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Русский Immigration.ca Livestream Series: Immigration Lawyer Colin Singer Reviews How Important Legislative Changes Affect Candidates and Employers
November 16, 2018 – Several Canada immigration developments have taken place in the last few months that may have an impact on:
- Canadian permanent residents;
- Canada Citizenship;
- Criminal inadmissibility/impaired driving offences, and
- Quebec Immigration programs.
In the latest immigration.ca livestream video, Immigration Lawyer Colin Singer provides a round-up of the developments, and some analysis on the impact they will have.
Watch the video here:
Singer on the impact of Bill C-46 and Canadian Citizenship
“When the government came into power in 2015, one of their platforms was a new Citizenship Act, and we’re already seeing the affects of these new rules.
“In a sense it has become easier to become a Canadian citizen.
“In the last year 152,000 permanent residents have become citizens, compared to just over 100,000 previously.
“Primarily it’s the physical presence rule, meaning you have to be in Canada for three years in the prior five years. Under the old citizenship rules, it was four years in six.
Other changes include language and knowledge testing requirements. A full explanation can be found on our website under the citizenship menu.”
Singer on changes to impaired driving convictions and criminal admissibility rules in Canada
“This is important because perhaps people aren’t aware of the implications of what is called Bill C-46.
“Bill C-46 was passed in June 2018, and the rules are going to take effect on December 18, 2018.
“Anyone with an impaired driving conviction – for alcohol or drugs – as a Canadian permanent resident can lose their status, no matter what the sentence is.
“You can face deportation for a first-time conviction with a very light sentence.
“If you are an applicant to Canada with an impaired driving conviction, you need to be very careful. You need to speak with an immigration lawyer to understand the implications of a prior conviction, no matter how many years back it took place.
“If you have a recent conviction for impaired driving, you will be inadmissible to Canada. If your dependent is convicted, that can render you inadmissible.
“If you are sponsoring a dependent or a de facto spouse, you have to be aware of the very serious consequences of an impaired driving conviction.”
Singer on how the new Quebec government will affect immigration policies
“On October 1, a new government was elected in the province of Quebec, which has autonomy over its immigration system, unlike the other provinces.
“The new leader, Francois Legault of the Coalition Avenir du Québec, or CAQ, campaigned to reduce immigration levels. Currently Quebec brings in 50,000 immigrations on an annual basis, 30,000 in the economic class. The new premier campaigned on reducing those levels by 10,000 per year.
“We’re going to watch carefully how he’s going to do this, bearing in mind employers are relying on the government to assist with a shortage of workers in all regions of the province.
“It is going to be a balancing act for this new government on how it is going to cut immigration levels in the face of Quebec doing so well economically and the need for workers.
“It has the lowest levels of unemployment in decades and the job creation front cannot be ignored.
“We are watching carefully how they are going to reduce levels, or if they are going to do it at all. It would only start in 2019.”
Singer on how French language tests may be applied to new Quebec immigrants
“This is really controversial. In Canada we have division of powers on what the provinces can do when it comes to immigration. The federal government has exclusive authority to patrol the borders, issue passports and issue Canadian permanent residence.
“There are also Canadian Charter considerations. There are restrictions on what kinds of legislation can be put into force.
“Clearly there will be challenges if the Quebec government tries to add conditions on maintaining Canadian permanent residence. Ottawa will have concerns and individuals will have arguments that will question the authority of this government to put in future language tests as a condition to qualifying for permanent residence.
“It’s interesting, but not overly realistic, particularly in the short term.”
Singer on the new Quebec Expression of Interest System
“Quebec has implemented in the last few months a system very similar to federal Express Entry.
“No more first-come, first-served in Quebec. You will be applying into a pool.
“What we’re waiting for is to find out how you get out of the pool. When will the first period of invitation take place? We haven’t seen that yet. We’re watching and waiting to see exactly what kind of candidates are going to be given invitations to apply.
“To go into the pool, the requirements are very low. Remember that just going into the pool doesn’t mean you qualify. You have to make sure to have the right scores to get out of the pool.
