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Русский Want Your Canada Immigration Application to Succeed? Hire a Lawyer
December 10, 2018 – New figures prove that hiring an immigration lawyer is a candidate’s best chance of success when applying for a Canada immigration visa.
Just 10.4 per cent of temporary resident applications prepared by lawyers were rejected in 2017, compared to more than 18 per cent prepared by immigration consultants.
The figures show candidates are almost better off representing themselves than hiring an immigration consultant, with 19.3 per cent of self-completed applications failing.
Significantly lower failure rates for immigration lawyers should come as no surprise.
Read More
Why Hire an Immigration Lawyer?
Ottawa Set to Defend its Biggest Case Involving Unlicensed Canadian Immigration Consultants
Ottawa Provides Update on Immigration Consultant Regulation Investigation (Audio)
Attorneys have completed years of education, have an established code of ethics and are strictly regulated.
To becoming a registered immigration consultant, practitioners must only complete a one-year accredited program and meet language requirements.
The regulatory body – the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC) – is beset with problems and a lack of professionalism.
A 2017 report by the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration recommended the ICCRC be disbanded and regulation of consultants taken on by the federal government.
Too often so-called ‘ghost’ consultants who are not properly qualified are allowed to slip through the net.
This leads to complex court cases that often threaten the legal status of Canadian immigrants who unwittingly hired the services of unregistered consultants.
Immigration lawyers are also often left to pick up the pieces after candidates have failed in their applications using a consultant.
Without needing to navigate such difficult cases, the success rate for lawyers could be even higher.
The data shows that of 342,154 temporary visa applications in 2017, 86 per cent of candidates chose to represent themselves.
A further six per cent chose to use consultants, while five per cent used lawyers.
What Is the Difference Between Hiring a Lawyer and Hiring a Consultant?
A consultant is any person called on to give advice. A lawyer (attorney, barrister or solicitor) is licensed to perform legal functions. These may include:
- Drafting documents,
- Interpreting and applying laws,
- Giving legal advice,
- Representing clients in court.
The practice of law is regulated by each of the provinces. A lawyer must have the following credentials:
- Bachelor of law degree from recognized university,
- Law admission examinations,
- Training under practicing lawyer.
The conduct of lawyers in Canada is regulated by the Professional Order of Lawyers (POL).
POL rules cover areas including:
- Separate trust bank accounts for client fees,
- Obligations of lawyers towards clients,
- Performance of mandates.
Breaking these rules can result in the loss or suspension of a lawyer’s license.
Anyone charging a fee to give advice on immigration must be a member of one of the following:
- Provincial or territorial law society
- Chambre des notariés du Québec
- Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC), which replaced the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants (CSIC) in 2011.
The admission process for licensed immigration consultants in Canada is far less rigorous. Immigration consultants do not need the same education, nor are they scrutinized to the same standards.
A client not happy with a lawyer can raise a formal complaint with the POL, which has a fund to provide compensation for irregularities.
Interested employers: Kindly contact us here to receive further information.
Interested candidates: Find out whether you qualify to Canada by completing our free on-line evaluation. We will provide you with our evaluation within 1-2 business days.
Read more news about Canada Immigration by clicking here.
- Published in 2018, Canada Immigration, Canada Immigration News Articles, Profile
Beyond Petroleum
Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper recently made the statement, ‘The oil industry isn’t remotely the entire Canadian economy.’ While this is not a startling statement in itself, since production of crude oil represents just 3% of Canada’s GDP, the surprise is that Mr. Harper felt he has to state the obvious.
He pulled Canada out of the Kyoto protocol on climate change and promoted the Keystone XL pipeline that would carry Alberta bitumen to refineries in the southern United States. He has likened the development of Alberta’s tar sands to building the Great Wall of China. Canada, the fifth-largest producer of crude oil (which makes up 14% of exports), is an “emerging energy superpower”, Mr. Harper has proclaimed.
However, since June 2014 oil prices have dropped by over fifty percent leading to a shift in the engines of economic growth from western Canada to the central provinces of Ontario and Quebec, which concentrate on services and manufacturing. The weakness in the energy sector prompted a surprise cut in interest rates by the Bank of Canada on January 21st. The federal government, which usually delivers its budget by the end of March, has put that off until April at the earliest. Volatile energy markets make it impossible to predict revenue accurately, says Joe Oliver, the finance minister.
