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Category Archives: Permanent Residence

Coming Soon: More permanent residency pathways for temporary residents in Canada

Canada may offer more permanent residence pathways to temporary residents (e.g. international students, temporary foreign workers, and asylum seekers) who are currently in the country.

In 2020, COVID-19 pandemic has turned the tables around the world, may it be developed, developing or underdeveloped economies. Every country is having a hard time keeping their economies afloat, given travel restrictions and disruption in supply chains globally.

The Coronavirus pandemic is affecting birth rates worldwide and high-income countries like Canada are expected to see declining fertility rates, resulting in a smaller population size and rapidly increased greying of Canada. Canada has been feasting on immigrants for years as they compensate for the negative economic and fiscal impact created by the aging population and decline in birth rates. This will have a strong impact on the labor market and to ensure long-term economic recovery, the federal and provincial governments need to keep immigration ️as a priority to support this decline.

COVID-19 has impacted pre-determined immigration level targets of Canada, both permanent and temporary residents have dropped significantly, along with this unemployment is prevalent and the economy is falling. To support the economy and to meet the necessary labor market needs in terms of workforce availability, Canada needs immigrants as their impact on Canadian economy is profound.

Helping temporary residents become permanent residents will address Canada’s needs to respond to COVID-19 and will benefit Canada in the long term because candidates who already have Canadian experience tend to have strong labor market outcomes. Temporary residents like international students and temporary foreign workers already possess Canadian work experience, have already settled in, and have high English or French language ability, which leads to quicker labor market integration, solving economic and labor market needs.

Canada reaffirms their ongoing commitment towards immigration especially international students and global talent as Canada continues to count online study at DLI towards eligibility for PGWP between May 2020 to April 2021. During the tenure of post-graduation work permit, international students gain necessary Canadian work experience to qualify for permanent residency through economic immigration programs.

Immigrant-focused financial recovery plans should be at the forefront of Canada’s post-pandemic goals to offset the temporary decline in immigration and to ensure long term recovery.

What makes Canada a great destination for immigrants?

10th largest economy in the world

Canada is a thriving country that claims the 10th largest GDP worldwide, fueled in part by its vast natural resources, significant industrial base, tourist attraction, and vibrant seafood industry. According to Statistics Canada, Canada’s economy is extremely service-oriented, with 78.9% of Canadians working in a service-related job, though it is perceived that Canada is growing due to its natural resources. Though the manufacturing sector is relatively small in comparison to the service sector, it is the cornerstone of Canadian economy, with 68% of its exports constituting merchandise exports.

World-class education system

Canada tops the list as the most educated country in the world. According to the OECD over 56 percent of adults in the Great White North have earned some education after high school. Canada’s high academic standards and rigorous quality controls assure that you will be earning a high-quality education that will open doors for your future and benefit your career over the long term. A Canadian degree, diploma or certificate is globally recognized as being equivalent to those obtained from the United States or Commonwealth countries.

The quality of education and living standards in Canada are amongst the highest in the world, but the cost of living and tuition fees for international students are generally lower than in other countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom. Under Canada’s highly dynamic and hands-on academic environment, you will not only acquire knowledge and skills in analysis and communication, but you will also learn how to express yourself, demonstrate your creativity, and develop your self-confidence.

Canada has world’s top universities, such as McGill University, the University of Toronto, McMaster University, and the University of British Columbia which rank among the world’s top 100 academia.

Booming tech industry

Canada’s evolution over the years as a fount of technology is mirrored by the growth of the Tech sector. Toronto and other parts of Canada have been feasting on tech talent as immigrants are diverting from the U.S. due to stringent immigration policies like temporary suspension of H1B1 Visa which facilitated immigration for thousands of skilled immigrant workers every year. Even during coronavirus outbreak, immigrants in the U.S. faced unusual threat to employment, where in the U.S. is closing doors for immigrants while Canada is attracting an impressive flow of technology jobs and investment.

Tech companies with global footprint are setting up hubs and expanding operations in Canada. The number of tech jobs in Toronto has risen steeply with an increase of 54% from about 148,000 to 228,000 in the past since 2013. Canada certainly displays compelling potential with its mix of talent, technology, and universities together with highly skilled immigrants possessing STEM degrees even before arrival into the country.