“Don’t be fooled by anyone telling you they are going to apply for you and put you into the system. You may be in the system, but have zero chance of qualifying. Working with a professional who knows these areas and understands these distinctions will put you in good standing.
“If you are a candidate you need to be very careful and understand what it takes to go into the system. Without a doubt, if you have a sponsoring employer, that is the gold standard.
“Priority is being given to people with a job offer. We can’t overstate the importance of having a sponsoring employer.
“However, it is not required. If you have the right credentials, just like on the federal side, you may not need an employer.
“If you are an employer, the Quebec system will allow you to retain your foreign staff members. The new Expression of Interest in Quebec will really help employers and if you are in need of candidates, immigration.ca is well positioned to help employers find top talent through Global Recruiters of Montreal and skilledworker.com. These are two excellent enterprises very active in sourcing foreign workers for Canadian and Quebec employers.”
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 News Articles, November
Delays in Canadian Caregiver Program Frustrate Families (Audio)
Canadians looking to hire foreign workers as nannies are having to face unexplained delays due to changes introduced to the caregiver program. The problems are exacerbated by poor communication from federal agencies, with some recruitment agencies reporting that no applications have been processed in the past four months.
Canada’s Live-in Caregiver program was a part of the Temporary Foreign Worker program, and was widely used by Canadians to hire nannies and other caregivers. It would usually take up to 6-8 months to hire a caregiver, but the recent changes to the program have lead to further delays and confusion.
Under the new rules, foreign care workers are no longer required to live in the homes of their employers. Other changes to the application process were also introduced in a bid to encourage more Canadian applicants for these jobs, following claims that the program had “mutated” into a family-reunification scheme. Now any family that is interested in hiring a foreign caregiver is required to show that there were no Canadian applicants available for the said job by applying for a Labor Market Impact Assessment (LMIA).
Once the family gets an approval on the LMIA, they can then apply for a work permit to hire a foreign caregiver for the job.
According to one family applying, he spent four weeks trying to find a Canadian nanny, but didn’t get a single application for the job. He then applied for an LMIA – twice, after the first application was lost by the government agency responsible.
When queried about the delays, Employment and Social Development Canada claims that in February, 80 percent of all LMIA applications received were processed within 30 days. However they were unable to provide LMIA processing times for just the caregiver program.
Some believe the latest changes to the caregiver program were an ill-conceived knee-jerk reaction to problems with the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.
Attorney Colin Singer Commentary
The previous Caregiver program has a long history of controversy including exorbitant placement fees charged to both caregiver and family, excessive delays in processing, abuse of caregivers and an inflexible system. In 2014 new rules took effect which created two separate streams of permanent residence (Caring for children and Caring for People with High Medical Needs) and placed annual quotas on the numbers of caregivers who can apply for permanent residence under each stream at 2750 for a total of 5500.
- Published in April
Quebec seeks Delay for Changes to Temporary Foreign Worker Program (Audio)
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Quebec is seeking a delay on the application of changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, but the federal government does not appear to be willing to comply.
According to Immigration, Diversity and Inclusiveness Minister Kathleen Weil, changes to the program that were announced last June would make it harder for Quebec businesses to fill an urgent labour shortage with temporary foreign workers.
The new measures will come into effect April 30 and Quebec wants to negotiate terms that would better suit the local labour market.
Weil took issue with the shortening of the length of work permits for some workers, which she said would hurt industries such as welding and machining in Chaudières-Appalaches. A new 10 per cent cap on low-skilled temporary foreign workers on one company’s payroll would hinder the food sector, she added.
Several business leaders showed their support for Quebec’s position on the TFW program.
These reforms do not apply to the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) as there are proven acute labour shortages in this industry.
- Published in April
B.C. Freezes Worker-Immigration Program as Backlog Grows (Audio)
The B.C. government has abruptly ended its provincial immigration program for the next three months, saying new federal limits on temporary foreign workers have caused an unmanageable flood of applicants seeking entry to Canada through British Columbia.
