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Canadian Immigration Blog
BC PNP and Top 100 occupations in the BC Labour Market Outlook 2014-2024
Provincial immigration programs in Saskatchewan and British Columbia are unique among Canadian provincial immigration programs because applicants need job offer from employer in those provinces (even without LMIA) and if other criteria is met they can apply for provincial nomination and after that for permanent resident (PR) status in Canada. In January of 2016 BC PNP re-opened practically all previously existing streams however they introduced several new rules. Presently BC PNP resembles, in many respects, Express Entry program - potential applicants have to collect sellection points based on two groups of factors:
 At the present time (February of 2016) successful applicant in Skills Immigration – Skilled Worker category must achieve or exceed registration score of 135 in order to receive an invitation to apply in the
next draw for that particular category.  Registrants in the pool who are invited to apply will have up to 30 calendar days from the date of invitation to
submit a complete application via the BC PNP Online system. Those registrants/applicants who get job offer in an occupation identified in the Top 100 occupations in the BC Labour Market Outlook
2014-2024 will get extra 10 points. Here is the list of those 100 occupations:       BC PNP processing times can be checked here. |
Refugees in Europe - what no one is talking about
According to the statistics published in mainstream media (MSM) over one million refugees and economic migrants arrived in Germany in 2015. According to some estimates (made by a German minister himself) this may be only 10% of the total number of migrants arriving in Germany in the near future. These are staggering numbers even for a big and economically powerful country such as Germany. Migrants are coming mostly from war-torn countries such as Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia. Chances are a few million of Libyans will join them soon where latest "transplantation" of "freedom and democracy" by the NATO war machine miserably failed. Understandably most migrants have chosen well-off countries such as Germany, Sweden, Denmark as their final destination. However there is a limit when it comes to ability of any country to accommodate big number of refugees (not only refugees but especially refugees because those who use official immigration channels often have higher education, speak the language, have skills which they can offer in the job market). Based on Canadian experience with immigration and immigrants, Canadian immigration officials put a limit of approximately 250 000 new immigrants per year and practically 90% (or so) of them are carefully selected based on their ability to integrate into Canadian society. That is the most Canada can integrate into its society without major turmoil either for the immigrants or for the Canadian society. Letting over one million of immigrants enter the country without practically any screening is a recipe for a big headache. And that is what we see in Europe now, mostly in Germany and Sweden. So called "refugee issue" is, of course, used for local political agendas by the major political parties both in Germany and in other European countries (good example is David Cameron who is clearly using xenophobia to please his voters). Ordinary citizens in Germany also appear to be divided on the issue - one large group is supporting official line of the Chancellor Angela Merkel, another group often labeled as radical right or even neo-nazis strongly oppose the influx of mostly Muslim refugees. They see refugees as a threat to the society. That is the prevailing narrative in the media nowadays. There is one thing that practically no one is speaking about. In my (unscientific) estimate 100% of refugees coming from the above mentioned countries (especially from Syria and Iraq) are going through major adjustment crisis - their state of mind at the present time (while in Europe after several years of life in real hell on Earth) can be described only by using psychiatric vocabulary such as post-traumatic stress disorder "on steroids". Can you imagine someone living 3000 meters under the surface of the ocean for a year and then you pull them out to the surface, in no more than 15 minutes? Their heads would literally explode due to the sudden change in pressure. That is exactly what is happening to the refugees in Europe right now - their heads are "exploding". They lived in extreme stress and hardship for several years, having only one goal in mind - to survive, they witnessed the most horrible events that a human being can witness, they lost their homes, relatives, their limbs (and often their sanity), and then in a few days they were transferred to a society which is even at the best of times much different than what they were used to. They got transferred from Hell on Earth to the country where Conchita Wurst is celebrated like a national hero. That is too much to handle for most humans. European migrants need a million mental health workers and they need them now. Pretending that problem does not exist will backfire and many (especially single male migrants) will just "flip out" and most likely commit some atrocities, not because they are terrorists but because they can not properly handle their new reality. They need help and it is more than likely they won't get it on time simply because too many migrants have arrived, they won't be able to receive support they need for that simple reason. My conclusions are partially based on my own experience of being a refugee in the 90ies in former Yugoslavia although my personal experience of war can not be be compared to the traumas most Syrian and Iraqi refugees must be carrying with them. |
TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) and Canadian Temporary Foreign Worker Program
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement was negotiated in secret and it was kept in secret even after the final version of the document was supposed to be ratified by the countries which would be included in that international trade agreement (Canada, Australia, Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam). Unexpectedly the government of new Zealand made the final draft of the trade agreement public in early November of 2015. It appears if ratified by the Canadian parliament this trade agreement will have a profound impact on the labour mobility in Canada. With Canadian conservative government changes to the Temporary Foreign worker program introduced in June of 2014 it became incredibly difficult to obtain so called Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) which Canadian employers need (there are very few exceptions to that rule) in order to hire a foreign worker. At the present time processing time for LMIA applications (which are used only for work permit applications) is around 5-6 months. LMIA application packages employers have to prepare and send to Service Canada normally have between 80 and 100 pages. Service Canada officers use every possible and impossible reason to deny LMIA applications. So on one hand we have an environment where it is very, very difficult to obtain LMIA, and on the other hand, lo and behold, Canadian federal government is likely to sign a trade deal where foreign workers from the countries signatories of the trade agreement can come to Canada and work without any need for LMIA. According to some (among numerous) critics of the TPP deal this agreement was negotiated and put together by big corporations - legal representatives in respective parliaments are just expected to put their signature on the final document. Hence apparent contradiction in the way issue of foreign workers is treated in Canada. So what will change then? Changes will be seen in the area of: 1) Business visitors coming to Canada (no need for work permit or LMIA, no limit on the number of business visitors since they are not entering Canadian labour market), 2) Intra-Corporate Transferees - no need for LMIA, 3) Investors (no need for LMIA), 4) Professionals and Technicians (no need for LMIA), Definition: professionals means business
persons engaged in a specialty
occupation requiring: (a) theoretical and practical
application of a body of
specialized knowledge; and (b) a post-secondary degree of four
or more years of study, unless
otherwise provided in this
schedule, and any additional
requirement defined in the National Occupation
Classification, and (c) two years of paid work
experience in the sector of
activity of the contract, and (d) remuneration at a level
commensurate with other
similarly-qualified professionals
within the industry in the region
where the work is performed.
