News of the week: more immigrants, worker shortages and vaccinations

During the week of October 4-10, there was a lot of important news for those looking to immigrate to Canada.

Immigration selections

There were several selections in a week in Canada:

British Columbia held a record draw for the Tech Program, inviting 108 IT professionals;
Ontario selected 162 people from the francophone candidate pool as well as 486 members of in-demand professions who were registered with Express Entry;
Quebec shared an earlier selection process in which it called 536 candidates with health and education majors.

In total, over 6,000 candidates were invited to become permanent residents of Canada through the provincial programs alone in September. But there are many more invitees in total. For example, in August the number was almost 38,000 people.

And in the first week of October, Canada sent out 30,000 invitations to the parent-grandparent sponsorship program. Selected sponsors will be able to transport their relatives to the country, and those who are unlucky this time will have to wait for the next selection in 2022.

Other immigration news

From November 18 to 20, Destination Canada, Canada's largest mobility forum, will be held. It is an event where you can learn about opportunities to immigrate to Canada, get questions answered and useful relocation tips, as well as talk to Canadian employers. The forum will take place online and registration is now open.

Quebec has once again stressed that it is important for immigrants to know French in order to integrate into local society. The province has allocated a large sum to teaching French to newcomers as part of the French Language Status Act.

The province of Ontario has proposed amendments for employers who want to hire foreign truckers. The government intends to assess companies more rigorously, which will likely affect potential immigrants as well.

The Nova Scotia government has set an unexpected and very ambitious goal of doubling the province's population, including from immigration. The region is expected to attract significantly more applicants in the coming years and will try to ensure that they adjust as well as possible.

But despite the provinces' attempts to attract immigrants, the most popular region in Canada remains British Columbia. Over the past year, its population has steadily increased, while other provinces have seen an exodus of people.

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Several Canadian provinces have seen scheduled minimum wage increases — the latest this year. Looking at minimum rates across all regions, the lowest wage per hour is now $11.75 CAD and the highest is $16 CAD.

Canada's skills shortage problem remains. Tens of thousands of new jobs have opened in some areas, but there are not enough applicants to fill the jobs. Jobs in the hospitality industry are highest. According to other data, from 2020, the most in-demand professionals in Canada are lorry drivers.

Life in Canada

Rental costs have risen again in many cities. This is attributed to vaccination rates. In most cases, it is now more profitable to buy property in Canada than to rent it. The only exception is luxury housing.

Canada is about to see an important vaccination-related change: Residents will not be able to travel abroad or even within the country without a vaccination. The government is giving a deadline of November 30, during which time those 12 and older need to get both doses of the vaccine. Vaccination of children seems to be just around the corner: in late October, Pfizer-BioNTech is going to apply for approval of a childhood vaccine for use in Canada.