Vancouver and Calgary are booming towards clean tech innovation, while Montreal has established itself as a hub for innovation in Artificial Intelligence and game development. Overall, Canada is attempting to attract highly skilled foreign professionals through visa programs like the Global Talent Stream with fast processing time where you move to Canada as quickly as a month as well as provincial tech programs that offer an expedited immigration pathway for people with tech skills .

Multiculturalism and immigration supportive

Over several decades, multiculturalism has evolved from a humanitarian approach to an official policy which became a defining part of Canada’s national identity. Canadian Prime minister Justin Trudeau government’s mantra is “diversity is our strength” which depicts the characteristic Canadian willingness to include various ethnic groups towards the cultural enrichment of Canada.

Canada has been accepting more immigrants per capita than any other developed Western countries. Particularly 310,000 new permanent residents were welcomed by Canada in 2018 and further it is expected that Canada will welcome nearly one million immigrants over the next three years.

In Canada, multiculturalism has always been a form of integration where people respect the diversity of languages, religions, and cultures. Multiculturalism exists when people accept and encourage many cultures to thrive in a society which can be seen particularly in major cities like Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal. Toronto is one of the most multicultural cities in modern history and this is because of a unique mix of various dominant groups like the British, Irish, Indian, Chinese, Italian and smaller groups like the Dutch, Japanese and Romanians.

Most inclusive country in the world

Canadians have always prided themselves as being open and inclusive. According to Ipsos recently released research, Canada ranks 1st among 25 countries on inclusiveness. Canada stood 2nd on LGBTQ Inclusiveness Score after France as the country has strong support for the LGBTQ community which is evident as Canada became the 4th nation worldwide to legalize same-sex marriage and the first nation outside of Europe in 2015.

Canada actively promotes inclusion and respect for diversity at home and abroad. Establishing equality is a top challenge that the entire human society is facing at the moment, but Canada seems to manage this challenge efficiently in social, economic, cultural, and civic inclusion. In Canada it is apparent that women have a strong voice, along with this basic women’s rights such as voting, birth control access and abortion are long-established and safeguarded in the country.

Universal health-care system

Canada’s health care system has prominent features that distinguish it from virtually all other high-income countries providing universal health care coverage. Firstly, healthcare in Canada is delivered through the provincial and territorial systems called Medicare, which is publicly funded. Canada has one of the world’s highest life expectancy rates and stands at 18th position in the world for life expectancy.

Canadian citizens have the second highest quality of life in the world, according to The World Economic Forum ranking, which ranks countries by quality of life using criteria like access to medical care, sanitation, and shelter, as well as education, life expectancy, and personal freedoms.

Employee entitlements

Canada is exceptional as “provincial law governs annual paid leave, unless the employee falls under federal jurisdiction.” All provinces guarantee two weeks paid vacation, except for three weeks in Saskatchewan. Along with this the employees receive statutory holidays depending on the province.  Canadians also have secured access to a variety of monetary protections including Employment Insurance (EI), old age security, the Canadian Pension Plan (CPP), and a federal childcare benefit.

The minimum wage in Canada ranges from $11 to $15 among different provinces and it stands among one of the highest in the world.  Canadian workers also have access to new family-friendly benefits and progressive workplace policies that allow up to 18 months of parental leave, with the mother and father able to share the leave however they choose.

Beautiful and safe place

The landscapes of Canada range from arctic tundra and BC’s snow-capped mountains, to beautifully desolate prairies and PEI’s rugged coastlines along with interesting architecture in Montreal’s historic buildings. From coast to coast to coast, the country is home to vibrant and culturally rich cities, along with incredible natural wonders.

According to the Global Peace Index of 2018, Canada was ranked the 6th most peaceful nation in the world. Be it protection of citizens on the streets, guarding them against misconduct, or even shielding them against online crime, Canada has done it all. Canada is also known for their strong gun control as they have a comparatively peaceful approach to foreign diplomacy.

Stable democratic political system

The Economist ranked Canada as third-most democratic nation according to its Democracy Index in the year 2006. Canada’s political system is a parliamentary democracy, with its own social and political institutions. Though Canadian governments shift between various liberal and conservative parties depending on the political climate; there is no moral shift as core values and ideologies like women’s and LGBT rights, environmental concerns, and immigration, are shared by the political parties.

Survey: What Canadians think about family reunification during pandemic?

