The British Columbia government has released a report on the province’s Provincial Nominee Program (“BC PNP”). Introduced in 2001, the BC PNP has become one of the most preferred routes for people immigrating to Canada. I personally believe that the number of people admitted to the program’s current cap of 3,500 nominations should be increased with a corresponding decrease in some of the federal programs.
The Strategic Occupations Stream
The report reached the following conclusions about the Strategic Occupations Stream, which consists of numerous programs designed to attract skilled or future-skilled workers to British Columbia.
- From 2005-2010 (mid-year), the BC PNP nominated almost 10,000 workers who were employed by over 4,600 employers. The top 5 source countries in order for the BC PNP Strategic Occupations Stream during this period was the United Kingdom, China, the Philippines, the United States, and Korea.
- 25% of nominees settled outside of the Metro Vancouver region. This is significantly larger than the 10% of Federal Skilled Workers who immigrate to British Columbia that settled outside the Lower Mainland, and the incredibly small 6% of Federal Business Class immigrants.
- 94% of people nominated continue to live in British Columbia. 86% of people remain in the community where they planned to live at the time of nomination. 87% of nominees where still working in the same occupation as when they were nominated. 77% were working for the same employer.
- 94% of nominees surveyed were working full time. BC PNP Skilled Workers reported an average annual pre-tax income of approximately $88,200 in 2009, compared with $64,000 for Federal Skilled Workers.
- 2% of BC PNP Skilled Workers and 7% of BC PNP Entry Level and Semi-Skilled nominees had incomes that did not meet the Statistics Canada Low Income Cutoff.
» Read more about: BC PNP Statistics »
Read more ›On March 14, 2011, the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program expanded the Strategic Recruitment Stream to include both Compulsory and Designated Trades. Under the program, temporary foreign workers in Alberta can apply for permanent residency if:
- They intend to and be able to live and work permanently in Alberta.
- They have an Alberta Qualification Certificate in a compulsory or optional trade.
- They have an AINP invitation letter from Alberta Industry Training.
- They are residing in Alberta at the time of application and possess valid work permits from Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) in the trade in which they are certified.
- They are either currently working in their trade for an Alberta Employer or have previously worked in their trade with an Alberta Employer for a minimum of six months in the past two years.
A list of the compulsory and optional trades can be found on the Alberta government’s website here.
» Read more about: Changes to Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program Strategic Recruitment Stream »
Read more ›On February 26th, 2011, Christy Clark won a hotly contested contest for the leadership of the B.C. Liberal Party. This means that she will become Premier within the next couple weeks. One of her priorities is to put “families first”. Few specifics have really yet been offered regarding what policies this involves. One way that Christy Clark can improve the circumstances of thousands of British Columbian families is to introduce a “Family Stream” into the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (“BC PNP”).
Read more ›On December 15, 2010, the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program for Business (MPNP-B) posted current processing times. As the table below demonstrates, for Chinese applicants, the wait time for an exploratory visit is huge.
Read more ›During the past couple months, our office has received several frantic phone calls from people (often real estate agents or bankers) telling us that a family who was immigrating to Canada under a Provincial Nominee Program was detained by the Canada Border Services Agency
Read more ›Manitoba is located in the prairies. Its population is the fifth largest in Canada, at 1,232,654. It’s capital city is Winnipeg, where 60% of Manitoba’s population live, and is where four of the province’s five universities are located. It also has Canada’s most successful provincial nominee program.
Read more ›In addition to the family class stream and the availability of an exemption to a visa requirement based on humanitarian & compassionate grounds, it is possible for low-skilled workers to immigrate under provincial programs designed to facilitate permanent residency for people in certain “low-skilled or semi-skilled” occupations. In British Columbia, this program is known as the “Entry-Level and Semi-Skilled Pilot Project”.
Read more ›Effective August 23, 2010, the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program is no longer accepting applications under either the AINP U.S. Visa Holder Category or the Family Stream. Any applications that were postmarked before August 23rd will continue to be accepted.
Read more ›
According to CIC, during the past 12 months the approval rate for different application streams for permanent residence has been as follows:
Immigration Category
Approval Rate
Economic
Quebec Skilled Workers
97%
Federal Skilled Workers (Pre-C-50)
57%
Federal Skilled Workers (Post C-50)
21%
Entrepreneurs
76%
Self Employed
45%
Investors
82%
Provincial Nominees
96%
Live-In-Caregivers
99%
Canadian Experience Class
85%
Family
Parents and Grandparents
91%
Spouses & Partners
83%
Dependent Children
80%
Family Class (Other)
70%
Humanitarian
Government Sponsored Refugees
76%
Private Sponsored Refugees
69%
Refugee Dependents
86%
H&C Applications
70%
FCH – Family Relations – H&C
90%
» Read more about: Live in Care Givers, PNP Acceptance Rates »
Read more ›
One of the most complicated topics in immigration law is determining when procedural fairness will require an immigration officer who is assessing an application to seek clarification in the form of a fairness letter or interview.
As the Supreme Court of Canada noted in Baker v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) the the concept of procedural fairness is eminently variable and its content is to be decided in the specific context of each case. When a visa officer does not rely on third party extrinsic evidence to make a decision it can often appear unclear when exactly it is necessary for an officer to afford an applicant an interview or a right to respond to the officer’s concerns. However, there will be a right to respond under certain circumstances.
Requirement to Provide Complete Applications
Visa officers do not have any legal responsibility to advise applicants of incomplete or inadequate applications.
In Kaur v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2010 FC 758, for example, the Federal Court dismissed a judicial review application of a visa officer’s refusal of an applicant under the Federal Skilled Worker Program. A visa officer determined that the application was deficient as it failed to include required information regarding the applicant’s salary and benefits. The applicant argued that the Canadian embassy should have told the applicant that this information was missing, and given her a chance to provide what was missing. However, the Court noted that there is no duty to advise an applicant of a deficient application. As Justice Mandamin noted, the process is clear. An applicant must provide a complete application.
As such, and to reiterate, visa officers do not have the obligation to notify applicants of inadequacies in their applications nor in the supporting documents.
» Read more about: When Procedural Fairness Requires a Fairness Letter »
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