Category Archives: Canadian Experience Class

Live in Care Givers, PNP Acceptance Rates

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According to CIC, during the past 12 months the approval rate for different application streams for permanent residence has been as follows:

Immigration Category Approval Rate

Economic
Quebec Skilled Workers

97%
Federal Skilled Workers (Pre-C-50)

57%
Federal Skilled Workers (Post C-50)

21%
Entrepreneurs

76%
Self Employed

45%
Investors

82%
Provincial Nominees

96%
Live-In-Caregivers

99%
Canadian Experience Class

85%

Family
Parents and Grandparents

91%
Spouses & Partners

83%
Dependent Children

80%
Family Class (Other)

70%

Humanitarian
Government Sponsored Refugees

76%
Private Sponsored Refugees

69%
Refugee Dependents

86%
H&C Applications

70%
FCH – Family Relations – H&C

90%

Legality of Mandatory Language Testing Requirement Challenged

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As previously mentioned in this blog, the government through Ministerial Instructions ordered that effective June 26th all Federal Skilled Worker applicants and Canada Experience Class applicants would have to take a language test in order to demonstrate proficiency in one of Canada’s two official language.

The test is the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and Test d’evaluation de francais (TEF). The IELTS consists 30 minutes responding to questions from recorded tapes, 60 minutes reading passages with various tasks, 60 minutes on a writing assignment, and a 10-minute interview. There are 500 test centers located in 130 countries, including 24 in Canada. The exam fee in Canada is $285.

This requirement, and the way it was introduced, has generated a significant backlash from lawyers across the country, as well as the Canadian Bar Association, which on Wednesday described the change as “underhanded and abusive“.

And now, as reported by Linda Nguyen in the Vancouver Sun yesterday, the government is being sued over how the changes were introduced.

The issue raises important questions about the role of Ministerial Instructions. Section 87(3) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act authorizes the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to make certain immigration policies without having to go to Parliament or change regulations, including:

(3) For the purposes of subsection (2), the Minister may give instructions with respect to the processing of applications and requests, including instructions(a) establishing categories of applications or requests to which the instructions apply;

(b) establishing an order, by category or otherwise, for the processing of applications or requests;

(c) setting the number of applications or requests, by category or otherwise, to be processed in any year; and

(d) providing for the disposition of applications and requests, including those made subsequent to the first application or request.

Ministerial Instructions have been used for numerous purposes, including the order of priority for processing and determining which NOCs will be used for the Federal Skilled Worker Program, and suspending the receipt of applications under the Immigrant Investor Program.

The distinguishing issue with the mandatory language requirements, however, is that they appear to ignore the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, which specify the language requirements under, for example, the Federal Skilled Worker Program. Section 79(1) of the regulations state that:

79. (1) A skilled worker must specify in their application for a permanent resident visa which of English or French is to be considered their first official language in Canada and which is to be considered their second official language in Canada and must

(a) have their proficiency in those languages assessed by an organization or institution designated under subsection (3); or

(b) provide other evidence in writing of their proficiency in those languages.

The Minister’s Instructions effectively direct Citizenship and Immigration Canada to follow section 79(1)(a), and ignore (b).

The implications of the Minister being able to do this are significant, and move beyond the individual issue of language requirements. The issue that will be before the courts is whether the Minister can direct his ministry to ignore certain sections of the legislation that governs its conduct.  The detrimental affects of doing so would be an erosion of the rule of law, a lack of public consultation, and decreased certainty regarding Canada’s immigration procedures. The advantage of doing so would be the flexibility afforded to the government to handle immigration swiftly and how it sees fit.

As noted by one lawyer, this issue appears to have gotten lost amidst a flurry of discussion about whether immigrants should be proficient in English / French:

I think most of the commentators are missing the point.

They seem [to] not be concerned about the ‘illegality’ of executive actions circumventing the law passed by parliament. Or they seem not to have understood it.

From Foreign Worker to Permanent Resident

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According to the Calgary Harold, on July 20, Thomas Lukaszuk, the province’s employment and immigration minister, had this to say about the temporary foreign worker program:

In my opinion, it was a program that had fulfilled its mandate, (by) suddenly providing a large number of workers to an economy that suddenly had a massive shortage of workers.

It’s not working well now. It’s a temporary solution to a permanent problem.

Lukaszuk goes on to note that many of the province’s temporary foreign workers want to stay beyond the duration of their work permit, however, because the temporary program is not supposed to be a gateway to long-term residency, the same employers keep on hiring new foreign workers for the same jobs.

Why not consider some permanency (for) this workforce. I always joke the only group that really benefits from the current temporary foreign worker program is Air Canada, because they’re flying people in and out

I’m not sure what the Alberta employment and immigration minister is talking about… There are several ways for a temporary foreign worker to achieve permanent residence.  These include:

  • Applying for permanent residence under the Canada Experience Class.  This program is practically designed for temporary foreign workers. Indeed, CIC’s website introduces the program by saying “if you are a temporary foreign worker….”  To be eligible, the temporary foreign worker must have at least two years of full-time (or equivilant) work experience in a managerial, professional, or technical / skilled trades occupation, be proficient in either English or French, and currently be in Canada.
  • Applying under the Alberta PNP Program. According to the FAQ on the Alberta PNP website:

I have an employee who is a temporary foreign worker and I would like to retain him or her for a permanent position. Does the AINP accept applications for candidates who are temporary foreign workers?

