Archive - January 2021

There’s a lot been said about how great a country Canada is to immigrate to. Canada immigration has even been the most resilient program seen by the world during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Canadian government is keeping up its efforts to bring in skilled people and offer them Canada PR in large numbers. So, isn’t that a sign that you should go for it?

To find out how it’s worth the effort to apply for Canada immigration and go all the way to arrive in Canada on a Canada PR visa in 2021, you have to consider what Canada is doing in 2021 on the immigration front. Canada is not only making its immigration programs more attractive but also offering new opportunities for specific classes of migrants to move into this amazing country.

Of course, a big chunk of 2021 is going to be affected by COVID-19. But the enthusiasm Canada is showing to fight the pandemic while keeping the immigration part alive and kicking is commendable. If you are looking for great job opportunities in Canada, it’s still available in a considerable measure. After all, Canada is counting on its immigrants arriving to work in Canada with specialized skills to help its economy to pick up and prosper in the days to come.

Comparing with many other major countries of the world, including the US we may say, things look more positive in Canada, just the way we expect them to be. So, let’s see why it’s going to be a good bet to immigrate to Canada going by what it’s planning to do in 2021.

Travel restrictions will be lifted eventually this year

The most heckling issue with immigration today is the travel restrictions that Canada maintains to stay safe from the COVID-19 pandemic. But now that the COVID vaccines are coming to save immigrants, the travel restrictions will be eased to a large extend as 2021 progresses.

Canada has already approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for those over 16 years of age. The Modern a vaccine has been approved for those over 18 years of age. Early vaccination on priority will be given to the staff of care homes and Canada PR visa holders. Apart from them, adults in indigenous communities, adults over 70 years of age, and health care workers will also be given priority.

Soon, immigrants will also get vaccinated, which will bring back confidence in traveling to Canada, improving immigration to Canada. You will be assured safe travel and settlement in Canada.

The PGP lottery

One of the nicest things that have happened in 2021 is that Canada decided to once again use a randomized process of selection for sponsoring parents and grandparents. IRCC has already announced an invitation round for the PGP. This will be a part of the intake of 2020, in a new program delivery update.

In 2021the intake under PGP will increase to 30,000 applicants. So, permanent residents in Canada waiting for the opportunity to bring in their parents and grandparents are in for a treat.

CRS score requirements will further decrease

In another move to improve Canada immigration performance and bring more eligible and skilled people to Canada, the country will further reduce CRS score requirements will be further brought down. CRS requirement is expected to go below 400 points, allowing more eligible candidates to be invited through Express Entry draws.

So,more people will be included in the draw and that means you will have a better chance to immigrate to Canada.

New immigration pathways for Hong Kong citizens

In 2021, Canada will offer a treat for Hong Kong citizens as the country will launch 2 new immigration pathways for them, enabling them to become Canada PRs. The first pathway will focus on those who a minimum criterion for language and education level along with work experience in Canada.

For the second pathway, the Canadian government will speed up processing study permit applications for candidates from Hong Kong eligible and willing to study in Canada. After their studies, they can directly apply for a Canada PR visa.

Huge focus on Canadian economic programs

This must be music to your ears. Canada is working hard and broad on economic programs that are connected with immigration to lift its economy from the hard spot it’s in now.

Increasing the immigration targets in the Canadian immigration Levels Plan 2021-2023 is one way the country aims to achieve improvement in the economy. Canada is aiming at creating a lot of jobs that will need immigrant workers.

Around 60% of admissions will be coming from the economic class. This could mean your road to immigration to Canada is finally clear and more possible than expected.

So, now you have more than a couple of reasons to consider how great an idea it is to immigrate to Canada. Think and make your move.

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Note:

IRCC – Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

PGP – Parents and Grandparents Program

Are you ready to delve into the details of what CRS means to you as a Canada immigration candidate, and how you can improve your CRS score in 2021? Well, here we go!

The Road to Canada via Express Entry

Canada has an Express Entry system that manages immigration applications from foreigners who wish to move to and work in Canada as permanent residents. So, as a candidate, what do you do?

Step 1, identify your suitability to one of the 3 streams that Express Entry accepts applications to – FSWP, FSTP, or CEC. These are economy-class immigration streams towards which you can create a profile that tells a lot about you and which gets submitted to the Express Entry pool.

