Citizenship and Immigration Minister of Canada has proposed new skilled Canadian immigration system which seems to be a result of total policy overhaul of current skilled Canadian immigration. For decades the Canadian skilled immigration eligibility has been based on a points system that balances various factors while determining the eligibility of foreign nationals for Canadian immigration. The current approach is not regional-specific rather it has been up to the incoming immigrant to choose the place of residence based on economic and/or family considerations. The needs of region-specific or industry-specific employers have been dealt with through executing negotiated agreements with respective provinces to address their labour shortages and sustain the demographic balance. For instance, British Columbia required construction workers especially for construction of high class sports facilities prior to winter Olympics of 2010 or Alberta needed oil industry related workers because of oil sands boom in the province or allowing Quebec to run its own system of immigration based on cultural and linguistic peculiarities.
After the latest new announcement of Government of Canada, it seems that federal skilled Canadian immigration policy would be crafted around regional and industry specific factors, (and would have the undercurrents of ideological contrivances). Since the inception of current conservative government in 2006, the Canadian immigration system is being continuously overhauled – mostly on ideological grounds. Inserting oil related trades in priority occupational list won’t do any good to Ontario but it certainly would appease the oil companies of Alberta, the power base of Conservatives and largest contributors to Conservative coffers. The entrenched principle of neutral diversity seems to have been consciously overlooked by the Canadian immigration policymakers.
The changes that are being introduced in the Canadian immigration system either skilled, business or family immigration are far reaching and tantamount to diversion in the Canadian immigration fundamentals. Under the proposed skilled Canadian immigration changes, among other things, more emphasis will be given to language proficiency and experience factors and various trades will be given priority instead of professionals and high skilled occupations. This is a major policy shift based on radical conservative policy factors. Just imagine, even a highly qualified industrial technician from Bangladesh would have maximum of secondary plus 3 years education in the subject field; and his job environment would be completely non-English speaking. If that technician is asked to write a rigorous IELTS exam with relatively even higher proficiency benchmarks then it is a blatant fact that he/she would not be able to achieve that illogical requirement and resultantly would not qualify for skilled Canadian immigration. On the other hand, any lesser educated industrial technician from any English/French speaking country (Europe, USA, and France) would not have any difficulty whatsoever to establish language proficiency benchmark since English/French is his/her first language; or, such candidates for skilled Canadian immigration won’t be even required to write the mandatory IELTS exam for having been born in an English/French speaking country. The Canadian government has certainly achieved success in changing the trends of Canadian immigration from the stated perspective. According to recently obtained figures by a renowned Canadian immigration lawyer, the flow of immigrants from Pakistan and China was significantly reduced in the year 2010; whereas the number of immigrants substantially increased from USA, UK and France during the same period.
Various Canadian immigration lawyers and Canadian immigration consultants and their respective bodies have expressed concerns over the proposed changes in skilled Canadian immigration policy. The new skilled Canadian immigration policy will seriously affect the future skilled immigrant applicants who are still contemplating to apply. Amidst the rapid changes in parents’ sponsorship and reduction in skilled immigrant visas, the proposed changes in skilled Canadian immigration will obviously have serious implications that would create blatant hardships for Canadian immigration hopefuls from developing countries.
It is extremely important for any foreign national who is planning to apply for skilled Canadian immigration that he/she MUST seek the advice of an experienced Canadian immigration consultant or Canadian immigration lawyer in order to make a well informed decision. Even a minor mistake before or during the processing of skilled Canadian immigration application can have serious legal implications thereby causing unwanted regrets.
At Corporate Horizon, we have extensive experience and well established credentials in advising clients on skilled Canadian immigration. Our knowledge of the ever changing Canadian immigration laws and regulations is always up to date.
Please contact us to have a free preliminary advice and retain our reliable services with peace of mind.