On Tuesday, June 29th, I was quoted in Ming Pao, Vancouver’s largest Chinese daily newspaper.
另一本地移民律師辛湉王(Steven Meurrens)則認為，技術移民及新推出的加拿大經驗類別(Canadian Experience)移民均甚多限制，有意申請人士最好另走他途，他認為PNP仍是移民最快增長點，但許多人對PNP仍認識不夠。
辛湉王 續稱，雖然近日投資移民的投資額及資產額都提高了一倍，但聯邦及省府均有充分信心，認為投資移民金額提高一倍不會影響申請人數，這是政府迅速增加收入的有 效途徑。
My comments were a response to recent Chinese immigration trends to British Columbia.
The interviewer wanted to know my response to the following statistics compiled by BC Stats:
| PRC LANDINGS TO BC | |||||||||
| Family | Refugee | FSWP | PNP | LIC | Entrepreneur | Investor | Other | Total | |
| 2009 | 2,269 | 59 | 1,702 | 872 | 73 | 101 | 3,977 | 322 | 9,375 |
| 2008 | 1,957 | 43 | 3,235 | 654 | 32 | 120 | 3,712 | 161 | 9,914 |
| 2007 | 2,387 | 90 | 2,872 | 369 | 6 | 222 | 2,162 | 151 | 8,259 |
| 2006 | 2,412 | 147 | 4,795 | 229 | 8 | 259 | 2,894 | 186 | 10,930 |
| 2005 | 2,065 | 210 | 7,749 | 52 | 3 | 209 | 3,306 | 94 | 13,688 |
It is clear that in the 2005 to 2009 period there has been a decline in PRC immigrants to British Columbia. This certainly runs counter to popular myth.
Second, that decline can be largely explained in the near collapse of immigrants under the Federal Skilled Worker Program (“FSWP“). This decline has occurred across Canada, and is not limited to China.
Third, there has been a huge increase in the amount of immigrants under the Provincial Nominee Program.
I was also asked whether I thought that there was a deliberate effort on the part of Citizenship and Immigration Canada to keep Chinese people out. I think that the answer is clear that except for the FSWP the amount of Chinese immigrants in the other categories remain steady. Some have speculated that this is due to Chinese people failing to meet the language requirements. In my opinion, if this were the case, then there would have ALWAYS been a low acceptance rate. Surely the amount of Chinese people that are proficient in English is equal to, if not higher than, the amount that could speak English in 2005.
The FSWP has long been in decline. The recent reduction of the amount of eligible occupations and the placing of a cap on these occupations are all signs that this will continue.
Prospective immigrants should thus seriously consider the Provincial Nominee Program.