Step 2, while your profile lies in the pool, it gets assessed by CRS that ranks it so that it earns a score that decides how high your chances of getting selected in a Canada immigration draw are. The points assigned towards the CRS score are based on factors like age, work experience, education, and language proficiency in English or French.

Step 3, whenever Canada needs skilled potential immigrants like you to save their day and pump up their economy, the country conducts immigration draws. If your CRS score looks great and you have the skills Canada is looking for, you will be sent an ITA.

Step 4, you respond to the ITA, say “yes” by submitting a completely filled application within 90 days along with all relevant documents,and wait for the visa.

Now, as pretty much a lot rest on the CRS score, you will want to know tips to improve them so that you improve your chances of getting your Canada PR visa. Without keeping you waiting, let’s check out the tips right away.

Pack an extra punch with French

If you can ace French as well as English, you have a much better chance of gaining more CRS points. Won’t you want to utilize the fact that language ability can earn you a score up to 260? Why waste it?

Work at your work experience

It’s a fact that Canadian work experience scores more than non-Canadian work experience. So, if you have under 3 years of full-time experience outside Canada, you should work more and gain more CRS points to become a candidate they can’t refuse!

Study in Canada before you land a job in Canada

This is one of the wisest pieces of advice that could come your way. Before going for Express Entry, you could come on a Canada study visa and get a degree at a Canadian university. Your study experience in Canada can increase your CRS score.

And since this is about education, it’s worthwhile to remind you that if you have 2 or more certificates, degrees, or diplomas, you could claim extra points for education.

A spouse can lift your game at scoring more CRS points

If you have a spouse to come with you to Canada, that’s another way you can improve your chances at CRS scores. The language ability, education level, and work experience in Canada of your spouse could be rewarded with more points added to the CRS score. You can score up to 20 points adding to your CRS score via your spouse’s first language score. Get an ECA done for the educational qualification of your partner and take home up to 10 CRS points.

The provincial nomination makes you richer on CRS score

Canadian provinces always look for skilled candidates like you to meet their labor market requirements. If your profile in the Express Entry pool gets noticed for being the right match for a province’s requirement, you could be nominated by that province via a PNP immigration draw. Such nomination adds 600 CRS points and pushes you to the top spot in a federal immigration draw that happens next.

So, there you are! All aware and informed about the ways to get better CRS scores and faring a lot better at a chance to immigrate to Canada.

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Note:

CRS – Comprehensive Ranking System

FSWP – Federal Skilled Worker Program

FSTP – Federal Skilled Trades Program

CEC – Canadian Experience Class

ITA – Invitation to Apply

So, you are looking for Canada immigration. To that end, you submit your profile and educational credentials along with it to IRCC to be added to the Express Entry pool. As part of the process, you should expect the evaluation of your submission in which ECA stands out as a major step.

ECA is the verification of your educational qualifications to see what level of Canadian education matches them so that you can be assessed fairly for opportunities in Canada. The educational qualifications could be a diploma, a certificate, or a degree.

While creating your Express Entry profile, you must include your ECA report and its reference number to make the profile valid. The ECA report could be very handy while you are looking for a job to work in Canada.

But why do you need such an assessment? Well, if you have completed your education in a country outside Canada, your assessment is required to:

• Make you eligible as the principal applicant for FSWP, or
• Help you score points for the education you had outside of Canada

Remember, ECA is not required if you are migrating to study in Canada to get a Canadian degree, certificate, or diploma.

Mostly, you will need an assessment only for the highest education you got.

Now that you know about ECA, the next question that should arise is where to get yourself assessed. Who will assess you?

You will be assessed by:

• Designated professional bodies
• Designated organizations

Designated professional bodies will assess you only if you are coming as a pharmacist or a physician. The assessment body will be designated for you by the IRCC. It’s their report that will determine which Canadian qualification your educational qualifications align with.

The cost of assessment and the processing times will vary according to the designated organization or professional body. Here’s a list of designated organizations you must use to get your assessment done:

If you are a Physician (NOC 3111 / NOC 3112), your ECA must be done by the Medical Council of Canada (designated on April 17, 2013). This assessment will be done for your main medical diploma (primary).