According to Jobs Minister Shirley Bond, no new applications will be accepted until July 2, giving her staff time to process a growing backlog while her ministry looks at what qualifications it will seek from those hoping to come to B.C. through the provincial nominee program (PNP). Some exceptions will be made in high-need categories such as health-care workers
Under the program, Ottawa allows the provinces limited control over immigration. This year, B.C. will grant permanent resident status to 5,500 immigrants to fill labour-market needs.
Applications to the provincial program increased after the federal government introduced tighter controls on its temporary foreign worker program. A year ago, B.C. could process a PNP application in 12 weeks; now the wait list is 13 months, and there are already more people in the queue than B.C. can admit this year.
Despite the provincial government warning that British Columbia faces a skills shortage with an anticipated construction boom in the north, many of the temporary foreign workers in B.C. are being hired for low-wage jobs in the hospitality industry. The federal government was forced to make changes after allegations surfaced last year that some employers, especially restaurants, were abusing the program.
Ottawa is phasing in limits on the number of temporary foreign workers that large- and medium-sized companies are permitted to hire and is promising more inspections of workplaces, bigger fines for companies that abuse the program and increased application fees for employers.
This is not the first time B.C. has frozen one of its immigration programs. In 2012, the province suspended a program after a suspicious surge in the number of business applicants for a category that promised a speedy visa in exchange for a $125,000 bond.
- Published in April
Temporary Foreign Workers Warned to Leave Canada as Required
The fate of thousands of temporary foreign workers facing deportation beginning April 1 emerged as a high-stakes national issue, with small business urging Ottawa to let them stay and the federal government threatening to track down any who try to go underground.
Many low-skilled people who came to Canada under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program are now expected to leave the country as a result of a clampdown by the Conservative government. While Ottawa has refused to provide details, it is estimated the numbers run into the tens of thousands.
As the rule of the four-year ban of re-entry took effect, the federal government warned temporary foreign workers who are due to leave that they will be dealt with swiftly if they try to go underground to avoid leaving Canada.
“Let there be no mistake: We will not tolerate people going ‘underground.’ Flouting our immigration laws is not an option, and we will deal with offenders swiftly and fairly,” Immigration Minister Chris Alexander and Employment Minister Pierre Poilievre said in a statement.
The new policy was introduced on April 1, 2011 and requires any temporary foreign workers who have been in Canada for four years to leave. They are also barred from returning for four years under the “4-in-4-out” rule.
Approximately 70,000 workers currently in the country will have to leave, according to the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, which projected the estimates based on the number of work permits issued four years ago and foreign workers who had already been working in Canada before then.
The clampdown has prompted widespread complaints of unfairness and future chaos in business.
Some organizations have called for a temporary moratorium on the intake of foreign workers from abroad and a path to permanent residency for those, including the ones in low-skill and low-wage category, who are already here.
Chris Ramsaroop of the Justicia for Migrant Workers said, “Today’s decision to deport tens of thousands of migrant workers represents one of the most inhumane actions undertaken by the Conservative government during its years in power. Rather than provide permanent residency and the opportunity to continue to build our communities, the government has chosen to repeat the mistakes of the past by following what previous generations of elected officials have done: demonize, criminalize and dehumanize the same racialized migrant workers who have built our railways and built the wealth of this nation,” he told the Star.
In their statement, Alexander and Poilievre said, “Employers and foreign workers have known about the four-year time limit since 2011, when this policy was announced.
- Published in April
Number of temporary foreign workers tripled in Canada between 2002 and 2012
According to the parliamentary budget office reported last week, the number of temporary foreign workers (TFW) in Canada tripled between 2002 and 2012, but they still made up less than two per cent of the overall labour force. The report said an increasing number of foreign workers are filling skilled positions today as the percentage of low-skilled jobs has declined.
The PBO study looked at the role foreign workers played in the economy between 2002 and 2012.
Foreign workers can enter the labour market through either the international mobility program or the temporary foreign worker program, which came under fire last year after allegations surfaced about some employers, especially restaurants, abusing the program.
Employers who want to hire temporary foreign workers must get government approval under what is called a local market impact assessment. The assessment means the government generally knows the skill levels of the workers. However, almost 70 per cent of foreign workers are exempt from these assessments under the mobility program.
