E-newsletter - Past Editions

Fall 2011

Action Plan Aims at Faster Family Reunification

The Government of Canada is taking action to address the growing backlog and seven-year wait times for sponsored parents and grandparents. Announced November 4 by Minister Kenney, the Action Plan for Faster Family Reunification includes the following elements:

• An increase of over 60 percent in the number of sponsored parents and grandparents Canada will admit as permanent residents next year
• A new Parent and Grandparent Supervisa that will allow them to come to Canada for up to 24 months at a time, and will be issued, on average within eight weeks of applying. 
• Consultations on how to redesign the program to ensure it is sustainable in the future
• A temporary pause of up to 24 months on the acceptance of new sponsorship applications for parents and grandparents. This will allow CIC to reduce the 165,000-strong backlog, while consulting on, and redesigning the program.

Proposed Language Assessment Changes

Citizenship and Immigration Canada is proposing changes to the way the government assesses the language abilities of prospective new citizens. The Citizenship Act already requires that applicants be able to communicate in one of Canada’s official languages. This proposed change would not increase the language level required, but would change the way that citizenship applicants aged 18-54 prove their language ability.

Under the proposal, adult citizenship applicants would be required to provide objective evidence of speaking and listening language ability with their citizenship applications. 

Applicants would be able to demonstrate language ability by submitting a variety of evidence, including the results of a third-party test, or evidence of completion of a secondary/ post-secondary education in English or French, or evidence of achieving language training in certain government-funded programs.

The Notice of Intent, requesting comments from the public on the proposed change, will be posted until November 14, 2011.

Find out more

Update: Temporary Residents Biometrics Project

CIC is making progress towards its goal for 2013 of introducing biometrics into its immigration stream for visitors, students and workers seeking to visit Canada on a temporary basis. Biometrics is the measurement of unique physical characteristics, such as fingerprints, for the purpose of verifying identity.

CIC is currently taking steps to gather bids from industry to procure the technology for collecting biometrics. In the coming months, CIC will be providing additional information to stakeholders, such as the tourism sector and employers of foreign workers, on next steps, including information on the benefits of biometrics, steps for providing biometrics, and privacy safeguards.

Biometric identification will significantly strengthen Canada’s ability to detect identity fraud, minimizing the chance that one person could use another person’s identity to fraudulently obtain a visa.

Watch our website for future updates on the use of biometrics in Canada’s immigration program.

Destination Canada Job Fairs – Recruiting French-speaking Newcomers

This November, the 8^th Annual Destination Canada job recruitment fair for francophone foreign-nationals will take place in France, Belgium and Tunisia. As part of CIC’s efforts to promote linguistic duality and support minority official language communities in Canada, Destination Canada helps inform francophone candidates abroad about employment opportunities throughout Canada. It has become the forum in France and Belgium for French-speaking individuals seeking information about working and living and Canada.

New this year, CIC and Service Canada will be on hand to help employers streamline and accelerate the recruitment of French-speaking foreign nationals. Labour Market Opinion exemptions will be considered for Temporary Foreign Work Permit applications in managerial, professional or technical occupations and skilled trades, for a position in a province or territory other than Quebec. A facilitated process will also be offered for the same occupations for permanent employment, allowing candidates to benefit from priority processing of their Federal Skilled Worker applications.

Destination Canada is organized by the Embassy of Canada in France and Tunisia, with support from CIC and partnerships with Pôle emploi international in France, FOREM, ACTIRIS and VDAB in Belgium, and ANETI in Tunisia.

What We Heard – Consulting Stakeholders and the Public

Earlier this year, we held consultations with stakeholders and the public to seek input on a number of proposed changes to the Federal Skilled Worker program. Based on an evaluation of the program, academic research and best practices in other immigrant-receiving countries, the proposed changes aim to help Canada select immigrants who have the best chance of integrating and making a better contribution to the Canadian economy. The input received through these consultations will be taken into account in the development of new regulations.

During the summer and fall, we also consulted on other immigration-related initiatives. Cross-country consultations on immigration issues were held in the summer on the appropriate level of immigration and the most suitable mix between economic, family class and protected persons. In October, consultations on hiring temporary foreign workers were held in Calgary with employers from the oil and gas, construction, agriculture and hospitality sectors, as well as labour representatives. 

Summary reports from these consultations will be available on our website in the coming months. 

Highlights from CIC’s 2010-11 consultation activities are also available in CIC’s first annual Report on Consultations. The report demonstrates how the Department gains a greater understanding of the perspectives of a wide range of citizens, stakeholders and experts to help inform program and policy decisions that support Canada’s immigration and humanitarian objectives.

CIC Consultations

Service Improvements make it easier for Latin Americans to Apply

Citizenship and Immigration Canada is expanding its visa application centre (VAC) network around the world to make the application process more efficient. Following the recent expansion in Latin America this summer there are now VACs in 35 countries around the world.

VACs are an example of Canada’s commitment to improving service to applicants and processing efficiency, providing valuable administrative support by phone, by email or in person to individuals submitting applications. In particular, client service agents at VACs are available to verify that visa applications are complete, thereby helping applicants avoid unnecessary delays or refusals due to incomplete applications. While VACs can make it easier for people to apply, decisions on applications are still made by CIC visa officers.

More information

Hire a Foreign Worker – Information for Employers

CIC is making changes to our website to make it easier for employers to quickly find information on hiring foreign workers. Whether for temporary or full-time employment, our website can help you find information on the different programs available, and the employer’s role in the hiring process. 

Government to Refocus Resettlement Efforts

Canada has repealed the ineffective Source Country class in order to put more emphasis on work with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and refugees in the greatest need.

As part of these measures, Canada will also be ending direct access in designated geographic areas as of November 6, 2011. This means that applicants in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, El Salvador, Guatemala, Colombia and Sierra Leone will be required to include a referral from the UNHCR, a designated referral organization or a private sponsor with their resettlement application in order to be eligible for resettlement.

Read the News Release

CIC is going Paperless

CIC is transforming the way it does business. With the increasing use of technology, we are moving away from paper application forms, and are encouraging applicants to use the electronic forms that can be submitted online, or downloaded and printed from our web site. Effective December 1, 2011, with a few exceptions, we will no longer be printing or mailing paper copies of our forms and related guides.

These changes will save CIC over $4 million over the next three years in costs related to printing and mailing. The changes also reflect the fact that technology is making the application process easier to access. Increasingly, improved online services are allowing people to apply wherever and whenever they want, with online tools to help navigate the immigration process. By 2015 the majority of CIC applications will be submitted and processed online.

CIC Application Forms

Citizenship Study Guide Mobile App and eBook

Discover Canada, the official study guide for the Canadian citizenship test, is now available in two new electronic formats. The guide is available as an e-Book, which can be used on a variety of tablets and e-readers. A mobile application, which includes sample citizenship test questions, is also available for the Android and iPhone. A version for the BlackBerry is coming soon.

Discover Canada is full of useful information about Canada. It promotes to immigrants and Canadian citizens alike a greater understanding of Canada’s history, values, symbols and important Canadian institutions, such as Parliament and the Crown. It includes information on common values such as freedom, democracy, human rights, the rule of law and the equality of men and women. It also highlights the contribution of ethnic and cultural communities in shaping our Canadian identity and the sacrifices made by Canada’s veterans for our country.

Download the e-Book or mobile app