On March 1, 2015, both the Ottawa Sun and the CBC reported that protesters demonstrated in front of the Citizenship and Immigration Canada (“CIC”) building on Laurier Avenue in Ottawa. As the CBC reported: Canadians who fall in love with someone of another nationality can face daunting obstacles to starting a life together in Canada. If their spouse is living here already, they face a 25-month waiting period for their application to be processed. That waiting period has grown longer over the past two years, leaving thousands of families in limbo. It is not only spouses in Canada whose applications are experiencing processing delays.
The Increasing Burden on Canadian Businesses
The following article appeared in the March 2015 edition of The Canadian Immigrant. — Canada’s government views itself as being a government that has reduced administrative burdens for Canadian businesses. Indeed, the House of Commons recently passed legislation that states that every new regulation that imposes a new administrative burden on Canadian business must result in an existing regulation being amended or repealed. Under its Red Tape Reduction Action Plan, the Canadian government has announced that it is committed to streamlining the regulatory approval processes and reducing reporting requirements and information demands. Canadian employers of foreign nationals and prospective immigrants can be forgiven for viewing these proclamations and pronouncements with skepticism. Administrative burden of the LMIA regime Since 2013, the now-called Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) has made the labour market impact assessment (LMIA) regime excessively administratively cumbersome. ESDC has increased the LMIA application fee from $0 to $275 to $1,000. It has introduced exceedingly more stringent recruitment requirements on employers wishing to obtain LMIAs to permanently retain their foreign workers and help them transition to permanent residency. For reasons that I still don’t understand, ESDC has decided to not publicize some of its recruitment requirements, a decision which … Read More
The APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Business Travel Card (ABTC)
In June 2014, the Government of Canada announced that Canadians could now participate in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (“APEC“) Business Travel Card (“ABTC“) program. I applied for and quickly obtained one. Indeed, when I went for my interview I was told by the United States Customs and Border Patrol officer that I was one of the first people to be interviewed. From what I can tell it appears that very few Canadians have applied for the ABTC. Indeed, when I mention the very existence of the ABTC most people appear unaware that it even exists. This is unfortunate. If you’re a Canadian citizen or permanent resident and you’ve ever sat in frustration at the Chinese Consulate in Vancouver waiting for your visa that will only be valid for a few months, or stood in line gaping at the size of the crowds at the ShenZhen-Hong Kong border crossing, then the ABTC is for you.
Increased Fees and Compliance in the International Mobility Program
On February 11, 2015, the Government of Canada publicized amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations that affected most applicants in the International Mobility Program (the “IMP“). The IMP includes all streams of work permit applications that are exempt from the Labour Market Impact Assessment (“LMIA“) process, including workers covered by free trade agreements, people participating in exchange programs like International Experience Canada (“IEC“), provincial nominees, intra-company transferees, post-graduate work permit holders, etc. In reviewing the changes described below, it is important to understand the distinction between a closed work permit and an open work permit. A closed work permit limits a foreign worker to a particular employer. An open work permit allows the foreign worker to work for any employer. The changes consist of: Requiring that employers of prospective closed work permit holders in the IMP provide information to Citizenship and Immigration Canada (“CIC“) before their prospective employees apply for work permits; Requiring that employers of prospective closed work permit holders pay a $230.00 “employer compliance fee” per employee before their prospective employees apply for work permits; and Introducing a new $100.00 “privilege fee” on open work permit applicants. The Government of Canada has announced that the above changes … Read More
Citizenship and Immigration Canada Abandons International Students
The following article appeared in the December 2014 edition of The Canadian Immigrant magazine. Are options for international students to immigrate permanently narrowing? Each year, around 100,000 international students arrive in Canada to commence their studies. From 2005 to 2013, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) introduced many programs to make it easier for these students to obtain work experience in Canada after graduating and to transition to permanent resident status. My May 2013 column for Canadian Immigrantdetailed the ways in which post-graduate work permit (PGWP) holders could stay in Canada beyond the expiry of their PGWPs. In that article I wrote “some graduates regretfully lose their employment (and consequently jeopardize their permanent residence applications) if the employers are unable or unwilling to pay the required prevailing wage rates required for LMOs [labour market opinions], or if Service Canada refuses the applications because of insufficient recruitment on the employer’s part. There is no reason for this to be happening.” Unfortunately for international students, that “there is no reason for this to be happening” is no longer the case, and the road for recent graduates to obtain permanent residency is becoming increasing difficult.
