Last week, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) released a major announcement concerning expected changes to several immigration regulations. The changes, published in the Forward Regulatory Plan 2016—2018, outline anticipated reviews to existing conditions of various immigration programs.
A Forward Regulatory Plan is a list of anticipated regulatory changes or actions that IRCC intends to realize over the next two years. Objectives are summarized below.
Definition of Dependent Child
IRCC proposes to increase the maximum age of a dependent child accompanying a principal applicant on an application. Currently, unmarried children aged 19 and under may be included on an application. The intention is to allow immigrants to bring their children with them, and reduce the need for multiple applications within a family. the change aor increase for the age of dependent children was proposed for the change.
Conditional Permanent Residence for New Sponsored Spouses
Currently, sponsored who apply to sponsor their partners who have been married for less than two years or who have no children with their spouse at the time of application are granted conditional permanent residence. thus, they are required to live with their spouse for a period of two years following their arrival in Canada in order to maintain their permanent residence status. IRCC states that the proposal to change this requirement arose from concerns of the effect the requirement has on vulnerable spouses.
Citizenship Act
Following commitments from the Prime Minister and the Liberal Party of Canada to introduce amendment to the current citizenship law , the Forward Regulatory Plan states that a proposal will be developed to amend citizenship regulations to support changes to the Citizenship Act. The proposed changes and amendment is currently under review in the senate's.
Live-in Caregiver Program
On November 30, 2014, the Government of Canada proclaimed that the Live-In Caregiver Program would be suspended, and that two new programs – the Caring for Children Class and the Caring for People with High Medical Needs Class – would take its place. individuals in Canada under the Live-in Caregiver Program may continue to be eligible for permanent residence, if their initial Live-in Caregiver work permit was with support of a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) requested on or before November 30, 2014.
Business Immigration programs
Following the termination of the federal Immigrant Investor and Entrepreneur Programs in 2014, the Forward Regulatory Plan states that a regulatory proposal will be developed to remove these programs from the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPA). A new program will be introduced to attract foreign investors.
International Mobility Program
The temporary foreign worker program will have more facilities for foreign nationals who are exempt from LIMA in order to respond to Canada’s labour needs and advance national economic and cultural interests
Changes to Support Five Country Conference Information Sharing
This objective is to improve and support information sharing between the immigration authorities of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom and the United States. Amendments will be introduced to the IRPA to establish the scope of immigration information sharing in details.
In-Canada Asylum System
The Forward Regulatory Plan states that amendments to the IRPR will be needed to support enhancements to the in-Canada asylum system. These enhancements are still being developed, and no concrete amendments were proposed in this objective.
Electronic Administration/Processing of Applications
Following amendments made in 2015 to increase the use of electronic processing systems, the Forward Regulatory Plan indicates changes that will enable IRCC and other authorities to use electronic tools and systems, including automated processing systems.
Government departments periodically release Forward Regulatory Plans to outline their planned changes and actions. These releases are intended to inform the public and businesses, in order to enable stakeholders to plan for the future.
