Oct 4, 2012 | Legally Speaking, Work Permits, Working In Canada
The Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) enables Canadian employers to hire foreign workers on a temporary basis. This program is designed to help fill the labour shortages when Canadians and permanent residents are not available. Employers can recruit workers from any country as long as both the employer and the foreign worker meet the program requirements.
Employers must receive approval from the Federal government to employ a foreign worker. The company must be able to satisfy the Canadian government that they have made reasonable efforts to employ Canadians and/or permanent residents for the position offered. Employers must also agree to pay the prevailing wage for the position to the foreign worker. Upon receiving approval, the foreign worker may apply for a work permit.
Foreign workers must meet strict requirements including, proving their past experience, language proficiency, pass a criminal background check, and in some cases a medical examination. Foreign workers who are approved a work permit must only work for the company that “sponsored” them. Employers can be sure that if an employee leaves the company or gets laid off, their work permit is no longer valid. In cases such as this, it is the onus of the foreign worker to secure another job offer, otherwise they must leave Canada.
Temporary foreign workers employed in one location cannot work in another location without the employer applying for and receiving a new approval, and the worker receiving a new work permit. If an employer has received an approval in the past, they may be required to demonstrate that they have met the requirements of the program.
Processing times for the employer/company approval currently take 30-60 days, however, if an employer has been approved in the two (2) years proceeding the most recent application, they may have their applications expedited, in which case an approval can be issued within 10 business days from date of application.
For more detailed information on the Temporary Foreign Worker Program or to speak with an immigration adviser regarding your company needs, call our office today at 1-416-665-3939 or toll-free at 1-888-808-7338.
Sep 28, 2012 | In the News, Legally Speaking, New Laws
As of November 1, 2012 Citizenship & Immigration Canada will require all citizenship applicants to submit proof of their language proficiency. Canada strongly believes that the ability to communicate in either one of Canada’s official languages is a key factor in the success and adaptability of new citizens in Canada.
Currently, Canada does not require applicants between the ages of 18 – 54 to submit proof of their language abilities. The new requirement will not change the level of ability that is required, but it will change the way that applicants demonstrate their language ability.
As of November 1, 2012 applicants will be required to submit proof such as;
– the results of a CIC-approved third-party test (ie. IELTS or TOFEL),
– the evidence of completion of secondary or post-secondary education in English and/or French,
– the evidence of achieving the appropriate language level in certain government-funded language training programs.
If you have submitted or will be submitting your citizenship application prior to November 1st, 2012 you do not have to meet the above requirements.
To submit your citizenship application you may contact our office to speak with an immigration adviser.
Sep 6, 2012 | In the News, Legally Speaking, New Laws, Skilled Workers
The Canadian government has been battling the courts and applicants of skilled worker permanent resident applications for the last year. Their goal is to reduce the large backlog of applications in the pipeline by simply canceling each and every single one of them.
This will affect all those who submitted Skilled Worker applications prior to February 27, 2008, and that has not yet received a decision. In numbers, we are talking about roughly 280,000 applicants (including dependents).
If you submitted your application prior to February 27, 2008 you will receive a letter indicating that the file is closed, with a refund for the processing fees paid.
Join the law suit to fight the Federal Government!
There is a law suit going on right now and you may join if you are an applicant that submitted your application prior to the date above. There is limited time to join the law suit and the deadline is this coming week. If you would like to join the law suit, please send us an email to inquiry@theimmigrationteam.com with the following information:
*The name of the principle applicant*
*The country and city where the principle applicant is located now*
*The principle applicant*
*phone number and *
*email address*
*the visa office file number*
*the date the application was filed*
*the job category under which you applied*
*the location of the visa office currently responsible for your application*
Please be advised there is a $400 donation required to join this law suit. This fee is to help stop the Minister, but only temporarily, until the court case is finalized. Our office is not part of the law suit therefore do not send the fees to us. We will forward your information to the lawyer handling the case and they will contact you directly.
For more information you may contact our office directly to speak with a senior immigration adviser.
Aug 24, 2012 | Immigrate to Canada, In the News, Legally Speaking, Permanent Residency, Skilled Workers, Why you need an immigration specialist
The Canadian government has been incredibly busy this year making major changes to it’s immigration system. With the pause of the Skilled Worker program, sponsorship of parents and grandparents, and the hold on investors and business class immigration, it has been an incredibly active year for minister Jason Kenney.
Recognizing that immigrants are an integral part of the Canadian economy, and growing labour shortages in the country overall, Minister Jason Kenney has made plans to improve the system as a whole.
