Canadian Immigration News – Jan 12, 2022

British Columbia held a new invitation round in the SI and EEBC of the BCPNP

On January 11, 2021, British Columbia held two rounds in the Skills Immigration (SI) and Express Entry British Columbia (EEBC) categories of the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BCPNP). In the general draw, BC issued 201 invitations. The lowest scores in the categories were:

• Skills Immigration – Skilled Worker 103 (+3 points)
• Skills Immigration – International Graduate 90 (+2 points)
• Skills Immigration – Entry Level and Semi-Skilled 78 (+4 points)
• Express Entry British Columbia – Skilled Worker 110 (+4 points)
• Express Entry British Columbia – International Graduate 92

The second draw of the day targeted only candidates in NOC 0621 – Retail and Wholesale Trade Managers and NOC 0631 – Restaurant and Food Service Managers. The province issued 31 invitations for such candidates. The lowest score of those candidates was 110 points, 4 points more compared to the previous NOC-specific draw. In total, British Columbia issued 334 ITAs under the BCPNP in 2022.

#British_Columbia, #BCPNP, #EEBC, #Skills_Immigration, #PNP

Ontario issued 1,084 invitations in three Employer Job Offer Streams

On January 11, 2022, the Government of Ontario held new draws in the Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker Stream (EJO FW), International Student Stream (EJO IS), and In-Demand Skills Stream (EJO IDS) of the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP). The province issued 264 invitations to apply (ITAs) to the eligible candidates through the EJO FW Stream with a minimum score of 38, and 762 ITAs to international students through the EJO IS Stream with a score of 59 and above. Under the EJO IDS, the province invited 58 candidates with a minimum score of 11. All invited candidates work in one of the following occupations:
Health and agricultural occupations:

• NOC 3413 – nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates
• NOC 4412 – home support workers and related occupations, excluding housekeepers
• NOC 8431 – general farm workers
• NOC 8432 – nursery and greenhouse workers
• NOC 8611 – harvesting labourers
• NOC 9462 – industrial butchers and meat cutters, poultry preparers and related workers
  Manufacturing (outside the GTA only):
• NOC 9411 – machine operators, mineral and metal processing
• NOC 9416 – metalworking and forging machine operators
• NOC 9417 – machining tool operators
• NOC 9418 – other metal products machine operators
• NOC 9421 – chemical plant machine operators
• NOC 9422 – plastics processing machine operators
• NOC 9437 – woodworking machine operators
• NOC 9446 – industrial sewing machine operators
• NOC 9461 – process control and machine operators, food, beverage and associated products processing
• NOC 9523 – electronics assemblers, fabricators, inspectors and testers
• NOC 9526 – mechanical assemblers and inspectors
• NOC 9536 – industrial painters, coaters and metal finishing process operators
• NOC 9537 – other products assemblers, finishers and inspectors

Last year, OINP issued invitations to 5,394 candidates under these streams.

#OINP, #Ontario, #Employer_Job_Offer, #foreign_workers, #International_students, #EJO_IS, #EJO_IDS, #EJO_FW

Canada welcomes Afghan human rights defenders

On January 11, 2022, Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship (IRCC), announced the arrival of over 250 Afghan government-assisted refugees, including 170 human rights defenders, women leaders, persecuted religious or ethnic minorities, LGBTI individuals, and journalists. These refugees came to Canada under the special human rights defenders’ immigration stream for Afghans who worked for Canada during the military mission, which was launched in July 2021. To this date, Canada has welcomed more than 6,750 Afghan nationals under this stream.

#Afghan_refugees, #Afghanistan, #Taliban, #IRCC, #refugees

Employers in Quebec can recruit more temporary foreign workers

On January 10, 2022, the Government of Canada announced that the Government of Quebec implemented key measures to address labour shortages in the province. According to the new measures, Quebec’s employers in specific sectors can hire overseas candidates with high-demand occupations under the province’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP). In addition, the Government also increased the share of TFWs allowed in low-wage positions. As of today, employers are allowed to hire up to 20% more temporary foreign workers per workplace.

#Quebec, #labour_shortage, #TFWP, #temporary_workers, #foreign_workers

The number of anglophone immigrants increases in Quebec

During the COVID-19 pandemic, relatives of English-speaking immigrants became permanent residents, significantly increasing the number of anglophone immigrants in Quebec. According to the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) report, Quebec welcomed 4,020 new anglophone permanent residents under family sponsorship programs in the first ten months of 2021. This share is 29.9 percent higher when compared to the same period of 2020 and 24.4 percent higher than in 2019. In addition, the number of English-speaking applicants in refugee and economic programs is also gradually increasing in the province.

#Quebec, #Anglophone_immigrants, #English_speaking_immigrants, #IRCC, #family_sponsorship