Dispersed protests, state of emergency, millions of jobs and other news from Canada

The dispersal of rallies, the first arrests, the state of emergency, the lifting of covid restrictions, millions of new jobs in Canada, and scholarships for students from the CIS.

Immigration News

Canada continues to hold regular immigration screenings. For example, in the past couple of weeks there have been several screenings in which about 2,500 candidates were called.

The province of British Columbia and selected 338 people in several categories: skilled professionals, low— and medium-skilled professionals and provincial graduates. Separately, they invited managers in trade and catering and IT people in the Technical Immigration Program, for whom, incidentally, the selection was record-breaking in terms of the number of invitations.

By the way, British Columbia has published a forecast which shows that we can expect at least a million vacancies in the next 10 years in that province alone. 63% of them will be vacated by people who are retiring, and 37% of the vacancies will be brand new. The good news for immigrants is that newcomers are expected to fill about 34% of the jobs.

British Columbia especially needs medics. The provincial government is considering accelerated approval of foreign medical degrees. There are other sectors that will need specialists: social assistance, education, science, construction and catering.

There were also selections in Manitoba. The province invited 273 people in three streams: qualified professionals in Manitoba, professionals from abroad and graduates from the province's universities. Manitoba holds regular draws, but to pass, you must either work in the province, graduate from a university or have some other connection to the region.

Five selections were made by the province of Ontario. There were 622 people who received invitations. The first selection was for the Human Capital Priorities stream, which is for qualified people with higher education and above-average English or French language skills. In the drawing, the province selected professionals in six IT-related professions.

The second selection took place for French-speaking candidates. In it, the province invited 206 qualified specialists with an above-average knowledge of French. In both drawings, candidates had to register in the Express Entry system.

The province of Ontario also selected 749 candidates under two programs: foreign specialists and professionals in high-demand professions. There, candidates are evaluated on their job offer, and factors such as age, education and language level are not important. The most in-demand professions for the province this time were sanitation workers, agricultural workers, IT specialists and some working professions.

Nova Scotia needs nurses — so much so that the province conducted a screening process to invite only registered nurses with at least three years of experience. The invitation went to 278 candidates registered with Express Entry.

The main problem with moving to Canada right now is that the Department of Immigration is working too slowly. Because of this, there are huge delays in getting immigrant visas through Express Entry and many people are left without work permits and without health insurance.

The province of Alberta has gone easy on these immigrants, and now they can get up to six more months of free treatment if their insurance didn't expire through no fault of their own. Also, the province is continuing to streamline the licensing process for medical graduates, because 34% of doctors in Alberta are foreign-born. They've already recruited local doctors who are willing to supervise young immigrant specialists.

Have you noticed that this is the third province that is trying to attract foreign medics to work? It is extremely difficult to start a job in Canada with a medical degree from your home country, because you have to retrain to get a local license. But there is hope that over time, the country will move toward recognizing foreign credentials.

Back on February 14, Valentine's Day, the Department of Immigration released a new immigration plan for the next three years.

New jobs are coming to Saskatchewan. First, a plant to process local crops into biodiesel is going to be built there. Second, the provincial government said the region's total need for workers has increased by 4.5 per cent since January 2021 and all projections say it will continue to grow. Saskatchewan, like other provinces, regularly conducts immigration screenings.

Protests in Canada

Now for the big news from the capital of Ottawa, where since January 29 there have been continuous protests by truckers unhappy with the covid restrictions. Drivers can't be kicked out of the city center, because it's impossible to tow so many trucks, and they don't want to leave voluntarily. Some transport companies, which have tow trucks, refused to help the government.

On February 7, Ottawa declares a state of emergency and mobilizes all police officers, and on February 14 the regime is imposed nationwide. The state of emergency regime gives the government a lot of power, including the ability to ban demonstrations and their financing. Banks are already obliged to report suspicious payments, fundraising through crowdfunding platforms is prohibited. Recall that the organizers of the protests raised several million dollars there, but only one of them was handed over to them, while the rest was returned. Now, banks can also block the accounts of those who donated money, but an important clarification: the government says that people will not be held accountable. They also threaten to freeze the accounts of the companies whose trucks went to the demonstrations, and to deprive them of insurance.

The government calls the protests illegal occupation and blockade, although the protests are peaceful, calls on the protesters to leave, but there are no concrete steps yet, for another week the Parliament will discuss the imposed state of emergency and what measures to activate.

The police only disperse protests in places that are important for infrastructure. For example, on the Ambassador Bridge, over which at least a quarter of the trade between Canada and the U.S. goes, and which has been blocked by tractors for a week. There have been both dispersals and arrests, and so far the bridge is completely under police control.

Already there are those who are unhappy with what is happening, some people are staging counter-protests, and in Ottawa residents have filed a class action lawsuit, after which truckers have agreed not to honk around the clock. Businesses downtown are unable to operate, and establishments near the U.S. border complain about the lack of visitors.

The situation is really complicated. Many times the government called for a voluntary cessation of demonstrations, then threatened with fines and arrests, and now it is introducing a state of emergency, which gives the authorities enough freedom to suppress the protest. On the one hand, you can say that the protesters are treated quite mildly when compared to other countries, because there is no confrontation between people and the police, no violence, the army is not involved and so on. On the other hand, it is the federal government that is not ready to compromise.

On a positive note, some provincial authorities are meeting the needs of the people. They were against the introduction of a state of emergency and, on the contrary, promise to ease the covid restrictions. Perhaps if the provinces where this happens don't increase the number of sick people and deaths, other regions will do the same. Here, too, it is important not to make any drastic decisions, so that people and the health system do not suffer.

The federal government has so far only succeeded in getting relaxation of measures at the border, which will go into effect on February 28. The changes there are minor; unvaccinated travellers are still not allowed to enter Canada. Vaccinated people will be exempt from the test on arrival, children under 12 will be exempt from quarantine, and instead of a PCR test, an antigen test can be taken before departure.

By the way, it's not just those against the Covid measures who are protesting in Canada. Recently Ukrainian communities held rallies across the country trying to draw attention to the tense relations between Russia and Ukraine. The Congress of Ukrainians of Canada believes that Russia is showing aggression and may invade Ukraine. Incidentally, earlier, the Canadian government began to remove secondary employees of its embassy from Ukraine and sent its military to the country. Later there was news that the embassy was temporarily moving from Kiev to Lviv, also for security reasons.

Russia claims the right to hold military exercises on its territory wherever it wants, including joint exercises with Belarusian troops. What is really going on between the countries is difficult to say.

Working and studying in Canada

And one last bit of news to end the selection on a positive note. We've temporarily relaunched our Canadian resume writing service. Getting a job in Canada is now one of the surest ways to immigrate, and you can't do without a quality resume.

The second good news is that there is still time to take advantage of the promotion from Georgian College, which is located in the heart of Toronto, and get a $5,000 CAD annual tuition discount as well as 12 free weeks of English. After graduation, you get a work permit and can apply for permanent residency through one of the many graduate programs.