Yes. The temporary foreign worker must be working in an occupation listed under the National Occupational Classification (NOC) Code in Skill Levels 0, A, B. In addition, some NOC C and D occupations are also eligible under the AINP. Please visit the Semi-Skilled Worker section of the website for information on eligible NOC C and D occupations.

Our firm constantly looks at ways of moving British Columbian  temporary foreign workers out of the “temporary” category and into the “permanent”.  My guess is that most Alberta law firms do as well, and my goal of this post is to notify potential temporary works in Alberta that there may be options for them to become permanent residents.

Decline in Chinese Immigration to British Columbia : 渥京改政策 省推薦名額增

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On Tuesday, June 29th, I was quoted in Ming Pao, Vancouver’s largest Chinese daily newspaper.

另一本地移民律師辛湉王(Steven Meurrens)則認為，技術移民及新推出的加拿大經驗類別(Canadian Experience)移民均甚多限制，有意申請人士最好另走他途，他認為PNP仍是移民最快增長點，但許多人對PNP仍認識不夠。

辛湉王 續稱，雖然近日投資移民的投資額及資產額都提高了一倍，但聯邦及省府均有充分信心，認為投資移民金額提高一倍不會影響申請人數，這是政府迅速增加收入的有 效途徑。

My comments were a response to recent Chinese immigration trends to British Columbia.

The interviewer wanted to know my response to the following statistics compiled by BC Stats:

PRC LANDINGS TO BC

Family Refugee FSWP PNP LIC Entrepreneur Investor Other Total
2009 2,269 59 1,702 872 73 101 3,977 322 9,375
2008 1,957 43 3,235 654 32 120 3,712 161 9,914
2007 2,387 90 2,872 369 6 222 2,162 151 8,259
2006 2,412 147 4,795 229 8 259 2,894 186 10,930
2005 2,065 210 7,749 52 3 209 3,306 94 13,688

It is clear that in the 2005 to 2009 period there has been a decline in PRC immigrants to British Columbia. This certainly runs counter to popular myth.

Second, that decline can be largely explained in the near collapse of immigrants under the Federal Skilled Worker Program.  This decline has occurred across Canada, and is not limited to China.

Third, there has been a huge increase in the amount of immigrants under the Provincial Nominee Program.

So what do we conclude from these observations.

Well.. I was asked whether I thought that there was a deliberate effort on the part of CIC to keep Chinese people out. I think that the answer is clear that except for the FSWP figures the amount of immigrants in the other categories remain steady.  Some have speculated that this is due to Chinese people failing to meet the requirements. In my opinion, if this were the case, then there would have ALWAYS been a low acceptance rate. Surely the amount of Chinese people that are proficient in English is equal to, if not higher than, the amount that could speak English in 2005.

The FSWP program has long been in decline. The recent reduction of the amount of eligible NOCs and the placing of a cap on these NOCs are all signs that this will continue.

Prospective immigrants should thus seriously consider the PNP program.

IELTS Tests Mandatory for British and French

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Yes. Just what are they speaking over there?  Apparently, Citizenship and Immigration Canada is not too sure, and will now be requiring that all British people and French people take language tests to prove that they speak either English or French.

Less than one month after poking fun at the United Kingdom for requiring that all spousal sponsorship applicants pass an English language test, I now sit red faced as Canada requires ALL applicants of the Federal Skilled Workers Program and the Canadian Experience Class to take a mandatory language test.

No exceptions.

So to the people of England, you may have invented the language, but as your former colony, we’re putting you on notice that we’re not quite sure you still know how to speak it.

And to the international student who graduated from university with a honors degree in English, well, we’re sorry, but we’re not confident enough that our universities know how to teach it.

And I can’t wait to see the reception area of the French testing center in Paris where Parisians have to pay and sit an exam to prove that their French is sufficient for Quebec.

And to those in the government that have said that this brings Canada in line with the practices of our competitors, including the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand, a quick glance at their laws reveals that no it doesn’t.

Australia exempts applicant’s whose native language is English and who are passport holders of the United States, Canada, the UK, Ireland, or New Zealand. It also recognizes that some applicants in trades-related occupations will normally achieve lower scores than applicants from skilled or professional occupations.

The UK exempts applications who are nationals of the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the former British West Indies.

New Zealand exempts applicants who have a post-secondary qualification taught entirely in English, and applicants who have worked in skilled employment in New Zealand for at least 12 months.

And do you know why these countries have these exemptions? Because it’s so obvious that they’ll pass the English test that they don’t want to insult their potential immigrants by making them pay and sit an English test.

A gallup poll recently showed that well educated immigrants prefer Canada to the United States as a place to immigrate. This is partly because our laws are viewed as more reasonable.  I shudder to think what the polls will show once word of this gets around.

Canadian Experience Class Applicants Must Take the IELTS

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The final of today’s series of changes to Canadian immigration law is the introduction of a requirement that Canadian Experience Class applications must be accompanied by the results of the principal applicant’s English or French language proficiency assessment. The same is true for Federal Skilled Workers.

Only test results from a third-party language testing agency designated by the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism will be accepted.

No word yet if any of these institutes have been designated: