The Canadian embassy in Beijing has expanded the Student Partnership Program originally launched in India to China.
The program creates a special processing channel at the Beijing visa office for students destined to member institutions of the Association of Canadian Community Colleges, whose membership includes Camosun College, Douglas College, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, and Vancouver Community College. Students using the program will experience a far shorter wait time than normal applicants, in some cases less than two weeks.
The application form can be viewed here: http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/china-chine/assets/pdfs/immigration/beijing/documents/SPP_Application_Kit_2010_07_EN.pdf
This story broke in today’s Ming Pao, both as a front page story, and as a small story with my comments here:
在技術移民難度顯著增加的情況下，加國駐中國大使館新推出的中加學生合作計劃，有望成為中國一般社會人士移民加拿大的新途徑。
移 民律師辛湉王(Steven Meurrens)指出，先到本地學院習得一技之長，又有實習經驗的留學生勢必更受加國移民部歡迎，只要符合規定，無論通過聯邦經驗類(CEC)，還是省 提名類別(PNP)移民均更易成功，因為加國非常需要這些能夠通過技術服務社會、能有效融入本地的青壯年，他認為SPP有望成為一個新的移民增長點。
留 學顧問丁方方表示，通過留學移民的途徑日漸熱門，許多私立學校亦以此招攬生源，但實際上這些學校良莠不齊，其課程更可能完全不符合移民政策的要求，因此 SPP計劃中的公立學院是好得多的選擇，它們提供多種多樣的文憑或證書課程，比大學更注重職業性和實際操作，兼有帶薪實習課程(Co-op)，有利於就 業。她認為，這對於有意移民的普通人，SPP計劃可能是個比技術移民或投資移民更可行的選擇。
The Student Partnership Program was originally launched in India. During the first nine months of the program, over 4,000 applications were submitted. The approval rate for the first group of students under the program was more than double the approval rate for the same colleges the preceding year. As well, 95% of the students remained in good standing at their respective colleges.
The average processing time was about two and a half weeks.
In 2010, the following colleges were members of the ACCC:
- Algonquin College
- Bow Valley College
- Cambrian College of Applied Arts & Technology
- Camosun College
- Centennial College of Applied Arts & Technology
- College of New Caledonia
- College of the Rockies
- Columbia College
- Conestoga College
- Confederation College of Applied Arts & Technology
- Douglas College
- Durham College
- Fanshawe College of Applied Arts & Technology
- George Brown College
- Georgian College of Arts & Technology
- Grant MacEwan University
- Humber College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning
- Kwantlen Polytechnic University
- Lambton College of Applied Arts & Technology
- Loyalist College of Applied Arts & Technology
- Marine Institute of Memorial University
- Medicine Hat College
- Mohawk College of Applied Arts & Technology
- Niagara College
- North Island College
- Northern Alberta Institute of Technology
- Northern College
- Northern Lights
- Okanagan College
- Red River College of Applied Arts, Science & Technology
- Selkirk College
- Seneca College of Applied Arts & Technology
- Sheridan College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning
- St-Clair College of Applied Arts & Technology
- St. Lawrence College
- University of The Fraser Valley
- Vancouver Island University
- Vancouver Community College