While the energy slump will boost some parts of the country, it will depress others. According to the Conference Board of Canada, oil-rich Alberta, which has grown faster than the rest of Canada for the past 20 years, will enter recession this year, predicts one.
This is the reason behind the central bank’s decision to reduce the target for its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point from 1%, its level since September 2010. This has puzzled the financial markets since core inflation stands at 2.2%, well within the bank’s target range. Lower rates could encourage consumers, who are already carrying record levels of debt, to take on even more. Stephen Poloz, the central bank’s governor, acknowledged the risk but argued that the recession in the oil industry made it worth taking. He fears that the loss of jobs, investment and export income from the energy sector will eventually spread to other parts of the economy. He said the rate cut was similar to taking out an insurance policy.
Ontario and Quebec, which account for over half of Canada’s GDP, are home to large manufacturing industries, such as cars and aerospace, which have long complained that the oil-fuelled rise in the Canadian dollar was damaging their competitiveness. The currency has fallen by 15% against the American dollar since June, giving exports a boost, and may weaken further because of lower interest rates. This combined with strong growth in the United States, Canada’s biggest trading partner, bodes well for manufacturers.
There are two threats to Mr. Harper’s campaign plan. The first is that, as the central bank fears, the petro-plunge will pull down growth overall. The second is that the economy will continue to do relatively well but that the Conservatives will not get credit for it.
Mr. Harper is a skilled political scrapper; he may well find a way to turn the shift away from oil-led growth to his advantage.
- Published in February
Canada December Job Losses Deeper After Revisions
According to Statistics Canada, the Canadian economy shed 11,300 net jobs in December instead of the 4,300 decline reported earlier in January. The updated jobs figures were part of the agency’s annual revisions to labor data.
Canada lost almost three times as many jobs in December as originally estimated, and job creation for the full year also fell short, suggesting Canada’s labor market is on a weaker footing than previously believed. December’s jobless rate was 6.7%, compared with the previously estimated 6.6%. Adjusted to U.S. concepts, the jobless rate was 5.7% last month, compared with 5.6% south of the border, Statistics Canada said.
Net job creation in Canada for 2014 totaled 121,300 positions, the lowest level since the country posted a net loss in jobs in 2009, at the height of the global recession. The tally for 2014 was roughly a third less than previously estimated.
Douglas Porter, chief economist of BMO Capital Markets, called some of the revisions fairly significant saying, “The overall impression is that the labor market was even more sluggish than what we were first led to believe. It definitely puts a more cautious hue on how the labor market is faring.”
Job gains in 2014 were driven by increases in full-time positions. Overall employment grew 0.7%, the same pace as the previous year, but less than half the 1.8% rate in 2012. The number of people who are actively looking for work as a share of the population dropped to 65.7% in December, the lowest since 2000. According to Statistics Canada this was likely because of the country’s aging population.
The agency revises employment figures once a year, usually in January. The latest revisions were more comprehensive, going back to 2001, because they incorporate data from the latest national census conducted in 2011.
Collapsing oil prices are expected to affect oil-rich Alberta particularly hard, which last year recorded the fastest employment growth rate of all the provinces, and the second-lowest jobless rate after Saskatchewan.
- Published in January
The Destruction of Visa Security Seals
Operational Bulletin 538 – August 12, 2013
The Destruction of Visa Security Seals
Summary
The authorities have ascertained that the visa security seal offers limited use at present. Therefore, it has instructed officers at missions abroad to destroy most of the visa security seal inventory retained at these missions. In addition, it has declared that there is no impact on the use of security seals by offices located in Canada.
Issue
This Operational Bulletin (OB) provides instructions concerning the destruction of visa security seals. Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) offices located overseas would need to destroy the visa security seals they currently possess.
Background
Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) began issuing a visa counterfoil (IMM 1346B) that offers higher levels of security with effect from April 01, 2012. As a result, it renders redundant the visa security seal (OB 397).
