Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) announced today that it will keep immigration levels at 240,000-265,000 in 2013, for the seventh straight year. The maintenance of immigration numbers from previous years amidst a growing Canadian population means Canada will have a lower immigration rate as a percentage of its population, and rebuff calls by several prominent organizations to increase immigration levels […]
Read moreAn elderly Russian woman left her Canadian husband and subsequently collected nearly $25,000 in social assistance payments that have been charged to the 82 year pensioner who sponsored her immigration to Canada, said the Canadian man affected. In an interview with the CBC, BC resident Heinz Munz said he had no idea that his Russian ex-wife, Polina Telyuk, was receiving social assistance […]
Read moreFive Canadian immigrants received awards for their entrepreneurship at the first annual Ottawa Immigration Forum yesterday. The Ottawa Immigrant Entrepreneur Award ceremony is organized by the Ottawa Local Immigration Partnership (OLIP) and given to individuals judged to have made valuable contributions to the local economy. Yesterday’s recipients were: Valery Tolstikhin, founder of OneChip Photonics Inc, who won in the Fast-growth enterprises category. […]
Read moreCitizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) announced today that the majority of citizenship applicants will be required to demonstrate language proficiency in English or French when they apply, effective November 1st, 2012. Currently, CIC assesses applicants’ language proficiency through the interaction their staff have with the applicant, and from the applicant’s citizenship knowledge test results. Under coming changes, citizenship applicants will […]
Read moreAn article in The Star recounts the experience of an applicant for permanent residence in Canada who was called by an immigration official who was recently convicted of breach of public trust. George Gonsalves Barriero, who worked for Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) for a total of 12 years, was promoted to a senior position with the authority to approve […]
Read moreCitizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) announced this week that citizens of St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines (St. Vincent), Namibia, Botswana and Swaziland will require a visa to travel to Canada, effective 12:01 AM EDT on September 12th. Individuals who held passports from these countries were previously visa exempt, but due to what CIC says is unreliability in the […]
Read moreThe investigation into citizenship and permanent residence fraud has expanded to nearly 11,000 people, and federal immigration authorities are in the process of revoking the citizenship of 3,100 individuals, Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and Public Safety Minister Vic Toews announced today. “Today’s announcement is the end-result of the hard work done by the RCMP and CBSA, and they […]
Read moreCitizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is scheduled to speak to the press tomorrow and is expected to announce that 2,900 people will be stripped of their Canadian citizenship for providing fake proof of residency. Most of the individuals under investigation were clients of a small number of consultants who offered to help people qualify for citizenship through fraudulent means. […]
Read moreA guide provided by Jim Metcalfe of Pace Immigration provides tips on what hopeful Canadian immigrants can do to prepare for changes to the Federal Skilled Worker Program: Now that the Minister of Immigration has signalled his intention to change the selection criteria for the Federal Skilled Worker program, it is a good idea to plan ahead if you want to apply. […]
Read moreA recent report by the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) estimates that each refugee claimant who has their application rejected by the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB), due either to lack of evidence of persecution in their home country or failing to show up to refugee hearings, costs the Canadian government over $50,000. The country that produces the highest […]
Read more