Introducing a Residency Requirement for Social Transfers
The Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act (the “FPFAA“) establishes the Canada Social Transfer, a federal block transfer to provinces and territories to support post-secondary education, social assistance, social services, early childhood development, and early learning. In 2014-15 the total Canada Social Transfer transferred to all provinces and territories will be almost $12.6 billion. The FPFAA stipulates that one of the objectives of the Canada Social Transfer is to maintain a national standard in which no period of minimum residency is required or allowed for an individual to receive social assistance, and the current version of s. 25.1 of the FPFAA achieves this by stipulating that: Criteria for eligibility — Canada Social Transfer 25.1 In order that a province may qualify for a full cash contribution under [the Canada Social Transfer] for a fiscal year, the laws of the province must not (a) require or allow a period of residence in the province or Canada to be set as a condition of eligibility for social assistance or for the receipt or continued receipt of social assistance; or (b) make or allow the amount, form or manner of social assistance to be contingent on a period of such residence. In other words, provinces and territories … Read More
Environmental Overview – Colombo
The following is a summary of the Environmental Overview of the immigration functions at the Canadian High Commission in Colombo, Sri Lanka (the “Environmental Overview”). The Environmental Overview was prepared as part of the Citizenship and Immigration Canada 2014-2015 planning exercise, and is current as of January 2014. Areas in blockquote are direct passages from the Environmental Overview. If you would like to obtain a copy of the full Environmental Overview, please contact me.
Low-Wage Caps
Employers offering wages to prospective foreign workers that are below the provincial/territorial median hourly wage will subject to a maximum 10% cap on the proportion of low-wage foreign workers. The cap is being phased in over 2 years.Employers that have a low-wage foreign worker workforce will be: limited to 30% or frozen at their current level, whichever is lower; reduced to 20% beginning July 1, 2015; and further reduced to 10% on July 1, 2016. Cap Exemptions There are a few exemptions to the low-wage cap requirement, including employers that: have fewer than 10 employees nationally, including the vacant positions they are applying to staff with TFWs. are hiring TFWs for jobs that are truly temporary (e.g. emergency or warranty work positions). are hiring TFWs for low-wage positions located in Quebec. Calculating the Cap To calculate the cap, employers need to follow a complicated 2-step process that includes: Establishing the cap for the specified work location; and Determining the effect of hiring TFWs on the cap. Establishing the cap for the specified work location The first step of the cap calculation is to determine the percentage of foreign workers in low-wage positions at the work location where the TFW will be employed. The steps towards calculating this are: Select 4 consecutive weeks between May 10, 2014 and June 20, 2014. This time … Read More
Communicating by email with IRCC
The following article appeared in the November 2014 edition of The Canadian Immigrant. —— People wishing to immigrate to Canada have traditionally had to submit paper-based applications, and communicate with Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) by regular mail. CIC, however, is modernizing its processes. An increasing number of applications can now be uploaded to CIC’s online portal, and visa offices regularly communicate with applicants by email. Indeed, visa officers frequently send important emails to applicants that contain requirements for the applicants to provide specific documentation within strict deadlines. Unsurprisingly, many emails from CIC to applicants appear to go missing, and both CIC and the Federal Court have had to determine what procedures are fair when applicants miss deadlines contained in emails that they allege they never received. You get to decide how to communicate You, the applicant, has the ultimate choice of when to communicate by email with CIC. CIC will initiate email communication with you if you submit a completed application form, which includes an email address, if you provide a signed Use of Representative form that includes an email address, or if you initiate email communication with CIC. At any point, however, you may request that CIC communicate … Read More
Service Canada Transition Plans
On June 23, 2014, we wrote about how on June 20, 2014, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (“CIC”) and the Ministry of Economic and Social Development Canada (“ESDC”) announced significant reforms to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (“TFWP”). One of the changes was: Introduction of Transition Plans for High-Wage Positions Employers seeking to hire High-Wage TFWs will now be required to submit Transition Plans to demonstrate how they will increase efforts to hire Canadians, including through higher wages, investments in training and more active recruitment efforts from within Canada. An employer will have to provide a Transition Plan for each position that it is seeking a LMIA for. The requirement that employers provide a Transition Plan has taken effect immediately. Employers may be exempt from the Transition Plan requirement if they are hiring TFWs for positions which: require unique skills (ESDC has stated that two examples include nuclear physicist and senior executives such as Chief Executive Officer); have a limited duration of between: 1 and 120 days (ESDC has stated that two examples include emergency or warranty work repair technicians / mechanics); or more than 120 days to a maximum of 2 year (ESDC has stated that two examples include project-based … Read More