If you are a Pharmacist (NOC 3131) and need a practitioner’s license in Canada, your ECA will be done by the Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada (designated on January 6, 2014).

Now that you know much about how ECA matters to you, go ahead and do your own check as to where your educational qualification stands in comparison with Canadian standards.

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Note:

ECA – Educational Credentials Assessment

FSWP – Federal Skilled Workers Program

IRCC – Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

NOC – National Occupational Classification

The workings of Canada immigration pathways are interesting to learn about as they offer so many opportunities to people with varied skillsets in different sectors. Canada has 2 different broad ways of welcoming immigrants into the country. If you are interested to arrive in Canada, you could either do so by participating in a federal immigration draw or a provincial draw to become a Canada PR.

Now, getting chosen to immigrate to Canada at a provincial level is a very popular option among potential international immigrants. The labor market of each province will have requirements for skilled workers from time to time in different occupational areas. Provinces find your profile from the Express Entry pool and the employers in each province will nominate you if you are qualified and skilled enough and are interested to work in Canada in the province.

Provincial immigration being so desirable a pathway could motivate you to know which of those Canadian provinces are the easiest to immigrate to. If you are interested to learn which provinces are the easiest to immigrate to, here we have our suggestions for you.

Saskatchewan

The Saskatchewan province nominates candidates via SINP to Canada to apply for a Canada PR visa. This is done under the categories of:

• International Skilled Worker stream
• Business Immigration
• Saskatchewan Experience

The international Skilled Worker stream is particularly one that gives more of an advantage for immigration candidates. The International Skilled Worker category has sub-categories for:

• Occupation in-demand
• Saskatchewan Express Entry
• Employment offer

These sub-categories, especially the Occupation in-demand, gives great opportunities to skilled international workers to join the labor force in the province. The province recruits them to such occupations in which more manpower is required to meet the demands of the province’s labor market.

British Columbia

The British Columbia PNP invites skilled workers to the province to apply for PR. The province is especially suitable and welcoming of technologically skilled candidates as those working in the IT sector. The BC Tech Pilot is a pathway famed for letting skilled and experience tech workers work in Canada.

If you are willing to take the BC route, you must first apply for a nomination to the BC provincial government. Then after being nominated, you must apply for PR to the Canadian federal government.

The 3 major categories that have streams to draw in immigrants to the province are:

• Express Entry BC
• Skilled Immigration
• Entrepreneur Immigration

The Skilled Immigration category is a very popular category that gives skilled and semi-skilled workers who are suitable to work in high-demand jobs in BC.

The International Post Graduate stream is a pathway for international students who can arrive in the province willing to study in Canada. After graduation, one can move on to get Canada PR. Applicants aren’t expected to have any job offer to apply for.

Nova Scotia

Another province that gives easy access to you as an immigrant is Nova Scotia PNP. The province aims at letting immigrants in to boost the province’s economy and meet the demographic challenges.

Among the many streams the province has, the International Graduate Entrepreneur is a very attractive stream that offers an easy pathway to international students. The stream works on an EOI format. These international students can, after completing graduation, purchase or start a business in the province and operate it for a year on PGWP.

Alberta

One of the fastest-growing provinces of Canada, Alberta has 2 of Canada’s major urban centers namely Edmonton and Calgary. This province takes in skilled immigration candidates under the Express Entry and Alberta Opportunity streams. For businessmen, it has the International Graduate Entrepreneur and Self-Employed Farmer streams.

Besides these, the province also has the Foreign Graduate Start-up Visa stream all set to be launched in January 2021.

The province’s International Graduate Entrepreneur Immigration stream is one of the most popular and easy pathways for immigration to the province.

Ontario PNP

The most populous province in Canada, Ontario has Canada’s largest city. The largest part of the province’s economy works in the service sector. This sector includes occupations in technical, professional, financial, cultural, business, and arts areas.

Including opportunities for French-speaking skilled candidates, skilled workers, skilled traders, international students, and international workers for in-demand jobs, many have opportunities in immigration categories. These categories include:

• Human Capital
• Business
• Employer Job Offer

The province accepts EOIs only and applicants cannot apply directly for nomination. Candidates aren’t required to have a valid Express Entry profile and hence needn’t meet the federal draw requirements.