Therefore, the authorities have decided that Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) offices located overseas would need to destroy the visa security seals they currently possess.
The Instructions
The use of visa counterfoils and security seals has experienced a significant change. Therefore, the authorities have determined that missions abroad do not need to retain large inventories of security seals any longer.
At the same time, they have declared that the use of these security seals will not affect operations in Canada. This is because many offices in Canada continue to use the security seal for affixing photographs to:
- IMM 1442s and,
- Temporary Resident Permits
Overseas however, missions use the security seal only for affixing applicant photographs to:
- Single Journey Travel Documents (SJTDs) [IMM 5565] and,
- Single Journey Documents for Resettlement (SJDs) [IMM 5485]
However, emergencies do tend to arise, where missions situated overseas need to facilitate travel by issuing:
- Single Journey Travel Documents (SJTDs) [IMM 5565] and,
- Single Journey Documents for Resettlement (SJDs) [IMM 5485]
Therefore, these missions would need to retain a small number of security seals for emergency purposes.
In addition, the authorities have also identified a potential security issue concerning the use of these security seals. They have found that the adhesive used for the seals tends to become less stable over time. Therefore, situations might arise that could possibly undermine the assurance of security.
To address this situation, the authorities have issued instructions to missions situated overseas concerning the destruction of security seals in their local inventory. However, it has also instructed the missions to retain one package (comprising 250 seals) with them. They could retain the possession of this package of security seals for dealing with emergencies, as and when they might arise.
The authorities have also realised that some visa offices might be using these security seals for issuing a high number of:
- Single Journey Travel Documents (SJTDs) [IMM 5565] and,
- Single Journey Documents for Resettlement (SJDs) [IMM 5485]
Therefore, it has instructed these offices to retain a larger quantity of security seals. However, the visa offices would need to decide on the quantity of the security seals that they choose to retain, based on their recent local pattern of use.
In addition, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) Forms Management (the Solutions and Information Management Branch) will also retain several security seals. They would need to retain these seals for dealing with emergencies, as and when they might arise.
The authorities have published a document titled “SA 6 – Annex L – Security Arrangements for Controlled Forms”. This documents the procedures that missions and visa offices would need to adhere to, when they destroy the security seals in their local inventory.
Officers might have various questions regarding the details published in this OB. Therefore, they would need to contact Forms Management for any questions that they might have regarding the destruction of visa security seals. They could do this by sending an e-mail to Forms Management at: [email protected].
Source: Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC)
- Published in 2013
Canada Needs Startup Communities, Not ‘Innovation Ecosystem’
It has been proven time and again that a bottoms-up community-led entrepreneurship can yield far better results than expressly-designed innovation ecosystems that claim to stimulate innovation and business drive. The Canadian government has been spending a lot in the latter, overlooking the important role grassroots community entrepreneurs could play today.
A fine example of community entrepreneurship is offered by Edmonton, where five years ago Startup Edmonton was initiated to bring together technical entrepreneurs in the community. Regular meet-ups, demo camps and startup weekends were part of this process, which ultimately gained enough seed funding from businessmen to acquire a 14,000 sq ft space of an old warehouse, which now holds up to 150 events every year, attended by 170 community members and 50 companies.
The reason behind the success of Edmonton’s startup community was because it had grassroots entrepreneurs in the lead, along with the support of its local government. For startups to succeed, it is important to focus on the community in every town and city, despite the widely held belief that high-growth start-ups are dependent on venture capitalists’ investment, incubator programs, and availability of people with exceptional talent and ambition.
Investing in a community is not so complex. Community meet-ups are easier to organize with some free food and drinks and a good place to gather. The government can boost these initiatives by funding staff to aid entrepreneur-led community groups. The amount of money that is spent on national conferences every year would do more good if it is invested in mobilizing community entrepreneurs. Funding can also be redirected to pay for company founders’ travel to connect with international communities. Even if 10% of what the government invests in “innovation ecosystem” is instead put for the development of community entrepreneurship, it can achieve wonders for Canada.
The Startup Canada Communities project is a step in the right direction. The project takes a much needed bottoms-up approach by mobilizing community leaders and providing them with necessary resources, shared tools, and mentorship to build and scale their start-up communities one by one.
