On June 18, 2019 Canada launched the Home Child-Care Provider Pilot and Home Support Worker Pilot. The Home Child-Care Provider Pilot and Home Support Worker Pilot are 2 economic pilot programs targeted to foreign national caregivers who: have a job offer or Canadian work experience in an eligible caregiver occupation; and meet minimum education and language proficiency requirements. The ability to be a foreign caregiver in Canada has largely been restricted to these two programs as the Department of Employment and Social Development Canada has issued Ministerial Instructions refusing to process Labour Market Impact Assessments for caregivers. Application Caps A maximum of 2,750 complete applications will be processed per year in each pilot. Applicants with 24 Months or more of Eligible Experience Applicants with 24 months or more of eligible Canadian work experience must satisfy the following criteria: meet the minimum language requirements of Canadian Language Benchmark 5 in Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing; meet the minimum education requirements of having either a Canadian one-year post secondary (or higher) educational credential or a foreign educational credential that is equivalent to a completed one-year Canadian post-secondary (or higher) educational credential; meet the work experience requirement; and be admissible to Canada. Eligible … Read More
The Agri-Food Pilot
The Agri-Food Pilot is a Canadian immigration program designed to address labor shortages in Canada’s agri-food sector. It was launched by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC“) in 2019 as a three-year pilot program, set to expire in 2022, but has since been extended to May 2024. It is established through Ministerial Instructions. The Agri-Food Pilot program is a targeted initiative that aims to address the specific labor needs of the agri-food sector in Canada and provide foreign workers with a pathway to permanent residency. To be eligible, candidates must have a job offer in Canada from an employer in the agri-food sector and meet other eligibility criteria, such as language proficiency and educational requirements. Specifically, applicants need eligible Canadian work experience in one or more of the eligible industries and occupations; a full-time, non-seasonal job offer from a Canadian employer in one of the eligible industries and occupations (outside of Quebec); to meet or exceed the language requirements; to meet or exceed the educational requirements; to have settlement funds (if applicable); and to maintain temporary resident status (if already in Canada). Eligible Work Experience Applicants must have: a minimum of 1 year of non-seasonal, full-time work in the past 3 years before … Read More
Genuineness and Caregivers
On June 18, 2019 Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada revamped its caregiver programs. Gone was the requirement that employers first obtain a Labour Market Impact Assessment and that caregivers work in Canada without their families for at least two years before they could apply for permanent residency. Instead, caregivers can now immediately apply for permanent residency if they have a job offer or Canadian work experience in an eligible caregiver occupation and if they meet minimum education and language proficiency requirements and come to Canada with their families right away. The new caregiver programs have existed for about four months now and it is too early to determine whether they have been a success. An issue that has arisen, however, is the issue of employers and applicants demonstrating that their job offers are genuine. How the Caregiver Programs Work Canada now has two caregiver programs. The first is the Home-Child Care Provider Pilot. The second is the Home Support Worker Pilot. A maximum of 2,750 applications are accepted per year under each stream. In both programs, applicants must demonstrate through standardized language testing that they have Initial Intermediate English or French ability, also known as Canadian Language Benchmark 5, and … Read More
The 2021 NOC and TEERs
The following is a summary of a 2022 Memo to the Minister. In 2022 Canada is changing the National Occupational Classification (“NOC”). The new NOC is called NOC 2021. Among the changes in NOC 2021 is the replacement of NOC 2016’s five Skill Type / Level Groupings – used to determine eligibility for several Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada programs – with a new categorization of six TEER (representing the requisite Training, Education, Experience and Responsibilities of each occupation). Transition The transition to the new NOC will work as follows. NOC 2016 NOC 2021 Skill Type 0 TEER 0 Skill Level A TEER 1 Skill Level TEER 2 and TEER 3 Skill Level C TEER 4 Skill Level D TEER 5 Occupations have moved throughout the classification to align with this methodology. This will result in minor changes for most programs (e.g., the use of new terminology), but more substantive changes are needed for programs with narrower occupational criteria where the current Skill Type/Level groupings are used, including those managed under Express Entry (i.e., Federal Skilled Workers Program, Federal Skilled Trades Program, Canadian Experience Class, and a portion of the Provincial Nominee Program) and the Atlantic Immigration Program. Changes to … Read More
Self-Employed Class – Becomming Economically Established
Regulation 100(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, SOR/2002-227 states: For the purposes of subsection 12(2) of the Act, the self-employed persons class is hereby prescribed as a class of persons who may become permanent residents on the basis of their ability to become economically established in Canada and who are self-employed persons within the meaning of subsection 88(1). Becomming Economically Established The IRCC Guidelines state the following about how officers should assess a person’s ability to become economically established in Canada. A self-employed applicant must demonstrate the intention and ability to create his/her own employment in Canada through cultural activities, athletics or the purchase and management of a farm. A person’s financial assets may be a measure of intent and ability to establish economically in Canada. There is no minimum investment level for a self-employed person. The capital required depends on the nature of the work. Applicants must have sufficient funds to create an employment opportunity for themselves and support themselves and their family members. This includes the ability to be self-supporting until the self-employment has been created. A demonstrated ability to support themselves and their family through their talents could be a good indicator of their ability … Read More
The Return of Incomplete Applications
One of the most frustrating experiences for people applying for visas is to have an application returned due to incompleteness. Because of processing delays, it often takes Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC“) months to return an incomplete application, and applicants have to then start over.