Such remuneration shall be
deemed to not include nonmonetary
elements such as,
inter alia, housing costs and
travel expenses. technician means a national engaged
in a specialty occupation requiring: (a) theoretical and practical
application of a body of
specialized knowledge, and (b) a post-secondary or technical
degree requiring two or more
years of study as a minimum for
entry into the occupation,
unless otherwise provided in
this Schedule, as well as any
other minimum requirements for
entry defined in the National
Occupation Classification, and (c) four years of paid work
experience in the sector of
activity of the contract, and (d) remuneration at a level
commensurate with other
similarly-qualified technicians
within the industry in the region
where the work is performed.
Such remuneration shall be
deemed to not include non-monetary elements such as,
inter alia, housing costs and
travel expenses.
For the purpose of this definition,
specialty occupation means, for
Canada, an occupation that falls within
the National Occupation Classification
levels O, A, and B.
Please refer to the original document to see what occupations exactly are listed under professionals and technicians for each country. So if you are a citizen of: Australia, Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam and want to come to Canada as a temporary foreign worker please pay close attention to what is happening with TPP deal in Canada, or contact us at contact@mbmigration.ca and we will provide you with the most recent update on the immigration rules which reflect provisions of this trade deal. |
Are immigration consultants charging too much for their services?
Many new immigrants benefit from knowledge and expertise of immigration consultants but at the same time many would-be immigrants often feel immigration consultants' professional fees are not affordable. Immigration consultants charge one thousand dollars for this two thousand dollars for that, for many persons especially from the third world countries those amounts sound astronomical. The prices of immigration services are formed based on at least two groups of factors: market of immigration services and operating cost of running an immigration business. Market forcesIf most immigration consultants charge, let's say, $2000 for a family sponsorship application those who want to charge $4000 for the same service most likely won't find many clients willing to pay that much if they can get the same service for $2000. Similarly if someone wants to charge $1000 for the same service he or she may not get enough clients because all new clients will wonder: "Why is this consultant charging 50% less than everyone else?" "Probably his or her services are not that good". Therefore market forces are pushing prices of immigration services in a certain direction. Cost of running immigration businessThen we come to the second group of factors - operating expenses associated with running own immigration business. CIC will deal (accept applications and share information) only with authorized representatives which are ICCRC members in good standing, lawyers and notaries members of their respective professional associations and paralegals in Ontario. ICCRC members in good standing must pay annual membership fee which is currently set at $1971.10 per year:  As you can see from the screenshot above in the past less than 4 years (since ICCRC took over regulatory function from the previous regulator) a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant had to pay almost $10 000 to the regulator just for legal authorization to practice as a regulated immigration consultant. The membership fee does not include: - Mandatory errors and omissions insurance (this year it was $235) - Mandatory continued professional development workshops (average cost of $600 per year) In addition to that chances are your immigration consultant will have to pay: - Cost of renting an office (normally over $1000 per month) - Corporate tax rates which are around 15%, GST tax is currently 5% - Pay salaries or wages to the receptionist, paralegals or other staff - Pay for advertising (especially at the beginning of their career as immigration consultant) etc. This all comes after one spends approximately $10 000 on expenses related to taking immigration practitioner's program at one of the selected colleges, pass the language test, pass the ICCRC full skills exam etc. I hope this brief article will provide some basic understanding how Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants decide how much they charge for their services. |
Express Entry - How many points do you need?
It appears CIC is serious about Express Entry program despite several serious objections voiced by some prominent immigration practitioners (lack of transparency and accountability being only two of them).
So, many prospective immigrants are wondering: how many points do I need under the Comprehensive Ranking System in order to receive Invitation to Apply for PR in one of the three federal programs which are managed through the Express Entry System?
Nowadays it is extremely difficult to obtain LMIA and with every passing day it is getting even more difficult therefore those magic 600 points are practically out of reach for most otherwise qualified candidates (well educated applicants with good command of English or French and significant work experience).
It has been just over 6 months since Express Entry program was opened, in the table below you can see how many points applicants had to have under the Comprehensive Ranking System in order to receive Invitation to Apply.
For current information regarding required points check out Express Entry rounds of invitations page. So does this fit into CIC 2015 immigration levels plan? Let's take a look:
It seems to me CIC is running behind the schedule. It will be interesting to see how they will catch up in the next six months. If you have questions or comments concerning information in this article feel free to contact me at contact@mbmigration.ca In the first 6 months of 2015 only 844 PR visas were issued and only 411 people actually came to Canada and confirmed PR status. These appear very low numbers. |
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