Source: Financial Post
- Published in December
Sanctions Against Syria
Operational Bulletin 395 – March 06, 2012
Sanctions Against Syria
Issue
This Operational Bulletin (OB) defines Syrian nationals as:
- Persons holding Syrian citizenship or,
- Persons residing in Syria
The authorities had imposed amended sanctions against Syria under the Special Economic Measures Act (SEMA). These sanctions prohibit the following people from providing or acquiring “any financial services or other related services… to, from or for the benefit of or on the direction or order of Syria or any person in Syria”:
- Persons residing in Canada and,
- Canadians residing outside Canada
These amended sanctions came into effect on March 05, 2012. As a result of these sanctions, Syrian nationals could face restrictions in transferring funds to Canadian banks.
The amended sanctions provide an exemption for:
- Non-commercial remittances of $40,000 or less or,
- Payments required under a contract that existed prior to March 05, 2012
Background
The Assad regime has inflicted appalling levels of violence on the people of Syria. Therefore, Canada imposed sanctions under the Special Economic Measures Act (SEMA) as a response to the violence perpetrated by the Assad regime. The new regulations amending the Special Economic Measures Act (SEMA) came into effect on March 05, 2012. The latest sanctions:
- Prohibit financial transactions with Syria and,
- Include new individuals and entities to the list of designated persons specified in Schedule 1 of the Special Economic Measures Act (SEMA) regulations
Because of the amended sanctions, the following individuals could face restrictions when they attempt to transfer funds to Canadian financial institutions:
- Syrian nationals or,
- Persons residing in Syria
They will face restrictions especially if they do not fit within the exemptions to the sanctions, specified in:
- Section 3.2 of the Special Economic Measures Act (SEMA) regulations and,
- Section 3.3 of the Special Economic Measures Act (SEMA) regulations
The restrictions also prohibit individuals in Syria from opening a bank account in Canada. This is applicable if the individuals attempt to open this bank account:
- Prior to their immigration to Canada for the purpose of transferring funds
This restriction will be in force even if the funds themselves would fall under the purview of the exemptions specified.
Readers can view the text of the regulations amending the Special Economic Measures (Syria) Regulations at the Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada website.
The Instructions
The offices of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) will continue to process applications for permanent and temporary residence for:
- Syrian nationals and,
- Persons residing in Syria
All offices of the CIC – whether in Canada or overseas – will process these applications to visa issuance. They will also process these applications as per normal office procedures.
In certain situations, applicants might need to demonstrate that they:
- Can transfer funds to Canada or,
- Have transferred funds to Canada
This scenario could typically arise in the case of federal investor class applicants. Federal investor class applicants need to make their investment of $400,000 or $800,000. In this scenario, officers would need to:
- Notify these applicants that they might face restrictions in transferring funds to a Canadian financial institution and,
- Refer these applicants to the text concerning the sanctions specified in the Special Economic Measures Act (SEMA) regulations
Similarly, the officers would need to provide the same information to all other applicants too. However, in the case of other applicants, they would receive this information at the time of visa issuance.
People affected by the sanctions on financial transactions would need to apply for permits from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT). This is applicable for people who are:
- Applicants for a visa or,
- Already in Canada
The permits issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) authorise specific activities of transactions. They authorise these activities or transactions despite the prohibitions specified under the sanctions.
Therefore, officers would need to consider this permit process, when they assign a deadline for submitting evidence that:
- Applicants can transfer funds to Canada or,
- Applicants can make investments in Canada
Only after considering this would officers be able to refuse an application for failure to transfer the required funds or investments from:
- A Syrian national or,
- A person residing in Syria
The authorities have drafted specific text for communicating with clients affected by the sanctions. The In-Canada CIC offices and overseas missions would need to use the following text when communicating with these affected clients:
“Effective March 5, 2012, Syrian nationals and persons residing in Syria may face restrictions in transferring funds to, or opening bank accounts with, Canadian financial institutions. The text of regulations amending the Special Economic Measures (Syria) Regulations, can be found at Regulations Amending the Special Economic Measures (Syria) Regulations. Persons affected by the sanctions on financial transactions, whether they are applicants for a visa or already in Canada, may apply for permits from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) that authorize specified activities or transactions that are otherwise prohibited under the sanctions. Exemptions to the sanctions can be found in section 3.2 and 3.3 of the amended Regulations.
