You have probably read about it by now, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) is proposing changes to the intake criteria of the immigrant skilled worker program. CIC said that it discovered room for improvement following an evaluation of the skilled worker program.
The Canadian immigration program program, especially the federal skilled worker program, has been under a lot scrutiny and auditing, after a huge backlog in the immigration system quo, that made people waiting for years for the applications to be processed.
In 2008, CIC said enough is enough, and limited the intake to 29 occupations, and the number of new intake to 20,000 federal skilled workers applications in a twelve Calendar months.
However, CIC did not reduce the number of newcomers that it will admit. In 2010, 281,000 newcomers were admitted in Canada, and in case you were asking where did these newcomers came from, the answer is from the backlog.
The Minster said that the changes made it possible for CIC to reduce the backlog by half, so in the coming years, and depending on the rate of processing backlog will be no more, and more intake application can be taken, if Canada decided to do so.
Now, back to the new proposed changes, and what is all about. From what the Minister said, Canada is concerned, not only about the integrity of the Canadian Immigration, but also about the welfare of the newcomers. Canada does not want people to come here and become unemployed.
Independent immigrants come to Canada to realize their dreams, and if they can't find a job, as a skilled worker, that will not be possible. So how do you prevent that from happening? The answer was in the evaluation that has been done.
It found that new skilled workers, following changes to make language tests mandatory and linking direct immigration to the job market, are doing a lot better than the one who came before them to
Canada, because they can integrate and blend in, and find their place in the labour market.
So, what are the new three factors that CIC has in mind:
- Age
- Minimum language requirements
- Manual craftsmanship and skilled tradespeople (read part 2 for more on tradespeople and list of occupation)
Remember, Federal skilled worker may be the largest intake category, but it is not the only way to immigrate to Canada, find out more about your immigration options, and don't get sucked in by all the negativity out there, find guidance on how to tweak your skills, and build your Federal Skilled Worker Application, and start preparing your application at least six months in advance, don't delay.
Therefore, and as you can see here, in part one, CIC intend to target younger skilled workers, with the ability to blend in, and the skills to integrate fast in the workplace, and are expected to increase the intake of trades people, much needed by any industries in Canada. In part two I will dig in more in the proposed changes and give some examples on how these changes will effect your immigration applications.
Disclaimer: Federal skilled worker is an intake process that requires settlement funds starting at 11,131 Dollars plus 2000 for each additional family member. This is mandatory and you are required to provide bank statement to CIC as a proof. This does not include other costs such as application fees. Do not be missled by offers of guaranteed visa, or guaranteed job offers, or buying access to CIC or members of the Canadian parliament. It is immigration fraud.