Canadian Immigration policy has been an integral component of the nation’s development, and debates in this area have consistently been framed in terms of deciding which immigrants should be included or excluded as part of expanding Canadian social framework. Over the past year a paradigmatic shift has occurred within the Canadian immigration, which has increasingly pushed for a stronger emphasis on the preferential entrance of economic migrants.

The Canadian Government is committed to keeping families together whenever possible by various generous family reunification programs like Family Class Sponsorship programs where in Canadian Citizens and Permanent Residents are eligible to sponsor family class members who wish to immigrate to Canada through programs such as spousal and common-law partner sponsorship, parent and grandparent sponsorship, parent and grandparent Super Visa and dependent child sponsorship.

A survey of 1,531 Canadians was conducted by Association of Canadian Studies which reveals that amid COVID-19 large numbers of Canadians support family reunification as one of the core immigration priorities over economic immigrants and expanding the refugee program. This is evident as nearly 36% of respondents stated that priority should be given to family members of people residing in Canada.

Canadians are affirmative about the role of immigrants in the recovery of Canada’s economy, as 61% Canadians agreed that immigration will support economic development, while 22% said that it would have a negative effect and 18% Canadians were not aware about the facts and stated that they cannot decide. Coast to coast among various provinces 67% of respondents from Atlantic Canada state that immigration would benefit while on the contrary 26% of the prairie provinces respondents were of the view that immigration would have a negative effect on the country’s economy and 22% respondents did not respond.

Alberta respondents were the most supportive of family reunification followed by 42% Atlantic Canada and 36% Ontario. The least support of combined 28% was demonstrated by respondents from Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Between 2016 and 2020, Canadian respondent’s support towards prioritizing economic class immigration stayed constant at 27%, while support for refugee class witnessed a drop of 13% as it fell from 29% to 16% among these years.  Manitoba with 70.2%, Saskatchewan at 68.6% and Quebec with 67.6% recorded the biggest decline among other provinces in admission of new immigrants in the second quarter of 2019 and 2020.

Canadians feel that IRCC should focus on expanding family reunification programs rather than making efforts towards attracting and admitting economic newcomers through the Federal Skilled Worker Program and Federal Skilled Trades Program, as well as by expanding the Provincial Nominee Programs, for investors, entrepreneurs, and self-employed.

Canadians feel that the Government is not working towards family reunification, and many family members are separated due to delay in processing of applications and travel restrictions during this pandemic. They suggest the proliferation of family reunification programs, as the current immigration strategy raises questions about the fairness, equity, and direction of Canada’s current approach to immigration for building the nation. In March, Immigration level plan for 2020-2022 was announced where economic class and refugee class levels were scheduled to increase yearly, but family class immigration was settled with a target of inviting 91,000 new immigrants.

COVID-19 has negatively affected the Canadian economy and immigration has faced the worst hit. All immigration programs are facing a cut back, but family class sponsorship has faced a set down of 78% in the second quarter of 2020 as opposed to last year. Along with this refugee resettlement witnessed an exponential fall of 85% and 52% drop back was noted in economic class immigration.

The COVID-19 pandemic has compelled policymakers to re-evaluate what kind of immigrant workforce the country needs, as people who were previously not considered as highly skilled or essential, are deemed as the front line workers today. Various internal and external factors should be considered when thinking about the future of Canada’s immigration system post coronavirus pandemic such as demographics, economy, labor market, politics, processing capacity and capacity to integrate newcomers.

Lately, Canada’s immigration minister stated that they viewed immigration as a crucial step to supporting the country’s post-coronavirus economic recovery after a meeting where they discussed the importance of attracting immigrants to rural Canadian communities and role of international students in Canadian economy.

Statistics Canada: CEC and PNP immigrants are better in Canadian job market

According to a study conducted by Statistics Canada & IRCC, CEC  and PNP immigrants are fare better than FSWP and QSWP in the job market as they have an edge due to Canadian work experience and pre-arranged employment from working as temporary foreign workers before obtaining permanent residency in Canada.

Economic immigration consists of numerous programs, including the Federal Skilled Worker program (FSWP), Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) and Canadian Experience Class (CEC). These programs help to select permanent residents based on the candidate’s potential ability to perform in the labour market. These programs are administered differently, have separate processes and selection criteria. During the initial years after immigration CEC and PNP immigrants have higher employment rates and earnings than FSWP immigrants although after five years of immigration PNP immigrants have lower earnings than CEC or FSWP immigrants.