For more information, applicants should contact:
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
Economic Law Section (JLHB)
125 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada K1A 0G2
Tel: 613-995-1108
Fax: 613-992-2467
E-mail: [email protected]”
The authorities also wish to obtain a better understanding of the effects of the sanctions on the applicants. Therefore, they have instructed the overseas missions to report the number and nature of complaints presented to them at: [email protected].
Similarly, the authorities have asked In-Canada offices to report the number and nature of complaints presented to them to the Permanent Residence Program Division within the Operational Management and Coordination Branch (OMC). In-Canada offices would need to report the number and nature of complaints presented to them at: [email protected]. They would also need to specify the words “SYRIAN SANCTIONS” in the Subject line.
Readers might want to obtain further information the changes outlined in this OB. To this end, they could contact the Operational Management and Coordination Branch (OMC) at: [email protected].
Source: Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC)
- Published in 2012
Canada’s New “Express Entry” Immigration System
The Canadian Government will launch its new Express Entry Immigration System on January 1, 2015. Immigration Lawyer Colin Singer, Managing Partner of Immigration.ca and Global Recruiters of Montreal (www.grnmontreal.com), shares insight into what potential immigrants and Canadian employers can expect.
How do you anticipate Express Entry will operate?
The Federal Skilled Worker Program, FSWP the largest component of Canada’s Economic Class previously functioned under a first in/first out, point based system that attempted to measure the potential “human capital” contribution of an immigrant to Canada.
Under the new Express Entry system, Canada’s Immigration Minister will promote an Employer Driven selection model by taking on a matching, facilitator approach to recruitment. Canada’s immigration department will become an online electronic interface between foreign national applicants and potential hiring employers in Canada.
Under Express Entry, qualified applicants across many occupations will be invited to submit their profile to an Express Entry Pool and to the Canada Job Bank.
Employers will be encouraged to review candidates with the highest ranking and provide a job offer to the candidate of their choice.
Applicants with an approved job offer or those selected by a province or with “Provincial Nomination” will be considered a “match” and will be invited to formally apply for Canadian permanent residence.
The profiles of the remaining applicants will be ranked for consideration without a “sponsor” or hiring employer. Using a point system according to a number of selection factors such as Age, Education, Language, Experience and other factors, the highest ranked candidates will be considered for their potential “human capital” contribution to Canada.
Immigration authorities will then decide which of the highest ranked applicants will be invited to apply for permanent residence. This will take place across applicable economic class programs, including the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Skilled Trades Program the Canada Experience Class and other programs.
The 10 provinces and territories will retain autonomy to continue selecting immigrants under their immigration programs.
How long will this process take?
Applicants who are invited to apply for permanent residence will have 60-days to submit a full application. The government promises a selection decision in 6-months or less in most cases.
Applicants who receive a selection decision will then undergo medical and security formalities which could take another 6 months to conclude after a positive decision. Overall processing time will likely range 6-12 months for the majority of applicants.
Under Express Entry, will applicants be dependent on a job offer from a “sponsor” Canadian employer?
Annual levels for 2015 have been raised to between 260,000 – 285,000 which will represent Canada’s highest immigration levels in 5 years. From this level approximately 170,000 will comprise Economic Class immigrants and their dependants. A qualified job offer from an employer in Canada is a significant benefit but is not a requirement. The numbers of applicants who are expected to succeed in securing an approved job offer under Express Entry will likely be modest.
Will the Federal Skilled Worker Program continue under Express Entry?
The FSWP will continue to comprise the largest number of admissions to Canada.
Will Express Entry succeed?
As immigration lawyers and professionally licensed recruiters on behalf of Canadian employers, we believe that most small and mid-sized employers will be reluctant to take on the task of direct recruitment. Many employers will continue to rely on the services of skilled recruiters.
Employers with pressing hiring needs will unlikely wait a period of 6 months or longer for a candidate to begin employment.
