The immigration process to Canada has ceased to be a game with clearly defined rules
First, as "Russian Toronto" notes, many people rely on how the system worked before the changes, i.e., before 2015. This is quite understandable, as there is a wealth of information online about immigration to Canada that is hopelessly outdated and misleading. New articles also mostly talk about new immigration programs, but few explain what is involved in going through them. The fact that currently, for any program, there are additional conditions that affect an applicant's chances, what the essence of these additional conditions is, and how it works in practice, is usually not mentioned in such articles.
The situation is exacerbated by people who went through immigration 5-7 years ago or more and share their immigration experience. Given that the rules under which they went through, and indeed the entire scheme, have long since disappeared, the experience of these people is absolutely useless at present and should not be relied upon under any circumstances. But this is precisely the approach that is popular among potential immigrants—to have someone who has already successfully gone through immigration share their experience with them.
Second, Canadian immigration authorities either could not or did not deem it necessary to explain how the system currently works. All informational materials from Canadian immigration authorities still look the same as they did 10-15 years ago. Therefore, the impression is created that there is a particular program, and if you meet the requirements of that program, you can successfully go through immigration. However, in reality, this is not the case at all.
Finally, many programs, especially provincial ones, transitioned to the new scheme with a delay, and this created the impression that everything was working as before. Currently, the transition to the new scheme overall has been completed, with Quebec being the last province to do so, so it makes sense to once again explain the new approach to selecting immigrants.
How the old and new approaches to immigration differ
For decades, Canada's immigration system was structured as follows. There was a list of immigration programs, each with a set of specific requirements. If an applicant met these requirements, their application was placed in a queue, and they waited. When their turn came, immigration authorities verified the accuracy of the information provided, assessed compliance with the requirements, and if everything was in order, the applicant was granted permanent resident status.
In 2014, Canada completely changed its approach to immigration. First, it was decided to completely abandon procedures that create queues. To this end, the "first come, first served" principle was abolished. Now, all applications are submitted to a single database, where they remain for a limited period, and from among them, those who are allowed to immigrate are selected, while others are not.
Second, meeting the requirements of a particular program ceased to be a sufficient condition for success. Whereas before, achieving the required points under the skilled worker program almost guaranteed successful immigration to Canada, now it can only be considered a ticket to entry. It gives you the opportunity only to submit an application to the common database, but it is far from certain that you will be selected there.
The same applies to business immigration. Whereas before, having certain amounts of money and business experience almost guaranteed successful immigration, now it is merely a basis for submitting an application. To go through immigration, you first need to present an interesting business project that immigration authorities must assess as viable and promising, obtain their approval, then this project must be successfully implemented, and only then can you apply for permanent resident status.
Therefore, meeting the requirements of a particular program is currently important but insufficient. For successful immigration, it is now also necessary to meet additional conditions—for example, to pass through the Express Entry filter if you are immigrating as a skilled worker, or to win a business project competition, and so on.
At the very least, the old scheme, where you choose a program, submit an application under it, and wait, no longer works.
Two-stage immigration scheme to Canada
Although this is not stated anywhere and is not particularly emphasized, the situation is such that immigration to Canada has effectively become two-stage. In most cases, the applicant must first demonstrate that they have the ability to quickly and well adapt to Canada, which in practice means having a job offer in Canada or work experience in Canada.
Indeed, if you look at all currently available paths to immigration to Canada, the vast majority are based on employment opportunities. For example, to pass through the Express Entry pre-selection filter or the provincial program filter, skilled workers must first obtain a job offer in Canada, or they must have worked in Canada for some time.
To go through a business program, you first need to obtain approval of your project from immigration authorities, set up a business in Canada, work for a year or two, and only then apply for permanent resident status.
Even humanitarian programs, which have minuscule quotas, are based on the community undertaking to assist in the employment of the sponsored immigrant.
All this leads to the fact that before applying for immigration, you must do some preliminary work. For example, studying in Canada is not a requirement for the federal Canadian Experience Class program; you only need to show one year of work in Canada. However, to work one year in Canada, you must first get a job in Canada, which is extremely difficult without obtaining an education in that country and getting an open work permit.
Improvisation in finding immigration paths
Another important detail of the new approach is that the immigration process has turned from a set of clear procedures that must be strictly followed into improvisation, where you need to act according to the situation and choose from what is available at the moment.
At least now you cannot focus on just one program and just one strategy. If earlier the task of an immigration lawyer or consultant was to select a suitable program for you, explain the rules, and help prepare all documents correctly, now it does not work that way.
Now the task of consultants is to guide you through the immigration process, offering solutions depending on the evolving situation and your capabilities. Often during the immigration process, up to 5-6 different opportunities may arise that can be used. Therefore, it is important to be aware of all programs, especially new ones, and be ready at each stage to reconsider your strategy depending on the circumstances.
This is also a feature of Canada's new immigration policy – no obligations to applicants, no long-term programs that applicants can count on. There is no talk of protecting or caring for applicants' interests at all; the sole focus is on Canada's interests. The task of immigration authorities is to respond quickly to the changing needs of the Canadian economy, so both programs and their requirements, as well as the categories of immigrants given preference, can be changed at any time.
Therefore, everyone planning to immigrate to Canada can be advised to approach immigration more flexibly, consider the full range of solutions, and, most importantly, constantly monitor the emergence of new opportunities. Willingness to improvise in approaches becomes key when going through immigration to Canada.
Prospects for immigration
In addition to the confusion that arose during the transition from one concept of immigrant selection to another, there is also such a factor as uncertainty about the prospects for immigration.
Among Canadians, the percentage of those who oppose increasing the intake of immigrants is growing rapidly, and more and more people are in favor of reducing immigration. Of course, these sentiments mainly concern the refugee category, but they force politicians to respond to public demands without delving into the nuances.
At least the Conservative Party has already begun signaling that they are ready to reduce the intake of immigrants to Canada if they come to power as a result of the federal elections, which are to be held in the fall of 2019. The chances that the Conservatives could win are quite high, so a reduction in immigration cannot be ruled out, and this also creates additional uncertainty.
Therefore, one cannot count on stability in the immigration sphere. Undoubtedly, immigration will not be shut down, but programs and their requirements may change.
Conclusion
The process of immigration to Canada has ceased to be formalized; playing by clearly defined rules is a thing of the past. The only thing you can rely on is the general approach to selected immigrants – they must show that they can easily find employment in Canada.
Therefore, the main thing you should think about when planning to immigrate to Canada is how you can get a job offer in Canada. This is the key point. Which immigration program to choose will depend on how and where you plan to get a job offer in Canada.