2016 has been a remarkable year, and 2017 is expected to bring even more positive immigrating to Canada.
Canadian immigration programs can be generally be divided into three broad categories, namely the economic programs , Family class programs and economic programs. In all three categories, 2016 can be described as an excellent year. The new Liberal government do see opportunities to improve programs, they managed to increase the number of new arrivals, reduce processing time, and give more people the opportunity to fulfil their life dream of coming to Canada.
January
As the year began, the new government had only been in office for two months. One of the first acts was to re-brand what had been known as Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) as (IRCC ) Immigration , Refugee and Citizenship Canada . It was around this time that IRCC was heavily focused on the government’s election promise to settle tens of thousands of refugees from Syria, an effort that was widely commended and ultimately successful.
On the Family Class front, the parent and grandparent sponsorship program application cycle proved immensely popular, with IRCC accepting 10,000 applications.
There were also developments in the economic programs. Quebec introduced an online application management system called Mon Projet Quebec. Alberta and Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program reopened all categories, some of which reached their intake caps within days. In addition, there were three , with a total of 4,449 Invitations to Apply (ITAs) issued in January alone.
February
2016 was a year in which the immigration programs of provinces became more dynamic than ever before. In February, British Columbia launched Canadian experience class and issued more than 6000 invitations to apply to qualified foreign students workers in Canada.
March
The government of Canada released its 2016 immigration program. early in March, setting a target of up to 305,000 new immigrants over the course of the year. At the time, this was a record target number in modern Canadian history. More than half of these newcomers would come through the economic programs, while there were significant target increases under the Family Class and refugee/humanitarian categories. Minister McCallum said the government’s goal was to “bring in immigrants who wish to build a better Canada.”
The government also made commitments to reduce processing times, remove the conditional permanent residency provision from certain sponsored spouses and common-law partners, and made it easier for international students and graduates in Canada.
April
There was also movement in business immigration to Canada when Quebec announced re opening the Business immigration programs including the popular investor program as well as the Entrepreneur and self employed Categories .
May
In May, 2016, Ontario announced that it was placing a temporary pause on its programs due to the cap completion.
June
The much-anticipated summer application intake period for the Quebec Skilled Worker Program opened the morning of June 13, before closing within hours after the cap was completed. This intake was restricted to individuals who had already created a Mon Projet Québec account earlier in the year, though the creation of new accounts was opened up later in the month in anticipation of the next intake period.
In other news, Manitoba and Saskatchewan continued to welcome skilled workers to their provinces through the Provincial Nominee Programs.
July
By mid-summer, the number of candidates being invited to apply for permanent residence through Express Entry had decreased to around 750-800 per draw. However, an IRCC representative, speaking at an event in Edmonton, Alberta earlier in the summer, revealed that the number of ITAs issued would increase significantly later in the year.
In the end, this turned out to be the case.
Manitoba and Saskatchewan remained active during July and Atlantic provinces also announced new collective strategy. This strategy eventually became the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program, through which up to 2,000 newcomers will come to Canada in 2017.
August
The August intake for Quebec Skilled worker program, much like the June intake, was reached within hours of the program reopening, benefiting individuals who had prepared well in advance. The government of Quebec wishes to move to a demand-based similar to the Federal Express Entry program at some stage in 2017, and so this intake may have been the final intake under the first-come, first-served system. But you never know, tech projects tend to take longer than expected to implement, and the program may reopen under the first-come, first-served model again before the new system comes into force.
British Columbia performed two draws, providing a route to permanent residence for hundreds more workers and graduates. One noteworthy aspect of the BC PNP International Graduate sub-categories is that the graduate does not necessarily need to have studied in BC; graduates of institutions in other provinces may be eligible. There was also a selection draw under the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program, and Saskatchewan’s international Skilled worker Occupation in Demand for 700 new applications (and, like previous intakes, this first-come, first-served intake filled within a couple of days).
September
There was plenty of Express Entry news through September as the number of invitations to apply began to increase . Eventually, this culminated in draw sizes tripling between late September and mid-November. The CRS cut-off threshold also began to decrease once again at this time, in line with IRCC’s expectations.
October
The government announced its intention to raise the maximum age of dependent children from current limit of under 19 to less than 22 years of age. This goal forms part of the government’s commitment to family reunification.
November
In November, 2016, improvement to the Express Entry system were announced .The changes included the awarding more CRS points to International graduates in Canada as well as a reduction in the number of points awarded for a qualifying job offer, the introduction of new ways to be awarded points for a job offer, and an increase in the validity of an ITA once it is issued to a candidate.
The expected outcome of these changes, according to IRCC, will be that ‘A reduction of points to candidates with arranged employment means the CRS cut-off will decline.’ Since the changes were first announced, tens of thousands of candidates and potential candidates have started to determine how the changes may affect their profile.
December
So far, December has also been a busy month. The Immigration Minister has announced that processing times for the spousal/common-law partner categories of family class immigration programs are to be to 12 months, from an average of 24 months, with an additional goal to eventually reduce processing times to as low as six months. There was further good news for spouses and partners being sponsored within Canada when the Open Work Permit Pilot Program was extended for another year.
And that was not all the changes under the Family Class this month, as it was also announced that there would be a selection method for 2017 parent and grandparent sponsorship intake, providing sponsors with a 30-day window of opportunity to register their interest as of January 3, 2017.
Finally, there have been further draws for skilled workers at the federal (Express Entry) and provincial levels over the closing weeks of the year. The latest Express Entry draw saw a total of 1,936 candidates invited to apply for permanent residence.