The Canada Job Bank under the new Express Entry system may become a marginal or secondary source of potential candidates for recruiters. At best, this could account for a modest number of applicants selected by employers under the new system.
However for the remaining candidates without a job offer from a Canadian employer, immigration authorities will invite the highest ranked candidates to apply for permanent residence under the Federal Skilled Worker Program and other federal programs.
The Federal Skilled Worker Program will continue to represent the largest number of Economic Class immigrants to Canada with most being selected under the human capital contribution assessment approach.
Express Entry will succeed to the extent that the inventory of potential candidates and the processing of applications for permanent residence by the Canadian government will be easier to manage than previously.
How is immigration.ca positioned for Canada’s new Express Entry Immigration System?
We strongly believe that employment recruitment and individualized search consulting assistance is an important consideration for all immigrant applicants to Canada. In 2007, we acquired Global Recruiters of Montreal (www.grnmontreal.com) an independently owned franchise of Chicago based Global Recruiters Network. GRN Montreal provides search consulting expertise that applicants and employers require. For the past 7 years we have provided all our immigration clients with invaluable, search consulting services from our in-house trained recruiters. We believe our clients have the best chances to succeed in their immigration projects under the new Express Entry Immigration to Canada.
- Published in Immigration
The Coming into Force of Information Sharing Regulations (“Authorized Representatives”)
Operational Bulletin 401 – April 10, 2012
The Coming into Force of Information Sharing Regulations (“Authorized Representatives”)
Summary
The authorities made an amendment to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR). This amendment came into force on April 10, 2012.
Under the terms of this amendment, officers of the following organisations would need to disclose information concerning the professional or ethical conduct of representatives, authorised under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), to their respective governing bodies:
- Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC)
- The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and,
- The Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB)
These organisations would disclose the information in cases where the officer determines that the conduct of the person is likely to constitute a breach of the person’s:
- Professional obligations or,
- Ethical obligations
Issue
This Operational Bulletin (OB) provides guidance to officers of:
- Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) and,
- The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA)
It directs them on how and when to report information to the governing bodies of immigration representatives on the professional or ethical conduct of their members. This activity would help in supporting the strengthened oversight of immigration representatives.
Background
Bill C-35, An Act to Amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, came into force on June 30, 2011. This bill made it an offence for anyone other than an authorised representative to advise or represent a person. That too, for a fee or any other consideration. This was especially the case in connection with:
- An application under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) or,
- A proceeding under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA)
On the same day, the authorities also brought a Ministerial regulation into force. This Ministerial regulation designated the Immigration Consultants of the Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC) as the new regulator of immigration consultants.
This statutory change enabled the Government to make regulations. These regulations pertained to:
- The disclosure of information concerning the professional or ethical conduct of representatives to their respective governing bodies and,
- Create an oversight mechanism of the governing body designated by the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to regulate immigration consultants for ensuring that the body is serving the public interest
The authorities have put the new regulatory provisions into place. These provisions empower officers of:
- Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC)
- The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and,
- The Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB)
The regulatory provisions enable the officers of these organisations to disclose the information in cases where the officer determines that the conduct of the person is likely to constitute a breach of the person’s:
- Professional obligations or,
- Ethical obligations
The officer would disclose this information to the appropriate governing body for assessment and appropriate action where the officer determines that the conduct of the person is likely to constitute a breach of the person’s:
- Professional obligations or,
- Ethical obligations
The authorities have also updated IMM 5476 (Use of a Representative). IMM 5476 now provides a notice both the representative and the applicant that:
- The officers might disclose the information to the governing body and,
- They could contact the Privacy Commissioner if they believe that the officers have unlawfully disclosed the representative’s or the applicant’s personal information
The authorities have also put in place certain other regulatory provisions. These provisions require the designated body of immigration consultants to provide the Minister with certain information. This information would help the Minister assess whether the designated body is governing its members in the best public interest.
The Regulations require the governing body to provide an annual package of documents. These documents would be useful in assessing the governing body’s effectiveness and viability. The governing body would need to provide this annual package of documents no later than 90 calendar days after the end of the body’s fiscal year.