COVID-19 Immigration Pathways – TRPR
On April 14, 2021 Canada’s Immigration Minister, Marco Mendicino, announced the creation of two new immigration programs that will allow approximately 90,000 individuals to apply for permanent residence between May 6, 2021 and November 5, 2021. I say approximately because the programs have application caps except for those with upper-basic French language capability. The programs provide an immigration opportunity for many people who previously did not qualify to immigrate. While the application packages for the programs have yet to be released, and there are questions about some of the details, it is important that anyone who is currently in Canada and who wishes to immigrate check to see if they qualify based on the details that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”) has released so far. There are also certain requirements (passing a language test, being employed) that prospective applicants may need to act on in order to qualify that they should do immediately as applicable. The programs in brief target foreign nationals who have one year of work experience in occupations that IRCC has deemed essential, those who have graduated from a qualifying Canadian post-secondary institution and French speakers. Program A – Permanent Residence for Foreign Nationals in Canada, … Read More
Low Salaries and the Canadian Experience Class
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 … Read More
Applying to Immigrate During COVID19
During the last two weeks of March, 2020, the Government of Canada implemented many measures in response to the COVID19 pandemic. In the immigration context, these measures included travel bans, the suspension of biometrics and the transition of most Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”) officers to remote work. The changes were frequent, dramatic and difficult to keep up with. They have left a lot of prospective immigrants wondering what exactly is open with regards to Canada’s immigration programs. Please note that this article was written on April 1, 2020. Travel Bans Canada is currently denying boarding to most foreign nationals on flights to Canada. There are, however, numerous exemptions to this. First, individuals who are travelling from the United States who have been in the United States for at least 14 days before they try to travel to Canada by land, sea or air, can travel to Canada if they are asymptomatic. Such individuals must show that they are coming to Canada for essential reasons and not for reasons that are optional or discretionary, such as tourism, recreation or entertainment. Second, all temporary foreign workers, as well as international students who have a valid … Read More
Introducing Express Entry
On January 1 2015, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (“CIC“) is expected to overhaul its economic immigration programs with the launch of Express Entry. On December 1, 2014, the Government of Canada released detailed Ministerial Instructions regarding Express Entry. In this post I hope to provide an easy to read overview of the new program. Express Entry will significantly alter every economic immigration program, including the Federal Skilled Worker Program (“FSWP“), the Canadian Experience Class (“CEC“), the Federal Skilled Trades Program (“FSTP“), and the Provincial Nominee Program (“PNP“). Rather than first in, first processed for permanent residence applications Express Entry will feature a “selection” of candidates who the Government of Canada believes is most likely to succeed in Canada. Express Entry will consist of two steps for potential applicants: Completing an Online Express Entry Profile Receiving a Letter of Invitation CIC is touting that Express Entry is not a new immigration per se, but rather a way for CIC to manage economic immigration applications online. However, a quick review of Express Entry suggests that who will be eligible to immigrate to Canada under Express Entry will fundamentally change.