The report said 85 per cent of the foreign workers in low-skilled positions were in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario and were concentrated in smaller communities.
“Alberta’s share has increased significantly since 2002, while Ontario’s has declined by almost 15 percentage points,” the report said. “Interestingly, the relative importance of foreign workers in the labour force appears to be higher in small centres than in large census metropolitan areas.”
The study said a significant number of foreigners work on farms, in restaurants or as babysitters or nannies, jobs on the low end of the pay scale. Employers don’t seem willing to raise wages in these areas, so they are forced to rely on either unemployed domestic workers with few skills or foreign workers, the report said.
The characteristics of the foreign work force have changed since the 2009 recession. Before then, most of the growth was in low-skilled jobs.
“Since then, the number of workers in low-skilled positions has declined by 20 per cent, while the number in skilled positions has increased 20 per cent. As a result, by 2012, the majority of foreign workers were in skilled positions.”
The Conservative government introduced new rules in June to limit the number of foreign workers that large- and medium-sized companies are permitted to hire in a bid to ensure Canadians are first in line for jobs.
Liberal critic John McCallum said the report confirms that the program has driven down middle class wages and displaced Canadian workers.
“We must restore the program back to its original purpose: to fill acute job shortages when qualified Canadian workers absolutely cannot be found,” McCallum said in a statement.
- Published in March
Report Warns of Severe Consequences Due to Fewer TFWs
A new report by the Canada West Foundation warns that the reduction in the number of temporary foreign workers allowed into Canada will only have a slight effect on provinces with high unemployment, and a disproportionately negative effect on provinces with low unemployment.
From July 2015, employers can have no more than 20% of their workforce as low-wage temporary foreign workers and this must be reduced to 10% from July 2016. But enforcing these limits across the board is unfair to western provinces, says the report, with Alberta set to bear the brunt of the changes.
The new rules have set a national target of 16,278 fewer temporary foreign workers entering the country by 2016. Employment and Social Development Canada reports that more than half of this reduction is expected to be borne by Alberta alone, with the province required to reduce new entrants by 8,407 by 2016.
Alberta’s high reliance on temporary foreign workers is set to make the impact of the reduction more pronounced in the province. On the other hand, Ontario must reduce their temporary foreign worker entries by 1,369 – one-sixth the number expected from Alberta, even though Ontario has a higher jobless rate and would benefit more from fewer TFWs arriving.
“Seventy-five per cent of the reduction in entries will come from the west,” says Farahnaz Bandali, an analyst at the Canada West Foundation. “By making everyone subject to the same cap, the West will be disproportionately hurt.”
With Alberta already facing a shortage of local workers, reducing the number of TFWs won’t necessarily result in more Canadians being hired.
“So the changes will not do what they are supposed to do, which is to encourage employers to hire more Canadians,” says Janet Lane, of the Canada West Foundation.
The report warns that the changes could have severe consequences. “Without enough workers, businesses could be forced to have shorter hours, service will suffer, workers will be stressed and businesses could shrink. Some may be forced out of business altogether.”
“In the short term, the loss of foreign workers will leave employers with limited options. Not all unemployed people are willing to take a job that does not interest them or that they are not good at. Over the medium to long term, employers may find ways to adapt by bringing under- represented populations – such as Aboriginal or disabled people – into the workforce. Governments may need to offer training and support to make this happen,” says the report.
- Published in March
Report Warns of Severe Consequences Due to Fewer TFWs
Source: Edmonton Journal
- Published in Immigration blog
Thousands of TFWs to Leave Canada from April 1 (Audio)
Thousands of temporary foreign workers in low-skill jobs who have been in Canada for over four years will have to leave from April 1, when the first possible four-year limit on their stay comes into effect since its introduction in 2011.
Under the old rules, temporary foreign workers (TFWs) were allowed to re-apply and continue working with their existing Canadian employers. But ever since the 2011 rule change the clock has been ticking down on TFWs, with a four-year cumulative duration limit imposed on their work permits. Moreover once the workers leave Canada, they will not be allowed back in as a TFW for an additional four years.
