Last Updated on February 28, 2013 by Steven Meurrens
For the past several days the Citizenship and Immigration Canada homepage has featured the following happy trio.
These guys are certainly doing well for themselves in Canada. As Stephen Fogarty, a Montreal based Canadian immigration lawyer, noted, they’ve even appeared on dentist advertisements in Quebec.
You can play “spot the difference” with this one.
» Read more about: Spot the Difference »
Read more ›Last updated on April 27th, 2020
Last Updated on April 27, 2020 by Steven Meurrens
Many applicants often ask whether low salaries can result in Canadian Experience Class refusals.
Qin v. Canada
The leading case on the issue of whether low salaries can result in Canadian Experience Class (“CEC“) refusals is Qin v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration Canada), 2013 FCA 263. There, the Federal Court certified a question regarding whether immigration officers can consider a position’s prevailing wage rate when determining whether an applicant meets the requirements of the CEC.
Neither the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (the “Regulations“) nor the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada Processing Manuals state that officers should consider salary when assessing whether an applicant has the requisite experience in a skilled position for the CEC. Section 87.1 of the Regulations simply require an officer to evaluate whether a candidate has experience in an eligible occupation. On this point, Madam Justice Gleason wrote that:
In evaluating whether or not an applicant’s experience falls within a permissible [occupation], an officer is required to understand the nature of the work performed and the degree of complexity of the tasks undertaken, to determine whether or not they fall within the duties listed in the relevant [occupation]. The requisite analysis necessitates much more than a rote comparison of the duties listed in the [occupation] with those described in a letter of reference or job description. Rather, what is required is a qualitative assessment of the nature of the work done and comparison of it with the [National Occupational Classification Code (“NOC“)] descriptor. Indeed, there is a line of authority which indicates that,
» Read more about: Low Salaries and the Canadian Experience Class »
Read more ›Last Updated on February 19, 2013 by Steven Meurrens
On February 13th, in the House of Commons, Pat Martin asked John Baird what Canada’s government was doing to protect Canadians from zombies.
At 1:05 of the video Jason Kenney, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada, can be seen rubbing his head. He’s probably groaning at how much John Baird’s zombie pun bites.
» Read more about: Canada’s Government Protects us from Zombies »
Read more ›Last Updated on February 18, 2013 by Steven Meurrens
Many young people from certain countries around the world are able to come to Canada to work on open work permits for specified periods under the Working Holiday Program (“WHP“). The WHP is a part of the International Experience Canada (“IEC“) program. The IEC also includes other programs such as the Young Professionals Program which require that applicants have pre-arranged employment.
What many people don’t realize is that the WHP rules for specific countries vary dramatically. As well, they are changing constantly. So if you see you’re country on the list below, and you notice that the rules for your country are much more stringent than other countries, you may want to lobby your government to negotiate more flexible terms with Canada.
Country
Age Eligibility
Maximum Validity (Months)
Frequency of Participation
Quota
Australia
18-30
24
No limit
8,900
Belgium
18-30
12
Once
750
Chile
18-35
12
Once
725
Costa Rica
18-35
12
Twice in IEC, Once in WHP
70
Croatia
18-35
12
Twice
275
Czech Republic
18-35
12
Twice in IEC, Once in WHP
1,000
Denmark
18-35
12
Once
300
Estonia
18-35
12
Twice in IEC, Once in WHP
80
France
18-35
12
Twice in IEC, Once in WHP
14,000
Germany
18-35
12
Twice in IEC, Once in WHP
4,200
Greece
18-35
12
Twice in IEC, Once in WHP
Hong Kong
18-30
12
Once
200
Ireland
18-35
24
Once
6,350
Italy
18-35
6
Once
1,000
Japan
18-30
12
Once
6,500
Korea
18-30
12
Once
2,000 per tranche
Latvia
18-35
12
Twice in IEC, Once in WHP
164
Lithuania
18-35
12
Twice in IEC, Once in WHP
Netherlands
18-30
12
Twice in IEC, Once in WHP
380
New Zealand
18-35
12
Once
2,500
Norway
18-35
12
Twice in IEC, » Read more about: Comparing Working Holiday Programs »
Last Updated on February 14, 2013 by Steven Meurrens
In 2011, I wrote about how the Conservative Party of Canada was debating whether to adopt a policy to strip Canadian citizens of their citizenship if they commit terrorism abroad. The policy stated:
98. Canadian Citizenship and High Treason
The Conservative Party of Canada believes that any Canadian citizen, whether by birth or by naturalized grant of Canadian citizenship or by claim of landed immigrant or refugee status in Canada who commits treason by taking up arms against the Canadian Forces or the Forces of Canada’s Allies automatically invalidates his or her Canadian citizenship or claim to Canadian citizenship and, if and when returned to the jurisdiction of the Canadian Legal System, should be tried for high treason under the Canadian Criminal Code.
It now seems that Jason Kenney, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada, is considering something similar, namely stripping dual citizens of their Canadian citizenship if they commit terrorism abroad.
In 2011, I wrote that I had not formulated any particularly strong conclusions about the matter, and that I encouraged people to consider 9 questions before forming a position. I still haven’t formed a strong position on the matter, and encourage people to consider the following 5 questions before forming one.
- Do you think that any Canadian citizen who commits terrorism abroad should lose their citizenship, or only a dual citizen?
- What do you consider to be terrorism? Is throwing rocks at Israeli soldiers terrorism? What about a drone strike which kills civilians?
- Should we stop at stripping the citizenship of people involved in terrorism? Why not any serious crime?
