News of the week: no flight without vaccine and fewer selections

The week of November 22 to 28 was marked by a number of negative news. But there are positive events as well.

Immigration selections

In the past week, Canada has held just three immigration draws, but quite large ones. There were 1,170 applicants invited:

British Columbia selected 357 applicants among skilled, low— and mid-level professionals and graduates of Canadian universities;
in Express Entry sent out 613 invitations to participants in provincial immigration programs;
Alberta shared the results of an earlier selection process in which she invited 200 people, with a record high passing score.

Immigration to Canada

Immigration Canada has shared some not at all encouraging news. In the near future, there will no selections for Express Entry programs for skilled professionals and professionals with work experience in Canada. The Department made this decision in order to process at least some of the backlog of applications for permanent residency, visas and citizenship. There are 1.8 million applications on the waiting list.

Previous months in Canadian immigration have been successful. In October, more than 46,000 people received permanent residency. But that does not take away from the existing problems with workers, delays in processing applications and a lack of actual population growth due to the fact that during the year, mostly those who were already in Canada on a work or student visa were invited.

Nevertheless, provincial programs continue to regularly invite candidates. Even people with poor English and unskilled trades can move. The province of Nova Scotia improved permanent residency for a range of occupations, including waiters and cleaners.

Besides provincial programs, there are other ways to immigrate to Canada. Our immigration consultant spoke about the five main pathways to permanent resident status.

More positive news. The Canadian government has created a new regulatory body, the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants, which will monitor immigration consultants and protect potential immigrants from fraudulent and unlicensed professionals.

Studying in Canada

ILAC has started a partnership with a student accommodation company. Now everyone who goes to Canada for language courses or to study at one of ILAC's partner colleges will have new opportunities to live with a Canadian family, in a dormitory or in a private apartment.

New restrictions

Although the pandemic situation in Canada has been improving in recent months, the government has decided to introduce new measures at the border. As early as next month, it will not be possible to fly into Canada without a vaccination. This applies even to those entering with work and student visas, as well as those visiting relatives living in the country. But the good news is that Canada has recognized three more vaccines that you can fly in with.