On Friday, January 11th, 2019, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced that the new and improved intake process for sponsorship of parents and grandparents will launch on January 28, 2019. After some complaints in previous years, the IRCC has overhauled the program for 2019. This program is intended as a family reunification program which gives Canadians and permanent residents the opportunity to have their parents and grandparents come to Canada to live permanently.

Among the key highlights of the program for 2019 is that it will be on a first-in-first-served basis. This means that getting your applicant in as early as possible will be very important, because only 20,000 applications will be accepted. Once that cap is reached, no more applications will be accepted for 2019. Invitations will be sent out to selected sponsors who will have 60 calendar days to submit a complete application for sponsorship.

Interested sponsors are therefore advised to submit an interest to sponsor form as soon as it becomes available online. In 2018, more than 90 thousand interest to sponsor forms were submitted. It is likely that the quota for 2019 will be met very quickly, so preparation ahead of time is very important to maximize your chance of being selected. The interest to sponsor form will open at noon EST on January 28, 2019. The form will remain available only until enough submissions have been received.

To be eligible to sponsor your parents or grandparents to come to Canada permanently, you must meet the following criteria:

• You must be at least 18 years old
• You live in Canada
• You’re a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident of Canada, or a person registered in Canada as an Indian under the Canadian Indian Act
• You have enough money to support the persons you want to sponsor (you have to provide proof of income)
• You must sign an undertaking, which is a commitment to:
  • provide financial support for your sponsored family members for 20 years, starting when they become permanent residents
  • repaying any provincial social assistance (money from the government) your sponsored family members get during that time
• You and your sponsored family members must also sign a sponsorship agreement which indicates:
  • You’ll provide for the basic needs of your sponsored family members
  • the person you sponsor will make every effort to support themselves and their family members

There are other more detailed criteria and conditions for eligibility. If you are interested in sponsoring your parents or grandparents in 2019, please make sure you contact us as soon as possible. We must coordinate and prepare all required documentation so we can be ready to submit as soon as the portal is open. The window of opportunity is very limited, so get started today by completing our intake form, and we will get in touch as soon as possible to discuss the details.

A new web site and software tools have been launched under the name MovNorth to help encourage tech workers from the U.S. to move to Canada. The web site matches tech workers abroad to Canadian companies looking to hire highly skilled workers.

Canadian technology companies are increasingly being constrained by a lack of qualified talent in Canada, and are looking abroad to find the required skill sets. Even startups are starting to look into hiring from abroad or from international students studying in Canada and looking to remain after graduation.

The technology industry has been growing rapidly in Canada, and multiple major companies have announced that they will open large offices in Canada. Both startups and large companies are now competing for talent with experience in software development, user experience, digital marketing, sales, and product management.

In addition to the regular immigration programs such as the Federal Skilled Worker, Canadian Experience Class, and Provincial Nomination Programs, Canada has specific programs aimed directly at attracting highly skilled technology workers. The Start-Up visa program aims to attract innovative entrepreneurs who would like to build their start-ups in Canada. To qualify, an entrepreneur must get support from a designated Venture Capital (VC) or Angel investor fund, or a Start-up incubator program. Canadian companies also have access to a program known as the Global Talent Stream, which enables them to process work permits for highly skilled workers within 2 weeks.

If you are interested in immigrating to Canada and have experience in the technology industry, we can help you select the program that is the best fit for your circumstances and guide you through the entire process.

References:

• Former Silicon Valley developer wants to help U.S. tech workers move to Canada

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According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Canada is the world's most educated country, with 56.7% of Canadian adults having received a post-secondary degree. This is a full 10% higher than the United States.

This is no surprise for a few reasons. Canada actively recruits highly educated immigrants to come to Canada for permanent residence and eventually to become Canadian Citizens. The immigration system awards points for education, which tends to favor highly educated and skilled applicants to be selected for immigration to Canada. The benefit spans generations as well, since these families typically place a high value on education, and support their kids to pursue higher education as well. 

Another important reason for the high rate of post-secondary education Canadians is cost. Canada's universities receive significant government funding to help them maintain relatively low tuition costs. On average, Canadian students spend $9,300 per year in tuition fees. International students who are not Canadians typically pay significantly higher tuition fees, since they typically do not contribute to paying taxes to the same extent as Canadian citizens. Nonetheless, reasonable tuition costs makes higher education accessible to almost all Canadians. The government also provides interest free student loans to assist any Canadian in pursuing higher education.

Another factor that contributes to Canada having the most educated population in the world is the fact that Canadian universities are highly ranked and very competitive worldwide. Nine Canadian universities are ranked among the top 200 universities in the world by Times Higher Education. The University of Toronto is ranked 21st in the world. For a country with a relatively small population of just over $35 million people, these results are quite impressive.

Canada's strong education system is a key attraction for people considering immigration to Canada. Canada offers children of immigrant families excellent opportunities to gain a strong education that is highly respected globally and that opens the doors to the best employment opportunities. If you are considering immigration to Canada, please contact us to discuss your situation or answer any questions you may have.