- Who should decide whether something is terrorism?
» Read more about: Stripping Canadian Terrorists of Citizenship »
Read more ›Last Updated on February 13, 2013 by Steven Meurrens
Many individuals know that people who are exempt from the requirement to obtain a Temporary Resident Visa can apply for a Work Permit at a Canadian Port of Entry. What many do not realize is that this extends to people from any country who are returning to Canada after a trip to the United States. Specifically, r. 190 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations states that:
(3) A foreign national is exempt from the requirement to obtain a temporary resident visa if they are seeking to enter and remain in Canada solely
(f) to re-enter Canada following a visit solely to the United States or St. Pierre and Miquelon, if they
(i) held a study permit or a work permit that was issued before they left Canada on such a visit or were authorized to enter and remain in Canada as a temporary resident, and
(ii) return to Canada by the end of the period initially authorized for their stay or any extension to it;
We have made available for purchase on this blog an internal CBSA Memorandum from March 8, 2007, addressing this issue. The price for this document, which was obtained through an Access to Information and Privacy Act request, is $6.95. Our goal in providing this document is to help you save valuable research time. As well, it may be useful for you to bring a copy of this document either to the Port of Entry if you apply for a work permit there, or to a meeting with any immigration lawyer or consultant that you may have on this issue.
We have provided the first page of the memorandum as a sample below.
» Read more about: Applying for a Work Permit at the Port of Entry »
Read more ›Last Updated on February 12, 2013 by Steven Meurrens
[Note – with the recent confusion over whether the CEC cap has been reached I thought it would be useful to bring this old blog-post to the forefront.]
Many immigration programs, including the newly enacted Federal Skilled Trades Program, contain caps on the number of people who can apply. Citizenship and Immigration Canada (“CIC“) generally advises people that they should check the CIC website before submitting applications to make sure that the cap has not been exceeded. Unfortunately, CIC has also (successfully) argued in court that the information on their website is not reliable, and that the CIC website stating that the cap is unfilled does not create a legitimate expectation for applicants that the cap is in fact unfilled.
In Agama v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), an applicant was denied a permanent resident visa under the Skilled Workers Class (the “FSWC“). Under the FSWC, CIC considered a maximum of 500 applications in National Occupation Classification 0631 (“NOC 0631“) during the relevant year.
CIC posted the following information on its website regarding how many NOC 0631 applications it had received:
- September 28, 2011 – 209 applications
- October 10, 2011 – 229 applications
- November 3, 2011 – 330 applications
- November 8, 2011 – 335 applications
- December 1, 2011 – 458 applications
The applicant filed her application on November 14, 2011. Considering that the CIC website on December 1 reported that the cap stood at 458, she thought that she had made it.
Unfortunately, on January 13, 2012, CIC informed her that her application was rejected because the cap of 500 applications for NOC 0631 had been reached.
» Read more about: Reliability of CIC Cap Figures »
Read more ›Last Updated on February 6, 2013 by Steven Meurrens
After the work experience requirement for the Canadian Experience Class went from two-years to one, many people have been asking whether they should apply for the BC PNP – Strategic Occupations – Skilled Workers program or the Canadian Experience Class.
The following table shows some of the issues that applicants should be aware with each application. It was part of a larger table comparing the BC PNP to many federal economic immigration programs which I wrote in a paper for the 2013 Canadian Bar Association – British Columbia Branch Annual Immigration Conference.
Issue
BC PNP – Skilled Workers
CEC
Is a job offer required as part of the application?
Yes, and the employer must have at least 3-5 employees depending on its location.
No. In fact, there is no requirement that the applicant be employed during the processing of the application.
If a job offer is required, can the applicant change employers?
Not until after nomination, and the BC PNP may withdraw nomination if the new position does not meet program requirements.
N/A
If a job offer is required, does the employer have to do recruitment?
Yes, although if the employee is a TFW the original recruitment is sufficient.
N/A
How much work experience is required?
Several years of directly related work experience.
1 year of work experience in a NOC 0/A/B occupation in Canada in the 3 years preceding the application.
Does self-employment count to experience?
Yes.
No.
Can currently self-employed people apply?
No, an applicant cannot own more than 10% of the employer.
Yes. However, they must have one year experience as an employee.
Processing times
8-12 weeks at BC PNP, and then varies at CIC
11 months
Is language testing required?
» Read more about: Should I Do BC PNP or CEC? »
Read more ›Last Updated on February 4, 2013 by Steven Meurrens
Fresh off of last week’s report on people who were declared in 2011 to be inadmissible to Canada when they arrived at the Vancouver International Airport, the following chart obtained through an Access to Information and Privacy Act request shows the source countries of people who were voluntarily allowed to leave YVR without being declared inadmissible to Canada.
The top 10 countries were:
Citizenship
2011
United States
207
Korea
144
China
109
Hong Kong
49
Taiwan
49
Philippines
37
Japan
34
Mexico
28
Australia
26
Germany
30
Israel
18
British
17
India
14
France
11
Read more ›
Last Updated on February 2, 2013 by Steven Meurrens
In 2011, 1,108 people were declared inadmissible to Canada when they arrived at the Vancouver International Airport. The following chart obtained through an Access to Information and Privacy Act request shows these individuals’ source countries.
The top 10 countries were:
Citizenship
2011
United States
247
South Korea
137
Hungary
83
China
72
Taiwan
49
British
40
Australia
35
Iran
30
Hong Kong
26
India
26
Japan
26
Germany
20
Mexico
19 » Read more about: Top Source Countries for A44 Reports at YVR »
Social Media
