Canadian Citizens Can Work in Australia Without Work Permit!

Young Canadian will now have the opportunity to travel and work in Australia through International Experience Canada Program.

The joint agreement signed by the Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minster of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship and Honourable Peter Dutton, Australia’s Home Affairs Minister to expand the age range for Youth Mobility between Canada and Australia. The amended (Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)) signed between Canada and Australia will now allow young adults aged between 18 to 35 years to work and travel through the International Experience Canada (IEC) program.

Australian country is a major source of foreign participation in IEC and is also a top destination for the Canadian youth under this program. The eligible age for IEC has been increased from 30 to 35 years that will most likely provide more opportunities for the young Canadian adults who have the relevant experience. In this way both countries will gain valuable skills in a global work environment.

The IEC program is specially designed for young people to gain valuable international work experience and travel abroad. This program lists 34 destinations that are available to young Canadians looking for international work experience with IEC’s partner countries and territories.

IEC was originally originated in 1965 as a cultural exchange between Canada and Germany and following its success, Canada proceeded to create an international level and exchange program with other countries to promote cultural exchanges between young people.

More than 200,000 Canadians have taken advantage of the work and travel experiences offered through the International Experience Canada Program.

IEC program has three categories of participation:

• Working Holiday participants receive open work permits to work anywhere in the host country.
• International Co-op participants receive specific work permits to allow students to gain targeted experience in their field of study.
• Young professional participants receive employer-specific work permit.

 Source Link

Quebec City Wants More Skilled Workers in Province to Address Labour’ Skill Shortages

Mayor says Quebec City shall welcome 5300 newcomers per year.

The mayor of Quebec City says that the province is in a dangerous shortage of labour and thus is calling more number of migrants to combat this issue.

Immigration topped the newly released list of annual priorities mentioning the urgent need to fill 17,000 job vacancies in the region. 

Quebec City Mayor Regis Labeaume’s states that the lack of manpower is the deadliest problem and can hamper the city’s economic future. He added, “It is no longer the time for observations or studies or good intentions.”

The mayor further said that the Quebec City region is only receiving six per cent of newcomers in Quebec each year, whereas the actual immigration intake must be at least 10 percent.

This would mean 5,300 newcomers per year or an increase of around 2,000 over current immigrants

The immigration call taken by the Mayor can also be because of the upcoming province’s general election on October 1, 2018.

He said whoever be the next government in Quebec also needs to improve the province’s immigration system to reduce application processing times and make immigration process easier by recognizing more professional experiences and degrees. 

The province also is in need of more French speaking immigrants, as the province first language is French.  Quebec is a French city and to succeed in this province an applicant requires a job and proficiency in French Language. Source Link

SINP Issued 466 New EOIs With 68 Point Score

Saskatchewan invited 466 applicants under its new Expression of Interest draw that was conducted on 21^st August 2018 to the candidates scoring lowest-ranked 68 points. Those applicants who have taken Educational Credential Assessment were invited in the current EOI draw.

The expression of interest draw was speculated to take place in September 2018 but the immigration department of Saskatchewan did the unexpected and invited applicants sooner than expected.

This is good news for the potential applicants applying under Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP). The province has increased the number of applications in EOI draw as opposed to 250-300 invitations in its previous immigration program of ‘first-come, first-serve’ basis.

The applicants applying for SINP requires a minimum score of 60 points out of 100 on Saskatchewan point assessment grid for the factors age, educational qualification, work experience, language ability and adaptability.

However, the expression of interest was given on 68 points out of 100 to the candidates applying for SINP in the occupations that are in-demand in the province currently. Henceforth, SINP limits the selection of occupations that have already exceeded employment demand. Source Link

Canada’s Parents and Grandparents Sponsorship Introduces Lottery System for Year 2019!

First-come first serve method to invite applicants under Parents and Grandparents sponsorshi.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada says it will discard its controversial randomized selection process for its Parents and Grandparents Program in 2019 and instead first-come, first-served approach to invite interested sponsors will apply.

The news release was published on August 20 stating IRCC will accept 20,000 new sponsorship applications next year through Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP)

The current method of randomizing selecting applicants to PGP was introduced in 2017 that was widely taken as unjust despite the government’s claim of making system more fair and transparent.

At that time, the Canadian government said a randomized approach would level the visas and will give everyone the same opportunity to be selected to sponsor their parents and/or grandparents.

IRCC said, “At least one petition was created to oppose the lottery, which it said left family reunification to “chance.” “The government is making further changes to the application intake process that will streamline access to the program and improve client experience.”

The Canadian Immigration Minister, Ahmad Hussen said the changes are evidence of the Government of Canada’s ‘commitment to helping families live, work and thrive together, in Canada.”

Reduced backlog of applications will allow increase quota

IRCC said the backlog of PGP applications was at 26,000 in June 2018, reduced from 167,000 in 2011 and this reduction has allowed the government to increase its intake quota to 20,000 in 2019. Source Link

60,000 New Nurses Required in Canada!