References:

• Canada ranked OECD's most educated country
• ​The cost of a Canadian university education in six charts

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Canada's Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, the Honourable Ahmed Hussen, has announced that Canada will bring in more than 1 million immigrants in the next three years. In his 2018 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration, Mr. Hussen discussed Canada’s Immigration Plan for 2019–2021, which targets immigrant admissions between 330,000 - 350,000 for each of those three years.

The report also includes interesting data about immigration in 2017. Canada admitted 286,479 permanent residents in 2017, more than half of whom were admitted under the various economic class programs, and 29% under the family class, with the rest being admitted as refugees or for humanitarian reasons.

Another interesting piece of data revealed in the report was the growing percentage of immigrants who settle outside of Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia, which have traditionally attracted most immigrants. In 2017, 34% of economic immigrants were destined to other Canadian provinces. This is attributed to the Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) which attract economic immigrants under specific rules to the various provinces.

The top three countries source countries where immigrants are coming to Canada from in 2017 were India (18%), Philippines (14%) and China (11%).

This is a great time to consider immigrating to Canada. With Canada opening the doors and increasing the number of immigrants it is accepting, and with unemployment rates at historic lows, the next few years will be a good time to come to Canada to become established and look for work or open a business.

If you would like to discuss the possibility with an immigration professional, please don't hesitate to contact us today.

References:

• 2018 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration

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According to the most recent Statistics Canada report in November, 2018, the unemployment rate in Canada is at a 40-year low of 5.8%. This is regarded as a situation of "full employment", which means that practically anyone seriously seeking a job will find one. Of course, economies work in cycles, and Canada's economy is no exception. Canada regularly experiences both recessions and periods of growth, just like any other economy in the world. The past few years have seen solid growth, leading to the low unemployment numbers.

It is interesting to note that the strong economic news comes at a time when low oil prices and delayed pipeline projects have significantly impacted the Canadian economy, particularly resources rich provinces in western Canada. Low oil prices have slowed hiring and investment and have impacted government budgets. Nonetheless, other sectors have been strong, including housing and IT.

In particular, the city of Toronto has experienced very strong growth in the high tech industry. According to some reports, Toronto is now the fastest growing tech city in North America, even surpassing Silicon Valley in terms of how fast it is growing. Several major technology companies have recently announced expansions or new headquarters in Toronto including Microsoft, Google, Uber, Intel, and Shopify. This is in addition to the hundreds of startups growing quietly in the Toronto-Waterloo high tech corridor.

Canada’s Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC) reports that the unemployment rate in the IT sector is at 2.6%, but according to other estimates it is even lower. There is particularly strong demand for certain skill sets, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data science where new university graduate starting salaries can range from $80,000 to more than $100,000 per year.

Meanwhile in London, Ontario, "Hiring" signs are popping up on many corners as companies struggle to fill open job postings. A number of manufacturers are offering signing bonuses in order to attract workers. But with an unemployment rate of 5.5%, it has been difficult to find new workers, even for unskilled factory jobs. Other industries in London are also facing difficulty hiring including the tech sector, construction and even restaurants. The story is the same across southwestern Ontario.
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Canada has several federal and provincial immigration programs that have been tailored specifically to attract the talent Canada needs to continue growing its economy. In particular, IT workers have some specific programs that allow their applications to be fast-tracked. If you have experience in IT related fields and are interested in coming to Canada, please get in touch with us to learn more!

References:

• ​Canada’s unemployment rate down to four-decade low of 5.8 per cent
• ​Hot Jobs: The $100K entry-level job you can get here in Canada
• Toronto's 'moment' in tech sector brings $500M investment by Shopify
• Tech giants point to new talent as primary reason for Toronto investment​
• LFP Longform: Lots of jobs, no workers across Southwestern Ontario

Canada has always welcomed newcomers and worked hard to attract and retain the best and most talented people from around the world to settle in Canada and become Canadians. Although humanitarian considerations are a strong motivation to accept newcomers escaping war or persecution, there are also economic reasons why immigration is important for Canada.

Canada is a vast country and is rich in natural resources. Our growing economy needs a growing workforce, especially as the "baby boomer" generation (people born in the years following the end of the second world war) continue to retire from the workforce. Immigrants fill this important gap and allow our economy to continue to grow. In addition, when fully integrated, newcomers contribute to the Canadian economy by paying taxes and purchasing goods and services from Canadian companies. Newcomers also typically bring their life savings and invest them in Canada, and many of them launch new businesses and create jobs. 

Through well crafted immigration programs designed carefully to attract talented, hardworking people who are ready to integrate into Canadian society, Canada has one of the most successful immigration strategies of any country in the world. Canada selects applicants who are the most qualified and needed by the Canadian economy through federal and provincial immigration programs.

On June 19, 2018 the London Free Press, the major newspaper in London, Ontario published an article about a report presented to London's city council about the need to attract newcomers to London, not only because to help those in need, but also because it is good for London's local economy. The city is working on developing a strategy to attract newcomers to Canada and to retain students who study at the post-secondary educational institutions in London. A link to the article is provided below.

• London Free Press: 'Wake up call': London's slowing population alarms city politicians 

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