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Note:

PR – Permanent Resident

SINP – Saskatchewan Immigration Nominee Program

BCPNP – British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program

PGWP – Post Graduate Work Permit

EOI – Expression of Interest

The fascination for Canada immigration has not waned among prospective immigrants even in the face of adversities like COVID-19. Canada hasn’t dwindled from its immigration plans and events too. The pathways to migrate to Canada are many and some of them are more popular than the others.

It’s natural for you to think can it be easy to get a Canada PR, as Canada is very enthusiastically welcoming immigrants with open hands. As immigration is the main source of talent and manpower for Canada to develop and maintain its economy and demography, this could be very possible too.

As 2021 will be a year of a comeback from where COVID-19 had pushed the country back to. This is a year of better opportunities to immigrate to Canada and hence, it’s worthwhile to know the easy ways to do that.

Express Entry

This is the major pathway open to you to enter Canada to earn a Canada PR visa. The Express Entry is also the most popular way of Canada immigration.

Express Entry is an online system that’s used by IRCC to manage applications of applicants seeking permanent residence in Canada. These applicants are skilled workers willing to work in Canada and are looking for an opportunity to get employed and enjoy the PR status in Canada.

The processing time of an Express Entry immigration is 6 months. Nowadays, as the recovery process from the COVID-19 pandemic is gathering steam, the demand for skilled personnel in many areas like the healthcare and food industry is on a high.

The steps under Express Entry can be summarised as follows:

Step 1 – Exploring your eligibility

You can learn about your eligibility for immigration by learning the specific requirement of each stream of immigration involved in detail. Otherwise, you could use the eligibility checking facility provided online to do a self-check by answering the questions asked in the online questionnaire.

Step 2 – Collecting Documents

Documentation is a crucial part of the application phase. These documents include the results of your language skill tests, academic qualifications, certificates of work experience, and much more. It’s up to you to collect these documents on time and upload them online via the immigration portal without fail. It’s always good to take the help of an expert immigration consultant.

Step 3 – Submitting your profile

As you are ready with the clarity on your eligibility and the documentation required, the next step is to build your profile and upload it to the Express Entry system pool. If you have the help of a professional immigration consultant, you can build a profile in the best way marketable.

Step 4 – Receive an ITA and applying for Canada PR

Based on the ranking of your profile in the Express Entry pool, you could be chosen during a federal immigration draw conducted from time to time. IRCC will send you an ITA and upon receiving it, you will have to submit a complete application for a Canadian visa within 90 days of getting the ITA.

Family Class Sponsorship

Another great and easy way to arrive in Canada as a PR is to get sponsored by a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident in Canada. Relatives of Canadians and Canada PRs can sponsor certain relatives to live with them in Canada. The sponsor must be aged at least 18 years.

The relatives that can be sponsored include parents, grandparents, grandchildren, spouse, and common partner.

LMIA Work Visa

An LMIA is a document that every employer who hires a foreign worker must possess before hiring the worker. The document, in simple terms, certifies the undertaking by the employer that the job position offered to the foreign worker has been offered so because there was no competent Canadian worker available locally to do the job.

With a positive LMIA, the employer can go on to choose potential workers from the Express Entry pool to be invited to work in Canada for him/her. The foreign worker can apply for a work permit to work for the employer if he/she has:

• A valid contract with the Canadian employer
• A valid job offer from the Canadian employer
• A copy of the LMIA
• An LMIA number

This route is quite prospective these days as the labor market of Canada and its provinces and territories are open to skilled international workers after COVID-19.

PNP

If you intend to immigrate to a specific province or territory of Canada, PNP is the way to go. This is a very popular method of moving to Canada as each province of Canada with its own specific labor market challenges will require candidates of specific skills and qualifications.

The PNP does invite skilled candidates found in the Express Entry pool. In PNP draws that align with the Express Entry system, the candidates are invited by nominating them, which adds 600 points to the CRS score of such candidates. This gives them a higher possibility of getting ITAs in a federal Express Entry draw, which could land them in Canada in time.

