Changes in immigration, abnormal heat wave and other news of the week

The most significant events that took place from June 28 to July 4.

Immigration news

Only two immigration selections fell this past week:

Manitoba set its own record by inviting 1,017 candidates;
British Columbia selected 52 IT professionals.

But Canada has brought some other good news that will be of interest to immigrants. The province of Ontario has changed the selection system for in-demand candidates. The criteria has become more transparent and clearer.

The deadline to apply for permanent residency for those selected in the Express Entry system has shortened to 60 days. This will allow Canada to process applications faster. Information has also been announced for those who have expired proof of permanent resident status (COPR). You can't come to Canada with an expired document, but the Department of Immigration will soon will be contacting those who are in this situation. And some immigrants will now be able to avoid medical exams.

Another significant development affected those claiming Canadian citizenship. The Canadian government made changes to the text of the oath of office, adding a reference to Indigenous peoples.

The border service also reminded that on July 5, a new entry procedure goes into effect, under which fully vaccinated arrivals may not take a COVID-19 test on arrival, remain quarantined in a hotel, or comply with a 14-day self-exclusion.

Pandemic

COVID-19 has been on the decline in Canada for more than a week. Still, health experts are concerned about the preading of a new strain of the virus, called the Delta variant. It may still make its presence felt in autumn or winter.

If you are planning to fly to Canada soon and have not been vaccinated, you will have to stay in a hotel for up to 3 days. The editorial board of Immigrant.Today conducted a study of quarantine hotels in Montreal. We have compiled a list of hotels with prices and information about the possibility of a refund if you leave the hotel early.

British Columbia has moved to a new phase of lifting restrictions, lifting almost all bans, and Alberta is once again encouraging vaccination by raffling off generous prizes for vaccination. By the way, the first million in the raffle has already given to one lucky person.

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As immunization in Canada is progressing well, the EU has decided that residents can free travel to European countries. But since July 1, a health passport with a vaccination mark or a negative test result for COVID-19 is required for this.

Canada's top language school, ILAC, didn't stand by and decided to do its part to end the pandemic as soon as possible. International students coming for language courses will be able to free vaccination. Only a passport will be required.

But all is not well with vaccines again. There have been reports of a new side effect that is being identified in those who have received a dose of AstraZeneca. The disease is serious but very rare. There has been one reported case in Canada and 6 in Europe per 78 million vaccinated.

Finance

At the end of this year, Canada's federal minimum wage will increase to $15 CAD per hour. For those who prefer digital currency instead of dollars, there is also interesting information: for example, how to legally buy bitcoin through the Canadian stock exchange. We're talking about the recently emerged ETF fund. Tested on my own experience!

Abnormal weather

This past week, record high temperatures came to some regions of Canada. In British Columbia alone, 60 records were broken! Unfortunately, it was not without consequences. Weather conditions have been linked to hundreds of sudden deaths in the province, the heat caused some wildfires, and one village was completely destroyed by fire. Later in the week, high temperatures and fires led to numerous lightning flashes.

Children's graves in schools

More and more sad stories from the past are surfacing in Canada. Activists continue to investigate the territories of former boarding schools to which Native American children were forcibly sent until the end of the 20th century. Another search uncovered 182 children's graves.

Because of such events, Canada Day, which is celebrated on July 1, was threatened. Indigenous people and people who simply cared were calling for a celebration. As a result, instead of the usual events on the day, residents honoured the dead and one museum organized a themed exhibition. The Prime Minister of Canada also called on the Pope self to apologize to Indigenous peoples for the role of the Catholic Church in creating the residential school system.