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
Canada is in need of an immigration ombudsman
According to the House of Commons’ standing committee on citizenship and immigration’s report on the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on immigration to Canada, an immigration ombudsman is needed to keep tabs on the decisions made by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) officials. The report also suggests creating an office of the immigration ombudsman that will ‘address status checks, disputes or errors in visa officer decisions, persistent processing errors and delays in certain classes of applications and overall oversight of IRCC and Canada Border Services Agency issues,’ and prevent applicants to go to court.
#IRCC, #CBSA, #ombudsman
May 28, 2021
IRCC’s department has been flooded with access to information requests
Foreign nationals who applied to immigrate to Canada have to file access to information requests to know the status of their application or the reason for denial. To see that information, applicants must file an access to information request (ATIP). According to a new report by the Information Commissioner, IRCC experienced a 670 percent increase in complaints to the commissioner’s office in 2019 and 2020. The GCMS modernization announced in Budget 2021 is considered to make this possible through an expanded MyAccount portal with increased functionality to both improve applicant service and reduce ATIP requests.
#IRCC, #ATIP
May 28, 2021
IRCC introduced a report on language training services for newcomers
Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada’s (IRCC) Research and Evaluation Branch introduced key findings of the evaluation of language training services for newcomers. The report examined whether the language learning framework is adapted to address newcomers’ needs and whether it is focused on the improvement of the language skills of new immigrants. According to the report, language learning services in Canada are designed to be flexible, meet the diverse needs of newcomers, support their progression that is mostly positive. The report also touched on the employability issues and made recommendations for further developments.
#IRCC, #Language_training