Canadian Investor Immigration

Unlike other pathways that focus on skilled workers to fill the jobs in Canada, the investor immigration pathway is meant for businessmen and investors. If you have sufficient funds to invest as per the requirements for the Canada investor visa. You can even take your close relatives like a spouse, common partner, and children along with you to Canada.

Take any of these routes and reach Canada relatively easier and make the best of the opportunities offered by Canada.

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Note:

IRCC – Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

PR – Permanent Residence / Permanent Resident

ITA – Invitation to Apply

LMIA – Labor Market Impact Assessment

It’s well-known that Canada gives international students coming to study in Canada the opportunity to work in the country after graduation with the PGWP. Apart from being a ticket to finding work in Canada and making a career, it also leads to the opportunity to become a Canada PR.

The advantages of work experience in Canada are reflected in the better chances at immigration they gain in immigration events such as Express Entry draws and PNP draws. In Express Entry, having a Canadian work experience adds points to the CRS score, which is how the ranking of a candidate’s profile in the Express Entry pool is done. In the case of PNP, those with education in Canada, and Canadian work experience get better chances of success to apply for a Canada PR visa.

Among Canadian employers, PGWP candidates are favored more as PGWP visa holders have Canadian education and work experience. This helps employers to avoid the costly and lengthy process of LMIA which is a must for recruiting foreign workers. The LMIA is basically a process of undertaking by the Canadian employers that they are seeking foreign workers to fill job openings because competent candidates weren’t found amongst Canadians.

Nevertheless, though the employers benefit from recruiting PGWP candidates in the beginning, the limited duration of the permit will require them to apply for LMIA after the expiry of the PGWP. This will be a necessary step for the employer before the worker candidate can apply for a fresh work permit that’s employer-specific.

The new policy

To overcome the disadvantage just mentioned, the Canadian government has introduced a new policy. It lets former international students whose PGWP has expired or is expiring to apply for a fresh open work permit.

The new open work permit will be of 18months duration. Those who want to apply for it must meet the following criteria:

• The candidate is in Canada
• The candidate must either have a PGWP that has met with expiry on or after January 30, 2020,if not a PGWP that’s up for expiry in 4 months or less from the date of application
• The candidate has a temporary status that’s valid if not applying to restore his/her status

The application process for the new visa opens on January 27, 2021. It will be active till July 27, 2021.

With this new facility, Canadian employers can retain foreign workers on PGWP without going through the LMIA process.

If you are looking to Study, Work, Visit, Invest or Migrate to Canada, talk to Y-Axis, the World’s No.1 Immigration & Visa Company.

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Saskatchewan invites 502 new immigrants in its latest PNP draw

Note:

PGWP – Post Graduate Work Permit

PR – Permanent Resident

PNP – Provincial Nominee Program

LMIA – Labor Market Impact Assessment

A recent case that came up in the Canadian federal court throws light on the consequences of furnishing false or incomplete information while applying for Canada immigration visa applications. If you are found to have given such information, you will be asked for a satisfactory explanation. In case you fail there, you could be handed over a 5-year ban on applying for any sort of status including Canada PR.

The case in the spotlight

The is about a Mexican national who arrived in Canada in 2013 on a Canada visitor visa. She used several visas, work, visitor, and study visas to prolong her stay in Canada. In 2019, she applied for a PGWP which was rejected by IRCC that was concerned that she might leave Canada before or upon the expiration of her authorized stay.

So, she applied for an eTA. To the question asked during application whether she was ever been refused entry or visa extension while she was in Canada, she answered in the negative. As IRCC had doubts about her reply, she was sent a letter expressing their concerns and the possibility of her becoming inadmissible upon failing to furnish material information. She responded by saying that she misunderstood the question and declared that she was indeed denied a PGWP.

In the legal standoff that followed after she put in a request for judicial review, IRCC declared that she had committed misrepresentation and the court corroborated the stance of IRCC.

This case proves the point that as eager you are to immigrate to Canada, so prudent and transparent you should be with the information you share with the IRCC while filing an application. Otherwise, you will end uplosing your eligibility to enter Canada for years together.

If you are looking to Study, Work, Visit, Invest or Migrate to Canada, talk to Y-Axis, the World’s No.1 Immigration & Visa Company.

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Note:

PGWP – Post Graduate Work Program

IRCC – Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

eTA – Electronic Travel Authorization