News updates

Canada – US border may reopen in fall

The Government of Canada started planning for the Canada-US border to reopen as the vaccination campaign is going well. On May 25, 2021, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a press briefing that more than fifty percent of Canada’s population received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccination. Previously, he has suggested that the border will reopen when at least 75 percent of Canadians are vaccinated. Provinces, such as Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia, are planning for a steady reopening. Canada introduced travel restrictions in March 2020 and closed the border with the US to all non-essential travel. Travel restrictions are currently in place until at least June 21. #Covid_19, #Borders, #travel_restrictions, #USA

June 1, 2021

Saskatchewan keeps accepting applications from international graduates

On May 31, 2021, Saskatchewan updated the number of spots remaining through the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP) for international graduates in the framework of the temporary immigration policy. The provincial government has allocated 1,000 spots for direct submission of a nomination application for those who resided in the province on September 1, 2020, and has completed an educational program in the province. Since the last week, the province accepted only 3 applications, and 857 spots remain available. SINP updates this data every Monday. #Saskatchewan, #SINP, #PNP, #international_students, #international_graduates

June 1, 2021

Canada invited 424 young foreigners under the International Experience Canada

Over the last week, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) held new rounds of invitations in the pools of the International Experience Canada (IEC) program. From May 24 to May 28, the government issued 424 Invitations to Apply (ITA) for an IEC open work permit. As of May 28, there are 16,386 candidates registered in the pool, waiting for the invitation. In this round, there were 21 ITAs for Australia, 5 ITAs for Belgium, 4 ITAs for Costa Rica, 1 ITA for Croatia, 47 ITAs for the Czech Republic, 107 ITAs for France, 10 ITAs for Greece, 59 ITAs for Ireland, 6 ITAs for Italy, 3 ITAs for Japan, 3 ITAs for South Korea, 19 ITAs for the Netherlands, 15 ITAs for Slovakia, 38 ITAs for Spain, 6 ITAs for Sweden, 14 ITAs for Switzerland, 35 ITAs for Taiwan, and 31 ITAs for the United Kingdom. In total, Canada issued 9,490 ITAs under the IEC in 2021. #IRCC, #IEC, #ITA, #Working_Holiday, #Young_Professionals, #International_CoOp, #work_permits, #work_in_Canada

May 31, 2021

A new report shows how pandemic impacted immigration to Canada

Conference Board of Canada introduced a report studying the impact of COVID-19 on immigrant admissions. According to the report, permanent resident (PR) admissions were down 56 percent compared to 2019. Refugee and family class admissions were most hard-hit with a 72 and 63 percent decrease, respectively. At the beginning of the pandemic, Canada considered only the candidates of Canadian Experience Class (CEC) and Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) in Express Entry invitation rounds. However, from the second half of 2020, Canada began considering all candidates, including those from the Federal Skilled Worker Program and the Federal Skilled Trades Program. But since the start of 2021, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is again prioritizing those already in Canada and focusing on CEC and PNP candidates. #Covid_19, #IRCC, #FST, #FSW, #CEC, #PNP, #Express_Entry, #family_class, #economic_class, #refugees

May 31, 2021