Reason why PNP and CEC candidates fair better in Canadian job market?

The temporary foreign workers get a taste of real life in Canada before committing themselves and their families towards moving to Canada permanently by uprooting their lives in their home countries. This helps them to acclimatize in Canadian culture and perform better than other economic immigrants in the country.

In addition, immigrants with Canadian experience have significant benefits in labour market outcomes over immigrants without Canadian work experience, especially when it comes to high earning positions as many temporary foreign workers were international students in Canada who obtained a Post-Graduate Work Permit (PGWP) and have lived in the country for quite a few years before becoming a permanent resident. During this time, they not only improve their language proficiency but also develop the skills the Canadian employers are looking for.

The benefits of studying in Canada are endless, including obtaining a high-quality education, gaining Canadian work experience as well as having improved outcomes after becoming permanent residents of Canada as opposed to candidates from FSWP or QSWP. This is evident as 93% of immigrants selected from the PNP and 95% of immigrants selected from the CEC found employment in the first full year after becoming Canadian permanent residents, while only 80% for candidates under FSWP were employed for the first full year.

After becoming permanent residents in the first full year CEC immigrants earned 56 per cent more than FSWP candidates and this gap diminished over time as in the fifth year CEC immigrants earned 30% more than FSWP  immigrants. Similarly, PNP immigrants also earned higher than FSWP in the first year while by the fifth year their earnings substantially decreased. This is because PNP immigrants tend to have slow earnings growth as they are more likely to be selected for low-skilled or medium-skilled jobs. Nevertheless, FSWP immigrants easily get integrated into the Canadian labour market as they possess essential traits such as high language proficiency and education levels.

Labour market outcomes of Canadian work experience as opposed to pre-arranged jobs

Pre-arranged employment and work experience are among the valuable assets for new immigrants as both are considered as an essential criterion in Canada’s Express Entry system of economic immigration selection. On one hand, pre-arranged employment reflects the employer’s preference more clearly than Canadian work experience. On the other hand, Canadian work experience can better capture the recognized market values of skills than pre-arranged employment.

During the first two years after becoming permanent residents, immigrants with pre-arranged jobs earned 15% more than those without as they had comparative higher income in Canada before becoming permanent residents which is almost double of what immigrants with Canadian work experience earn. Even under Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) immigration applicants who have a pre-arranged job offer avail 50 to 200 additional points depending on the NOC and seniority of the position offered.

To conclude, prior to immigration, Canadian work experience is a better predictor of immigrant earnings after becoming permanent residents as opposed to having a pre-arranged job.

Canada : Life Science leadership during COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19 has disrupted the world and has slowed down the global economy. Canadian government has done a commendable job by focusing on COVID-19 containment and immediate relief by collaborating with health organizations and other authorities. IRCC has stated that Canada’s priority has been one of protection and preparation: protecting people’s health and safety while preparing business for a smooth transition to recovery. This successful response to coronavirus has showcased the strong relation among life science and professional health care management in the country.

The Canadian life sciences sector is a vital contributor to Canada’s innovation economy, and one of the country’s fastest growing industries participating towards medical innovations that will enhance the health-care delivery and patient care in Canada and around the globe. This Canadian sector comprises occupations within research, development, and manufacturing. This sector includes small and medium-sized companies developing diagnostics, bio pharmaceuticals, pharmaceuticals, and medical appliances, as well as international companies with research, development, and production operations in Canada, serving both domestic and international markets.

British Columbia has one of the largest bio technologies and life sciences sectors in Canada. The province plays an important role in the growing global life sciences industry. There are 310 life sciences organizations in British Columbia with estimated employment of 14,000 people contributing $1.03 billion to provincial GDP growth. The BC life sciences sector includes a broad range of companies, government agencies, healthcare research organizations and academic partners.

In parallel with Canadian government initiatives, there are various companies contributing towards development of products and services to curb COVID-19 pandemic. Some of these companies are:

Thornhill Medical is a medical device innovator company based in Toronto. This company has been producing and delivering revolutionary portable ventilator systems in large quantities to health care facilities across Canada.