The Canadian nursing group, Canadian Nurses Association warns that Canada will experience an extreme shortage of nurses in the coming years. The association predicts a shortage of 60,000 nurses by the year 2022. The shortage can be overcome by inviting nurses to come and settle in the country through immigration. 

According to Canadian Nurses Association (CNA), Canada is on track to have a shortage of 60,000 nurses by the year 2022. Several budget cuts, along with a failure of nursing employment to keep up with the hospital demand has put Canada in the dangerous position of experiencing severe lack of nursing professionals. Thus, the nurse shortage can lead to lack of quality in Canadian healthcare services, unless action is taken to increase the number of nurses. 

If nurses are migrated from foreign location to live and work in Canada then in such a situation the labour shortage can be fulfilled. The healthcare services will also improve. There are range of immigration programs available to overseas nurses who want to come and settle in Canada to kick-start their careers in healthcare industry. 

What are The Immigration Options for Nurses?

There are number of immigration programs run by the Canadian government to help nurses become permanent residents. With permanent resident status, these nurses have the right to live and work in Canada.

As a potential Canada PR applicant, nurses can immigrate using any of the immigration option mentioned below. 

Express Entry:

Express Entry is an online immigration program to manage immigration applications. There are three programs under Express Entry program and nurse’s category is most likely to come under Federal Skilled Worker Program. The nurses who have at least one year of full-time work experience might qualify for this program. 

Skilled migration under FSW is two stage process and Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score is used to select the best applicants. Thus, nurses having higher education, work experience and good English or French language proficiency can successfully apply under this stream. 

Nova Scotia Nominee Program:

Although, every province has its own eligibility requirements to nominate the potential applicants under Provincial Nominee Program, Nova Scotia Nominee Program is one of them. The program targets nurses living overseas who wish to migrate to Canada on a permanent basis. In order to apply as nurse under Nova Scotia Nominee Program, as a nurse you must have a one year of nursing experience and profile must be in the Express Entry pool. 

Quebec Skilled Worker:

The province of Quebec runs its own immigration program for overseas workers called Quebec Skilled Worker program. A point based system is used to rank applicants under this program to pick best candidates to immigrate to Quebec. More points are given to the nurses with higher levels of education and work experience, so nurses with university degree and several years of experience have an advantage. 

All nurses wishing to apply for Canada PR must know that certificate is required to practice in Canada. Depending upon the level of education of nurses and work experience according to the Canada nursing credentials, new immigrant nurses may have to complete further training and sit for the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) before they are authorized to work as nurse in Canada. Source Link

Ontario Issued New Invitations Under Express Entry Streams With Low CRS 350

Ontario issued 947 invitations to Express Entry candidates under its Human Capital Priorities Stream on August 9, 2018 with Comprehensive Ranking System Score as low as 350.

The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program says the CRS score ranged from 350 to 439 in the latest draw and Notification of Interests (NOIs) were issued to the applicants whose profile was in the express entry pool between January 1, 2018 and August 9, 2018.

The applicants who are invited in this draw are required to have a job offer letter from the Ontario employer. 

The Human Capital Priorities Stream allows the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program to search the applicants in the express entry pool who meet the stream’s specific criteria. Normally these criteria require express entry applicants to have a CRS score of 400 and above.  However, the targeted draws like this and another held on March 26 have decreased the CRS point score and additionally asking for a job offer letter in Ontario or proficiency in French. 

Though, job offer is not mandatory requirement under Human Capital Priorities Stream. Of the eight draws held through the stream this year, only two draws had job offer requirement. 

Earlier, the province of Ontario has issued targeted NOIs to candidates with work experience in select information communication technology occupations. 

The applicant under express entry pool who receives nomination from the Ontario province gets additional 600 points towards Comprehensive Ranking System score. This further enables them to receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA) in a subsequent draw from the express entry pool. 

The candidates who are issued NOIs in the current draw have 45 calendar days to apply for provincial nomination certificate from Ontario. Visit https://bit.ly/2Pl6qJ4 for more details.

BC PNP Invites 405 Applicants Under Express Entry and Skilled Immigration Streams

The British Columbia Province invited 405 applicants to apply for provincial nomination under skilled Immigration and Express Entry BC streams. 

Total 405 invitations were given under the following categories:

•  For Express Entry British Columbia- Skilled Worker, the minimum score was 87 points
• For Express Entry British Columbia- International Graduate, the minimum score was 91 points
• For SI-Skilled Worker Stream, the minimum score was 82 points
• For SI-International Graduate, the minimum score was 91 points
• For SI-Entry level and semi-skilled, the minimum score was 65 points 

 

The successful applicants under these streams are entitled to receive an additional 600 points under the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score towards their express entry profile.  However, the applications invited for British Columbia under skilled immigration streams for Canadian Permanent Residence are processed outside the Express Entry System. 

Usually, the applicants applying for BC PNP requires a full- time job offer letter from a British Columbia employer in the tech pilot occupational streams consisting of 29 occupations. Source Link