Backgrounder - Improvements Made to Canada’s Immigration System

Since 2006, the Government of Canada has made significant improvements to Canada’s immigration system to make it more flexible and responsive to changing labour market needs. These initiatives are designed to ensure that Canada reunites families faster and helps skilled workers arrive sooner. Essentially, they are designed to attract new immigrants, help them integrate more quickly into Canada’s labour market and ensure that they succeed once they arrive.

As stated in the 2008 Budget, the Government is modernizing the immigration system with a $109-million investment over five years. These funds will make it possible to better respond to the increasing demands placed on the immigration system, both in the temporary and the permanent applicant categories. This builds on investments made since 2006, including an additional $1.4 billion over five years to improve the quality and availability of settlement and integration programs, and additional money that the Canada Border Services Agency has received for screening.

Attracting and retaining immigrants with the right skills

Legislative amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act

Improvements to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, and the Action Plan for Faster Immigration’s ministerial instructions that resulted from these reforms, will make our immigration system more flexible and responsive to Canada’s labour market needs. These improvements will expedite the processing of select skilled worker applications to ensure that skilled immigrants can get to Canada quickly when their skills are in demand. They do not apply to refugees and do not affect our family reunification objectives.

These reforms will make Canada’s immigration system more efficient and competitive by allowing applications to be selected and processed based on labour market needs. They will also manage future growth in the inventory of applications, improving service and reducing wait times. A well-managed and efficient immigration system is critical to ensuring that Canada is a destination of choice for skilled immigrants and that Canada continues to support an open immigration policy.

Improvements to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program

Improvements have been made to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program to help make the process of hiring temporary foreign workers easier, faster and less costly for employers when they are unable to find Canadians to do the job.

The 2007 Budget committed $50.5 million over two years to increase processing resources and to establish monitoring and compliance mechanisms to ensure that employers abide by program terms and conditions.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has worked closely with Human Resources and Social Development Canada to make several other improvements to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. These include:

• extending the maximum duration of the work permit for temporary foreign workers with less formal training from 12 months to 24 months;
• extending the maximum duration of the work permit for live-in caregivers from one year to three years and three months;
• speeding up the process for employers hiring a temporary foreign worker by allowing work permit applications for highly skilled work to be processed at the same time as applications for a labour market opinion, at the request of the employer; and
• expanding employer services by establishing temporary foreign worker offices in high-demand areas in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montréal and Moncton.

Canadian Experience Class

The new Canadian Experience Class (CEC) allows certain temporary foreign workers and certain foreign student graduates, such as those with work experience in the managerial, professional, technical or trade fields, to apply for permanent residence and eventually Canadian citizenship without having to leave Canada. Unlike other existing programs, this new avenue for immigration allows an applicant’s Canadian experience to be considered as a key selection factor when immigrating to Canada.

With this new stream, Canada is better able to attract and retain skilled and talented individuals who have already demonstrated their ability to successfully integrate into the Canadian labour market and society.

Improvements to the Provincial Nominee Program

The Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) is a good example of how the Government of Canada works with provinces and territories to develop flexible arrangements that allow them to address specific labour market needs. Provincial nominees are accorded priority at missions abroad and are therefore processed for permanent residency faster than other economic applicants.

The Government has removed the limit on how many newcomers the provinces can accept under the PNP. This will ensure that provinces and territories can nominate individuals who have the occupational skills to meet regional economic and labour market demands.

Combined with the recent improvements to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and the introduction of the CEC, these measures will ensure that the labour needs of employers in all provinces and territories are met much more quickly than in the past.

Attracting and retaining foreign students

To attract foreign students and facilitate their arrival in Canada, CIC will improve the processing of their visas at missions abroad. For example, an online application system, as well as other measures to improve service and speed up processing, will be implemented for student visas.

To allow students to build their skills through work opportunities in Canada, CIC created the Off-Campus Work Permit Program in 2006. This program allows students attending recognized post-secondary educational institutions to work off campus on a part-time basis. As well, the Post-Graduation Work Permit Program was significantly improved by allowing students to work up to two years after completing their studies.

The CEC is making it easier for certain international students with Canadian credentials to apply for permanent residency without having to leave Canada. The prospect of eventual Canadian citizenship, combined with these other initiatives, give us a marketing advantage as our schools and employers look to recruit the best and the brightest from around the world.

Improving the integration of immigrants in Canada’s labour market

Foreign Credentials Referral Office

In May 2007, the Government created the Foreign Credentials Referral Office (FCRO).

The FCRO is helping prospective immigrants get the information they need on the foreign credential recognition process and the Canadian labour market even before they get to Canada. The FCRO is also helping to increase employer awareness of the processes for and benefits of hiring internationally trained and educated professionals, and directing these professionals to existing programs and organizations.

The FCRO, in partnership with Canada’s Foreign Credential Recognition (FCR) Program, will improve the integration of internationally trained workers into the work force. The FCR Program funds and works with provinces, territories and partners across jurisdictions to strengthen foreign credential assessment and the recognition of qualifications acquired in other countries.

Increases in settlement funding

The Government of Canada has substantially increased funding to support settlement programs and services that help newcomers integrate into Canadian society. In 2006, the Government of Canada began investing additional money in settlement funding over five years to provinces and territories aside from Quebec. Quebec receives annual funding through a separate agreement.

These new measures, combined with our existing settlement programs, will help immigrants adapt to the labour market more quickly and offer assistance in finding employment.

Cutting the Right of Permanent Residence fee in half

The Government of Canada cut the Right of Permanent Residence fee in half, from $975 to $490 per person. This demonstrates the Government’s commitment to a generous and open immigration policy.