As the Skilled Worker program is one of the most important in bringing in skilled immigrants, we are hearing that the government has a proposal to re-instate the Skilled Worker program, but this time without a list of priority occupations. In 2008, Citizenship & Immigration Canada (CIC) implemented a requirement that one must have work experience in a priority occupation to qualify for the program. In 2009, CIC limited the number of Skilled Worker applications to a maximum of 20,000 per year and the following year reduced it once more to 10,000.
We are now hearing from the Federal government that the Skilled Worker program will be redesigned to better accept the applicants that Canada wants. There will be changes to the points system and when it comes to the occupation list, there will be none! Those who would like to submit applications under this category will need to meet the minimum points based on 5 categories and their work experience will need to be of a management or skilled position (NOC O, A or B).
We do understand that the sponsorship program for parents and grandparents may reopen in 2014, but until then the Super Visa is the way to go. If you are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident and want to sponsor your parents or grandparents to Canada you will have to apply for a Super Visa. The Super Visa is a multiple entry visa that will allow your parents and/or grandparents to live (but not work) in Canada for a period of up to 2 years at a time.
Investors, entrepreneurs and business class applicants will have to wait for further information on these programs as there has been no update at this time.
If you are interested in immigrating to Canada we strongly suggest that you contact our office to speak with our immigration counsel for the most accurate and up to date information. You may complete our free online assessment form to determine whether you are or will be eligible to immigrate. Feel free to call and speak to us directly at 1-416-665-3939 or toll-free within North America at 1-888-808-7338.
Jul 6, 2012 | Immigrate to Canada, In the News, Legally Speaking, New Laws, Permanent Residency, Skilled Workers
On June 29, 2012 Citizenship & Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced that they will stop accepting and processing applications under the Federal Skilled Worker category. July 1st, 2012 was supposed to reset the quota for the immigration year, however the federal government decided to stop accepting new applications all together in order to try and tackle the backlog. This does not affect applicants who have pre-arranged job offers.
Those applicants who had submitted their applications prior to February 27, 2008 should read the chart below to determine if their application will continue to be processed or whether CIC will return their application along with the fees.
Processing Instructions
| If the officer… |
and |
Then… |
| has not established whether the applicant meets the selection criteria prior to March 29, 2012 |
|
- the application is terminated; and
- fees paid to CIC are to be returned to the person who paid them.
|
| has established whether the applicant meets the selection criteria prior to March 29, 2012 |
the application has not been finalized before June 29, 2012… |
- processing of the application continues to a final decision; and
- fees paid to CIC will not be returned to the person who paid them.
|
| established whether the applicant meets the selection criteria on or after March 29, 2012 |
the application has not been finalized before June 29, 2012… |
- the application is terminated; and
- fees paid to CIC are to be returned to the person who paid them.
|
| established whether the applicant meets the selection criteria on or after March 29, 2012 |
the application has been finalized before June 29, 2012… |
- the final decision on the application stands;
- processing continues to visa issuance or refusal; and
- fees paid to CIC will not be returned to the person who paid them.
|
Jun 28, 2012 | In the News, Legally Speaking, New Laws, Permanent Residency, Skilled Workers, Why you need an immigration specialist
It is now official. Citizenship & Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced in Calgary today that beginning July 1st, 2012 the Federal Skilled Worker program is frozen. No new applications under this program will be accepted until further notice. The temporary freeze does not affect those applicants who have arranged employment offers or those who are applying under the PhD eligibility stream.
“We have been making lots of changes to our economic immigration system,” said Minister Kenney. “We will take the next six months to do a lot of the heavy lifting to get us closer to a fast and flexible immigration system.”
This temporary, yet indefinite, pause to the program will allow the government to catch up and process over 120,000 files in the backlog. Applications filed before February 27, 2008 have been stuck as a result of the ministerial instructions implemented in 2008.
The Minister promised that Citizenship & Immigration Canada will be consulting with provinces, territories and stakeholders on ways to reform the current immigrant investor program which is also currently frozen.
Programs currently frozen; Federal Skilled Worker program, Federal Investor Program, Parents/Grandparents sponsorship, and the Federal Entrepreneur program.
For more information regarding these changes we strongly suggest that you contact our office. Let one of our immigration advisers provide you with a free, no obligation consultation to determine your chances for immigration to Canada.
Tell us what you think about the news today. Write your comments and concerns below.
As always we encourage you to share this article with your colleagues, friends and family through Facebook, Twitter and other social networks.
Useful Resources for Canada
Useful Resources for U.S.
Our Local Immigration Services