In some situations, the Minister might require information from the governing body within 10 business days, after receiving a ministerial notice. In this situation, the ministerial notice might indicate that the designated body has seriously compromised its ability to govern its members in a manner that is in the best public interest.
The Instructions
The regulatory provisions empower officers of:
- Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC)
- The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and,
- The Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB)
The regulatory provisions enable the officers of these organisations to disclose the information in cases where the officer determines that the conduct of the person is likely to constitute a breach of the person’s:
- Professional obligations or,
- Ethical obligations
Some typical examples of relevant acts or omissions could include scenarios such as:
- Making false promises to the applicant
- Providing false information to clients about Canada’s immigration processes
- Failing to provide the services agreed to between:
- The representative and,
- The client
- Counselling for obtaining or submitting false evidence and,
- Other acts or omissions that would appear to be contrary to the code of ethics of the governing body
Officers would need to go through sections 10.3 and 10.4 of IP 9. This contains further details about professional and ethical misconduct.
Situations could arise where a client complains to an officer about the general misconducts of a representative. In this scenario, the officer would need to encourage the client to:
- Visit the CIC’s web page on the topic and,
- Contact the respective regulatory body directly
Similarly, situations could also arise where officers receive information about the professional or ethical conduct of a representative. After examining the situation, the officers might determine that the conduct of the person is likely to constitute a breach of their professional or ethical obligations. In this scenario, the officers would need to forward the information to the National Head Quarters (NHQ). The National Head Quarters (NHQ) would transmit the information to the appropriate governing body. However, the National Head Quarters (NHQ) would encrypt the information before transmitting it.
The authorities will also provide further updates to IP 9 shortly.
The Contact Process
Situations might arise where officers require further information on any of the procedures mentioned in this OB. In this scenario, officers would need to contact the Operational Management and Coordination Branch.
Note
While no longer referenced in IRPA and its Regulations, for ease of reading, the term “authorized representatives” is used throughout this document when referring to members in good standing of a Canadian provincial/territorial law society – including paralegals, the Chambre des notaires du Québec, or of a body designated by the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration (the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council).
Source: Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC)
- Published in 2012
Employers Invest in Training Youth for High-Skill Jobs
Faced with the growing demand for highly skilled professionals and an increasing shortage of people with specialized skills, Canadian manufacturers are teaming up to hire youth workers with little or no prior work experience and then investing in training them afterwards.
The scheme has been initiated by the Ontario Manufacturing Learning Consortium, which is made up of four industry associations in the tooling and machining, aerospace, manufacturing, and nuclear sectors. The consortium is working with a training institute with additional funding provided by the provincial government under their Youth Skills Connections Program. The initiative seeks to recruit unemployed or disadvantaged young people in their twenties.
The hired youth are paid from their first day at work and undergo six months of classroom and on-the-job training, with an opportunity of getting permanent full-time employment with the same employer upon successful completion of the training.
In Toronto, the first batch of 16 young adults are being trained as machinists, with manufacturers set to announce plans to extend the scheme by training a total of 80 youth workers by the end of next year. The consortium also plans to start similar initiatives in other parts of Ontario and in other occupations.
All this comes as good news for young people, who over the past few years have been struggling to find their first jobs in Canada’s competitive job market. The country’s youth employment rate has not shown much improvement in recent years, with only half of the youth being gainfully employed. The percentage of youth who are employed in part-time jobs but want full-time work has been increasing since the recession, with the percentage of young people working in full-time jobs falling to a record low just last month.
Tougher rules around Canada’s temporary foreign worker program along with increasing business growth are believed to be the reasons why companies are motivated into hiring local youth and training them in-house. Cyclone Manufacturing Inc., an aerospace parts making company, used to work with 20 temporary foreign workers up to a few years ago. But things have changed now. “It’s almost impossible to get (government approval) for a machinist … so we need to train people internally,” says Robert Sochaj, executive vice-president of Cyclone.
Even though the OECD has asked Canada’s employers to increase their efforts in skills training, many employers are reluctant to make this kind of long-term investment. According to estimates by the Conference Board of Canada, over the last two decades, employers have reduced investment on workplace training by about 40%.
