Immigration

With the Home Child Care Provider Pilot and the Home Support Worker Pilot expiring on June 17, 2024, the IRCC has announced a new pilot program that will allow caregivers from abroad to receive permanent residency upon arrival in Canada. The program also allows caregivers to work for organizations offering temporary or part-time care for semi-independent individuals or recovering from an injury or illness.

Candidates must meet the following requirements:

• Attain a minimum of level 4 based on the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB).
• Hold the equivalent of a Canadian high school diploma.
• Have recent and relevant work experience.
• Receive an offer for a full-time home care job.

The Canadian Experience Class (CEC) is one of three Express Entry programs and it provides a permanent residence pathway for skilled workers who have gained work experience in Canada. After a three-year hiatus, the IRCC conducted its first program-specific draw for CEC.

This program is crucial for individuals who have demonstrated their ability to contribute to the Canadian economy and society through their work experience in Canada. The resumption of the CEC program and the recent draw on May 30, 2024, underscore Nihang Law’s commitment to welcoming skilled workers and supporting their journey toward permanent residency.

To qualify for the CEC program, applicants must possess the following:

• At least one year of full-time skilled work experience in Canada under at least one of the NOC training, education, experience, and responsibilities (TEER) categories: TEER 0, 1, 2, or 3.
• Language proficiency: a score of at least 7 for Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) for English and Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadien (NCLC) for French.

Education in Canada is not a requirement, but it increases the candidate’s chance of getting an Invitation to Apply (ITA).

Permanent Canadian Residency visa is available to even those who don’t qualify for the skilled worker visa. The purpose of the Provincial nomination visa is to give the semi or low skilled labor a chance to live in Canada, work here and be a part of the Canadian economy. Through this visa applicant is nominated for a specific province that is in search of employees in a particular field.

Each provincial nominee program has different streams that applicants can apply under and they generally fall into the following five categories of streams:

• Skilled workers
• Semi-skilled workers
• Business/investors
• International student graduates
• Family/community connections.

Our consultants stay on top of the provincial demands of specific employees.

The province of Quebec has its own particular program for immigration namely Quebec-Selected Skilled Workers Program (QSWP). Being the second-largest province of Canada, Quebec is in constant need of thousand of experienced foreign workers.

An applicant must first obtain satisfactory points in accordance with the point-based Canadian immigration program and must have competent skills in the French language (French being the dominant language in Quebec), for selection by Quebec provincial government. Once the applicant has been selected by the province of Quebec, they can apply for Canadian for a permanent residency visa. This program allows individuals from around the world to live and work in Canada and contribute towards the economic expansion of the wonderful province of Quebec.

Once one becomes a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident, they have the opportunity to sponsor close family members, such as spouse/common-law partner and dependant children, for permanent residency in Canada.

Numerous organizations have acknowledged Canada as one of the most progressive and advantageous countries for international students. Currently, there are over 300,000 international students studying throughout Canada, a figure that is constantly growing.

For studying in Canada one must acquire a Canadian Study Permit that will be the Canadian student visa for the period of the study program. If the study course or program is six months or less in duration, no such permit is required. After receiving the Study Permit, one may apply to renew the permit from within Canada in case the applicant desires to further their studies. Full-time students at accredited higher educational institutions are now allowed to work part-time on and off-campus, as well as take part in co-op or internship programs as part of their studies. Further, if the students wish to stay in Canada after graduation, they may seek work in their field and apply for permanent residency.

Introduced on January 2, 2013, the Federal Skilled Worker Class proposes a Permanent Resident Visa to Canada for certified skilled professionals such as welders, electricians, plumbers, machinists, carpenters, aircraft mechanics, etc. Only 3,000 applications are accepted and allowed entry into Canada each year through this class. A hundred applications per specific occupation are considered for any further process from Category A every year, however, there is no such requirement for Category B. There are 43 occupations divided into Category A and Category B.

As of January 1, 2015, to come to Canada as a skilled immigrant, you must use the Express Entry system. Through the Express Entry, skilled workers are allowed entry into Canada within six months or less, which allows international workers to gain permanent residency upon arrival.

Although Express Entry is not an immigration program in itself, it is a system used by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to select candidates for immigration to Canada using the following economic immigration programs:

• Federal Skilled Worker Class
• Federal Skilled Trades Class
• Canadian Experience Class
• A portion of the Provincial Nominee Programs

The Federal Skilled Trades Class grants the approved applicant a permanent residency visa upon arrival into Canada. The potential applicants are assessed based on their educational qualifications (most likely a university degree), work experience, knowledge of French and/or English and age. Only 67 points are required to qualify under this class.

The professions under this class are regularly updated based on their national demand. The federal government is currently seeking applications from the following professions: physicians, professors, accountants, managers, engineers, financial analysts, nurses, computer programmers, etc.

While the Federal Immigration Investor Program and the Entrepreneur Program were terminated on June 19, 2014, entrepreneur and investor immigration is still available through the provinces of Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Manitoba, Quebec, Saskatchewan and British Columbia.