Flight cancellations, crime, immigration and other news of the week

The news from May 10 to 16 were not the most positive.

Immigration news

In the past week, Canada has held 4 immigration selections:

Ontario passed the first selection under a new candidate evaluation system;
British Columbia has sent 379 invitations to foreign professionals and graduates from Canadian universities;
Express Entry's selections have pleased 557 candidates provincial programs and 4,147 professionals with Canadian experience;
The province of Alberta shared the results of the selection that took place a week earlier — luck smiled on 250 entrants.

On May 6, Canada launched 6 new immigration streams for in-demand professionals and graduates of Canadian universities. But very soon it became known that the stream for graduates has reached the limit of 40,000 applications, they are no longer accepted.

What to do for those who didn't make it, or those who want to immigrate through another stream? I made a video where I talked about free steps to keep you up to date with important news and useful information.

This week, the Department of Immigration announced another new program, but this time for a sad reason. Two major plane crashes occurred in 2019 and 2020, with Canadian citizens and permanent residents among the victims. In solidarity, Canada is willing to issue permanent residency to their families.

Do you know what the problem is with Canada's immigration programs? About half of them require applications to be mailed in paper form. Neither applicants nor immigration officers like this, so Canada has set a goal to develop a new platform for receiving and processing applications. It should be up and running by 2023.

Have you ever thought about immigrating to Quebec? There's a pretty strong support system for newcomers, and the program requirements aren't the strictest. But if you don't know French, you should think twice, because the government has introduced the French language bill. Not only will it make French the only official language of the province, but it will have a big impact on the daily lives of people, including immigrants.

Pandemic and vaccination

While the success of vaccination in Canada can be debated, in Ontario the results are clear: The province has already vaccinated half of its residents over the age of 18. But that, unfortunately, hasn't affected the authorities' decision to extend the so-called "stay at home order." Severe restrictions, which include the closure of secondary businesses and distance learning in schools, will remain in place for at least another two weeks.

But worse than the "stay-at-home order" in Ontario is the lockdown in Quebec, which was perhaps one of the strictest in Canada. During its tenure, police have issued thousands of fines for violations. However, residents have been slow to pay them. Only 13% of those fined admitted their guilt or simply paid.

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All is not well with the AstraZeneca vaccine again. Three Canadian provinces have suspended its use: Ontario and Alberta and Nova Scotia. The reason for Ontario and Nova Scotia was thrombosis in vaccinated individuals, and Alberta attributed the decision to uncertainty about future supply. Manitoba, on the other hand, lowered the age threshold for AstraZeneca to 40. And opened enrolment for vaccination to all residents 18 years of age and older.

Alberta this week passed important changes to the rules on wearing masks. People can now go without them if they have certain medical contraindications. But a certificate is needed to confirm. In other news from the same province, until May 23, truckers who haul goods to the U.S. can get vaccinated for free in the state of Montana.

Crime

The last few weeks in Vancouver have been turbulent due to conflicts between criminal gangs, with several shootings in public spaces. The latest incident occurred at the Vancouver airport, killing 1 person.

The Sunday before last, May 2, Canada celebrated Mother's Day. And later it became known that on that day, an attempted kidnapping of an 8-day-old infant occurred in Ottawa. Fortunately, the baby was not hurt, but the situation showed that young mothers should be careful on social media.

Travel

Of course, we cannot dream about the opening of the borders soon, but Canadians are optimistic about the autumn and winter of 2021-2022. Travel for that period is becoming increasingly popular, especially as travel agents are actively encouraging customers to take advantage of promotions. Whether it's worth planning a vacation or waiting for the borders to open, a representative of one of the agencies told .

Canada's largest airline extended the suspension of flights to India, despite the government not communicating an extension of the airline ban. But the airline believes Canada will not allow flights anytime soon, so it made the decision without waiting for an order from authorities.

Also cancelled flights to Israel, also by the airline itself, but no longer because of COVID-19, but because of military action, which affected the main Tel Aviv airport among others.