The rule has been especially harsh on TFWs who have been in Canada for over 15 years in some instances but are now being made to leave their homes and jobs in Canada.
A rush of TFWs leaving Canada is around the corner, employers and lawyers predict, with the fishing and agricultural industries set to be the most adversely affected.
The $900-million Canadian mushroom industry is one such sector where TFWs are doing jobs which Canadian citizens are unable or unwilling to do.
“Frankly, it’s a crisis with us because we’re losing workers who don’t want to leave, who have proven themselves to be valuable, and deserve an opportunity to apply for citizenship,” says Bill Stevens, the CEO of Mushroom Canada.
Stevens is calling for a reprieve, saying the industry will face substantial decreases in production if it isn’t granted.
“The whole thing amounts to a major decrease in the production of our commodity, and they’re going to suffer from it, they’re going to lose markets, and especially now when the markets are really very strong,” Stevens said.
Stevens is urging for a rethink and is calling for low skill temporary foreign workers to be given a way to obtain permanent residency, similar to the one on offer in Alberta, which was allowed a special transitional scheme where some TFWs are being given more time to become permanent residents.
The transitional measure in Alberta offers a reprieve to some TFWs as they wait for their permanent residence applications to be processed, according to Employment Minister Jason Kenney.
Immigration experts say the majority of TFWs work in fisheries, farms and restaurants, jobs that Canadians don’t want, as indicated by the high turnover of Canadian employees in those kinds of jobs. They argue that higher wages are not the solution and that the presence of TFWs increases productivity at the businesses and benefits the economy overall by creating spinoff jobs.
- Published in March
Alberta Criticized for Using Secret List to Assess TFW Applicants(Audio)
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Alberta’s nominee program has been criticized for its lack of transparency while choosing temporary foreign workers who would be allowed to stay in Canada permanently.
The province had used a confidential list of 34 occupations last year to determine which workers will stay on. According to Clarizze Truscott of the Temporary Foreign Workers Support Coalition, Alberta should have been transparent about its selection of immigrants, and that keeping this information confidential was highly unfair to employers and workers who had been hoping to get selected to stay on. “If there is no transparency, the question is, is the government deciding on the basis of who lobbied most?” asks Truscott, who believes that the government should disclose if they prefer only to keep skilled workers and their reasons behind choosing those particular occupations.
According to the Department of Jobs, Skills Training and Labor, the list “was merely a temporary internal guideline” to help them choose the final 1,200 spots in the provincial nominee program of 2014. The department said that the list had been drafted “to ensure more industries could benefit”, and confirmed that some occupations such as welders, transport truck drivers, machine operators, and construction managers had received more attention last fall.
The list was posted on the department’s website and discovered by some temporary foreign workers who had been seeking information on whether they stand any chance of being selected for permanent residency under the provincial nominee program that accepts 5,500 candidates every year.
Following changes to the temporary foreign worker program, the provincial government agreed to provide one-year extension to a select group of about 1,000 TFWs or more.
The Department of Jobs, Skills Training and Labor has said that for 2015 it will choose the 5,500 nominees on the basis of three categories: labor market information, evidence of high levels of job shortages and industry general averages in recent years. “We remain steadfast in our position that Canadians are hired first,” said a spokesperson of the department.
The internal list of 2014’s provincial nominee program included the following “priority” occupations: farm supervisors and specialized livestock workers, machine operators and laborers in food and beverage processing, industrial meat cutters, pipefitters, transport truck drivers, welders, plasterers and drywallers, steamfitters, sprinkler system installers, technicians and drafting technologists.
In addition, the list also included academic occupations like university professors and lecturers along with several civil, mechanical, petroleum and chemical engineering jobs. Nurse aides, orderlies, licensed practical nurses, and patient service associates made it under the health care category. Other occupations on the list were machine tool operators, construction estimators, sawmill machine operators, material handlers, and electrical power line and cable workers, along with automotive service technicians, light duty cleaners and hotel front desk clerks.
- Published in February