Roche is a global company pioneering in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics of advanced science. They are the world’s largest biotech company focused on personalized healthcare. This company created a COVID-19 antibody test which will help determine if a patient has been exposed to coronavirus and if the patient has developed antibodies. This test is supporting the country’s economic recovery and is recognized as a significant contributor to Canada’s testing capability.

Hexoskin is a smart shirt company based in Montreal. Since the advent of the coronavirus pandemic this company has been working with the government and health systems in the US, UK, and Canada to support health care services. They have been successful in developing a high-tech shirt that monitors COVID-19 patient’s vital signs from the comfort of their home. Hexoskin supports hospitals by freeing up space and easing the burden on staff via installing patient-monitoring systems in hospitals and setting up own telehealth teams.

Medicago is a company rooted with a long track record of innovation and perseverance. They are situated in Quebec and have successfully created a nominee for a coronavirus vaccine using their innovative plant-based technology. They were the pioneer in Canadian clinical trials of any COVID-19 vaccine.

Sona Nanotech Inc. is a medical device company based in Halifax. Sona has been awarded a $4.1 Million grant by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as per the NGen Initiative to accelerate COVID-19 test development. They are creating a ground-breaking antigen test to detect the presence of COVID-19 beforehand, rather than detecting antibodies after infection which can be used at point of care and deliver results in as little as 10 minutes.

Quantum Silicon Inc. is an Alberta based company, applying nanotechnology in electronics to develop faster and more energy-efficient technologies by manipulating matter at the atomic scale. Their CEO states the importance of government incentives in building a stronger industry.

Although there are hundreds of jobs available in the Canadian life science sector, Canada is struggling to meet labour demand needs and requires highly skilled foreign individuals and innovative entrepreneurs in search of investment opportunities or ways to expand their existing business abroad.

Canadian government is trying to help bridge the labour gap by providing pathways for skilled foreign workers to live and work in Canada. Two of these pathways include the Express Entry System and the Provincial Nominee Programs which not only made the immigration process easier but also fast-tracks the visa process, allowing newcomers to immigrate to Canada with their families in as little as 6 months.

Incentives provided by the Government

The government implemented various incentives to support Life science development in Canada, such as:

  • Canada’s Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF), which provides funding to large projects with an objective to stimulate innovation for a better tomorrow in Canada. SIF brought forward projects to fight against COVID-19 and this program was expanded by additional funding to support the clinical trials for COVID-19 related vaccines and therapies.
  • The Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED), which gives tax credits and refunds to eligible companies in Canada and is the country’s largest R&D tax credit program. Some examples include operations research, data collection, engineering, testing, psychological research, or design.
  • The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), which funds research in universities, colleges, research hospitals and non-profit research institutions.
  • Genome Canada, which is responsible for providing large scale investment to help develop new tech and create solutions to challenges faced on a national scale.
  • Mitacs is a non-profit research organisation that funds technology-specific internships and fellowships through Canadian universities by partnering with Canadian academia, private industry, and the government.
  • Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), a funding agency supporting innovative improvements in the health care sector.
  • Canada Brain Fund (CRF), which supports and funds Canadian brain science.

Along with these strategies, comes the Global Skills Strategy, which allows Canada to enrich its skilled workforce by bringing in highly skilled individuals from abroad. This strategy was developed by IRCC to help employers find highly skilled workers faster and bring them to the country within 2 weeks.

The Start-up Visa Program gives foreign investors the opportunity to start or invest in a business anywhere in Canada. Through this program applicants are also able to get permanent residency in Canada, provided they meet government requirements.

Canada is an ideal place for nanotech companies to invest and expand as life science sector is supported by a booming group of academia, world-class talent, government support and investors from around the world. Innovation in life sciences requires a collaborative ecosystem of partners such as hospitals, research centres, universities, technology incubators, start-ups, scientists as well as multinationals – and every day they are collaborating in Canada.

Canada’s life sciences businesses are among the most lucrative sectors where companies with global footprint are investing. This is because Canada offers a qualified workforce and is globally rated at the top for having the most educated workforce in the world, with over 55 per cent of its population possessing a tertiary qualification. Along with this Canada is the only country in the world, able to trade freely with every G7 nation. This free trade boosts opportunities to increase investment revenue by offering preferential market access to more than 1.5 billion consumers in 51 countries.