Tag Archives: NKIC Newsletter – July 12

Canada launched a fast-track visa program for highly-skilled workers on Monday, as it seeks to take advantage of a tougher immigration environment in the United States.

The move comes at a critical time for Canadian technology companies, who are looking to lure top global talent who otherwise flock to Silicon Valley, a major employer of foreign workers.

“In a world where people are becoming more and more inward, where there is a rise in populism, there’s a lot of Islamaphobia, a lot of xenophobia, there’s a lot of anti-immigrant sentiment, Canada is uniquely positioned,” said Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains on the program’s launch at a tech startup accelerator.

Bains and the other government officials at the launch were careful not to mention U.S. President Donald Trump by name, instead focusing on selling the positives of their new scheme, which aims to help domestic companies exhibiting growth of at least 10 per cent.

But tech executives in attendance were less circumspect.

Roy Pereira, the founder of an artificial intelligence company called Zoom.ai, said Trump’s policies had led to more interest in Canada from workers currently living in the U.S. than he had ever seen in his 20-year career.

Of the 150 total applications he received for three recent job postings, 50 came from U.S.-based applicants, he said, with most of the 10 he subsequently interviewed citing the political climate there as a factor in their decision to look north.

“They were concerned about some of the musings of the current administration down in the U.S.,” he said.

The Trump administration has sought to ban visitors from several Muslim-majority countries in a move that has been stymied by U.S. courts, and has also broadened the scope of who could be targeted for immigration violations.

The Canadian plan, unveiled in November as part of a broader strategy to stoke economic growth, aims to shorten the work permit and visa issuing process to two weeks, compared to current drawn-out, bureaucratic process typically lasting six months to a year.

“Investment follows talent,” said Ahmed Hussen, Canada’s minister of immigration. “Investment will not come to Canada if the talent is not there,” he said.

The government has not set a quota on the amount of foreigners who could join the plan in its first two years.

By Sean Kilpatrick from the Financial Post.

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Canadian Federal Immigration Program

Government of Canada Launches the Global Skills Strategy

July 11, 2017 nkic

When companies in Canada can thrive and grow, they create more jobs. The Government of Canada’s new Global Skills Strategy will give employers a faster and more predictable process for attracting top talent and new skills to Canada, creating economic growth and more middle-class jobs for Canadians.

Today, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Ahmed Hussen, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains and Rodger Cuzner, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, announced that employers and highly-skilled workers can now benefit from the Global Skills Strategy.

As part of the Strategy, which includes four pillars, high-skilled workers coming to Canada on a temporary basis are now able to benefit from two-week processing of applications for work permits and, when necessary, temporary resident visas. Open work permits for spouses and study permits for dependants will also be processed in two weeks when applicable.

Employers can now benefit from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s new dedicated service channel and the new Global Talent Stream. This will help them access temporary, high-skilled, global talent, scale up or expand their knowledge of specialized skills so that they can be more innovative and build their expertise.

Two new work permit exemptions have also taken effect today. Highly-skilled workers who need to come to Canada for a very short-term assignment and researchers taking part in short-duration research projects being conducted in Canada will not require a work permit.

First announced in November 2016, the Global Skills Strategy helps promote global investment in Canada and supports the Government of Canada’s Innovation and Skills Plan. It recognizes that by facilitating the faster entry of top talent with specialized skill sets and global experience to Canada, we can help innovative companies grow, flourish and create jobs for Canadians.

Quick Facts

Companies applying for workers through the Global Talent Stream now have access to a new streamlined process that provides eligible employers with:
- priority processing of applications and a client-focused service for the development of the Labour Market Benefits Plan, with a service standard of 10 business days; and
- flexible recruitment requirements.
Two-week work permit processing will be available to workers applying from overseas whose employers have been approved to hire a foreign worker through Global Talent Stream, as well as foreign nationals with jobs at skill type 0 (executive, managerial) or skill level A (professional) of the National Occupational Classification (NOC) applying through the International Mobility Program. The two-week service standard would also apply to immediate family members accompanying high-skilled workers to Canada.
The new work permit exemption for highly-skilled workers applies to all NOC 0 and NOC A workers. Eligible workers will be allowed one 15-day work permit-exempt stay in Canada every six months, or one 30-day work permit-exempt stay every 12 months.
Researchers coming to Canada will be permitted one 120-day stay every 12 months without requiring a work permit when they are working on a research project at a publicly-funded degree-granting institution or affiliated research institution.
Agreements have been reached with a range of partners who will be able to refer companies to IRCC’s new dedicated service channel and to ESDC’s Global Talent Stream; discussions are continuing with many other potential partners. The goal is to have referral partners in all parts of the country with the significant knowledge and insight needed to refer companies to the dedicated service channel.

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Canadian Citizenship

Federal Government Passes Law to End “Second-Class Citizenship”

July 11, 2017 nkic

Ottawa has passed citizenship changes that critics say strike the right balance between removing barriers for immigrants to become full Canadians and protecting the integrity of the system.

The changes are not a complete overhaul of the stringent citizenship regimen established by the Conservative government in 2014, though they relax the age requirement for language and knowledge tests, and the length of residency requirement.

While citizenship officers will keep their powers to strip citizenship from new Canadians in cases of fraud and misrepresentation, and individuals convicted of crimes will be barred from being granted citizenship, the Federal Court, instead of the immigration minister, will be the decision-maker in all revocation cases.

The Liberals also immediately repealed a law put in place their Tory predecessor that gave Ottawa the power to strip citizenship from naturalized citizens for crimes committed after citizenship has already been granted — something critics said created two distinct classes of citizens, those born here and abroad.

“We are thrilled that after more than three years of fighting, multiple lawsuits, and over a year of wrangling in Parliament, second-class citizenship has been put to an end,” said Josh Paterson of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association. “The government has followed through on its promise to restore citizenship equality for all Canadians.”

The Senate was responsible for bringing two significant changes to Bill C-6 by forcing the Liberal government to hand over citizenship revocation decisions to the Federal Court — a change that is expected to take effect in early 2018 — and allow minors to independently apply for citizenship.

“Citizenship is one of the most powerful indicators of inclusion and belonging. When we facilitate citizenship for newcomers and protect the fundamental equality among all citizens by birth or naturalization, we are nation-building,” said Sen. Ratna Omidvar, independent senator from Ontario and the Senate sponsor of the bill.

“This is a significant law for all Canadians and for Canadians-in-the-making.”

As of today, citizenship applicants are also no longer required to sign a form stating they intend to remain in Canada after obtaining their citizenship.

Changes that will take effect this fall include: reducing the residency requirement to three out of five years from four out of six; shrinking the age group that must meet language and knowledge requirements to 18-54 years from 14-64 years; allowing refugees, foreign students and workers to count their temporary residence in Canada toward their citizenship residency obligation.

Andrew Griffith, retired director general of the Immigration Department, said the changes are long overdue and should have been passed last year if the opposition parties had not dragged the debate on.

“It’s good that the bill is through,” Griffith told the Star. “It delivered the Liberal government’s campaign commitment to facilitate citizenship, that a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian. It has shifted the overall balance somewhat to facilitate (access to) citizenship.”

However, Griffith was disappointed that Ottawa has chosen not to deal with the exorbitant citizenship application fees — $630 for adults and $100 for minors — that some said have prevented eligible applicants, especially refugees, from becoming full-fledged Canadians.

“The issue that remains for me is the fee,” said Griffith. “If the government really believed in diversity and inclusion, they should ensure it is not an insurmountable financial barrier for people to become citizens.”

By Nicholas Keung from the thestar.com

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Quick Facts

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