled only for 9 occupations out of 24, which indicates the artificial nature of this list. Especially considering the hundreds of thousands of professionals wishing to immigrate to Canada and ready to do so immediately.
The new list and new quotas for the number of applications under the Federal Skilled Worker Program, which came into effect on May 1, 2014, somewhat change this bleak picture.
Changes for Federal Skilled Worker Program
It should be noted that the rules for applying for immigration under the Federal Skilled Worker Program themselves have not changed – along with the application, a full package of documents with attached English or French language test results must be submitted. Also mandatory is a preliminary assessment of the diploma by Canadian evaluation organizations, and having at least 67 points on the total selection criteria.
Only two things have changed, but they create a new reality.
First – the quota on the number of applications accepted increased from the current 5,000 to 25,000 (already from May 1, 2014). At the same time, quotas for the number of applications submitted for each occupation on the list are maintained, but they increase from the current 300 to 1,000.
Second, and this is very important, the list of in-demand occupations has been expanded from 24 professions to 50. It now includes, in particular, professions from the financial, engineering, scientific, and computer fields. Practice shows that these specialists usually form the main flow of those wishing to immigrate to Canada.
Additionally, it should be noted that persons with a valid job offer go outside the quota, that is, restrictions on the number of applications accepted do not apply to them.
For persons applying under the Federal Skilled Worker Program through the PhD stream (i.e., persons with a Canadian PhD degree), a limit on the number of applications submitted has been introduced up to 500.
To be continued.
Elena RYABININA,
«Russian Toronto».