Prices increased 1.2 percent in the 12 months leading up to May, a drop of 0.8 percent from the annual inflation rate in April, according to a report released by Statistics Canada today, a development that could keep interest rates low and help shore up housing prices in the near term. The slowdown in inflation was due primarily to declines […]
Read moreThe latest annual Worldwide Cost of Living Survey by human resource firm Mercer places Toronto as Canada’s most expensive city, ahead of Vancouver, for the second year in a row. Both cities are relatively cheap by international standards though, placing 61st and 63rd most expensive in the world, respectively. Ottawa has the lowest cost of living of Canadian cities included […]
Read moreThe federal government’s efforts to wipe out the 280,000 Federal Skilled Worker Program application backlog through legislation had a major setback today, as a court ruled that the government must process the applications of 900 people who sued the federal government for the delay in the processing of their application, and whose applications were among the 280,000 closed as part of […]
Read moreHealth workers groups held several rallies across Canadian cities yesterday to protest government cuts to health care programs for refugees. As part of its deficit reduction program, the federal government is cutting medical services provided at no cost to refugees through the Interim Federal Health Program, limiting free services to emergency health care and treatment of chronic conditions that pose a public […]
Read moreIn a poll of 370 gender specialists conducted by Trustlaw, Canada was perceived to be the best G20 country to be a woman, and India the worst. Factors that put Canada on top include government-guaranteed health care, the fact that 62 percent of university graduates and one third of federally appointed judges are women, and the figure of 75 percent of 15-49 year […]
Read moreThe Federal Immigrant Investor Program (FIIP), which allows foreign individuals with net worths of more than $1.6 million to become Canadian permanent residents by lending a provincial government $800,000 for five years without interest, is scheduled to start accepting applications in two weeks to fill a new annual quota, but it is still not clear as to whether the federal government […]
Read moreThe Global Peace Index (GPI), an annual ranking of national peacefulness produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace, was released today, and showed Canada rising three places, to 4th place among the 158 nations in the index. The index evaluates a nation’s GPI score by 23 dimensions of peace, ranging from ‘perceived criminality in society’ to ‘death from external […]
Read moreBill C-31, a proposed set of laws to reform Canada’s refugee system, is expected to pass the House of Commons today. The bill would give the Department of Citizenship and Immigration the discretion to create a list of ‘safe’ democratic countries with a reputation of respecting human rights, and the authority to reject refugee claims by individuals from those countries […]
Read moreUnder current rules, a temporary foreign worker must have worked full-time for 24 of the last 36 months to qualify for permanent residence under the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) program. Under proposed changes, the required months of full time work would be reduced to 12. Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, speaking about the proposed change, said that “thousands of […]
Read moreThe new Super Visa, a special visa for the parents and grandparents of Canadian citizens and permanent residents, has been granted to over 3,500 applicants since its introduction in December of last year, according to the Canadian Immigration Ministry. The Ministry said that 83 percent of applications have thus far been approved, with an average processing time of less than […]
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