In what is welcome news for Canada’s young job seekers, the consortium of manufacturers has decided to invest between $15,000 and $20,000 per new hire to train them in their new jobs. Employers say that they have an immediate requirement for 270 “computer-numerical control (CNC) machinists”, a number that will increase to over 700 over the next two years.
Trainees are paid between $12 and $15 per hour, with pay increasing as their skills improve over time. CNC machinists can eventually go on to earn up to $25 to $35 an hour.
“It’s a great opportunity to be paid to learn,” says 25-year-old Gregory Wood, one of the new hires under the program. Wood plans to pursue his career at Cyclone where he received his training.
Under the initiative, the applicants are first tested for both aptitude and attitude to establish their motivation and capability for mathematical and spacial thinking. So far about 40% of applicants have been accepted, and with just two dropouts, the participation rate of 90% is considered to be exceedingly good.
Though such initiatives are still not common in Canada, they have long been practiced in other countries like Germany where employers have stronger and closer ties with educational institutions. Kevin Lynch, vice-chairman of Bank of Montreal, believes that Canada should follow this model more aggressively. “Having a highly-skilled work force will be one of the competitive differentiators of countries in the future. Our biggest resource in the future is the kids that we’re graduating today. How we educate them, how we train them and give them their first work experiences is everybody’s gain, not just theirs, frankly – it’s a societal gain, it’s an economy gain,” he says.
The course offered by the Ontario Manufacturing Learning Consortium extends over 26 weeks, out of which the trainees need to spend three weeks in a classroom, where they learn how to read blueprints and use various tools. The rest of the 23 weeks are spent at work where they receive hands-on training while working on the same machines they will have to operate when they complete their training. At the end of the course, the trainees are formally interviewed by the employers, and permanent jobs are offered to those considered most suitable.
Such training schemes are typically not possible in schools as specialized manufacturing equipment can be quite expensive, with each machine costing millions of dollars. “We shouldn’t be expecting schools to buy expensive equipment like this on which students can learn. Why couldn’t we find a way to have them learn in the workplace, on the equipment they’re actually going to be seeing? From an overall societal consideration, avoiding the cost of putting expensive equipment into learning organizations seems to make sense,” says Rod Jones, director of the Ontario Manufacturing Learning Consortium.
Source: Globe and Mail
- Published in November
LinkedIn Rates Calgary as the Most Active Job Market in Canada
LinkedIn Canada has released a survey listing the 10 most active job markets in Canada over the past year, with the city of Calgary coming out in top spot.
According to the report, research shows that 8.6% of LinkedIn members in Calgary started at a new position over the past year, making it the city with the highest rate of new employees in the country. Calgary is followed by Toronto in second place, which had 7.2% of people starting at new positions over the past year.
The full list reveals a three-way tie for 3rd place, with Vancouver, Halifax and Kitchener all having 7% of their LinkedIn members starting new jobs in the preceding year.
- Calgary – 8.6 %
- Toronto – 7.2%
- Vancouver – 7%
- Halifax – 7%
- Kitchener – 7%
- Montreal – 6.8%
- Edmonton – 6.7%
- Ottawa – 6.3%
- London – 5.4%
- Winnipeg – 4.9%
The study also offers an insight into the job market, with mobile app development emerging as being the most in-demand skill in the country. Nearly one in three LinkedIn members (30.4%) with this skill listed on their profiles started a new job over the past year. 27.2% of people listing software revision control as a skill on their profiles got a new job during the same period, while the same was true of 27.1% of LinkedIn members with social media marketing skills listed on their profile pages.
The full list of top ten desirable skills, based on the percentage of all Canadian LinkedIn users who started a new job over the past year, is dominated by technology sector jobs.
- Mobile application development – 30.4%
- Software revision control systems – 27.2%
- Social media marketing – 27.1%
- Economics – 26.1%
- Programming languages (Perl/Python/Ruby) – 24.8%
- Computer graphics and animation – 23.7%
- Software code debugging – 23.6%
- Data presentation – 23%
- Statistical analysis and data mining – 22.7%
- User interface design – 22.5%
Source: HR Reporter
- Published in November
