Abolition of travel restrictions, the imminent resumption of Express Entry selections, and other news

Abolition of restrictions for tourists within the country

Canadians are going on vacation, there is some news for travelers. Airports are very congested, luggage is lost all the time, take this into account when planning your travels.

There is also a positive: Since June 20, for travelers within Canada remains only one restriction: in trains and planes still need to wear masks, but certificates of vaccination are no longer required.

Many people were unhappy that from October 30, 2021, they had to be fully vaccinated if they wanted to fly on airplanes or ride trains. Civil servants and transportation workers were sent on unpaid leave if they refused to be vaccinated. Now these restrictions have been lifted. But if the incidence of coronavirus increases, the restrictions could return, the federal government has said.

In addition, random testing at airports was canceled until July 1 because staff cannot handle the workload. Starting July 1, testing will resume, but will be done outside airports.

If you are coming to Canada from abroad, you have two options. Either you have to be vaccinated, or you have to spend two weeks in isolation after your arrival.

It's okay to leave Canada without a vaccine. Border guards and representatives of the travel business are urging the government to drop the requirement to use a special service where vaccination data must be entered in advance. According to them, delays at the border occur because 40% of travelers cannot fill out the form correctly.

Changes in immigration policy

The eastern region of Canada — the province of Nova Scotia has decided to increase the number of new permanent residents, but also to make the selection more rigorous. Immigration Canada has approved expanding the number of nominees from the province to 5,340. On the one hand, not much of a number, but on the other hand, it added 1,173 spots for participants in the Atlantic immigration program.

The province is investing large sums in attracting foreigners: $1 million CAD for advertising campaigns to increase interest in the province, $1.4 million CAD for services to adapt new residents, and $895,000 CAD to pay for additional staff working with immigration services.

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Previously, the French-speaking province of Quebec in Canada stated that it did not want to be a "gateway" for immigrants who then move to other regions. Nova Scotia has also joined the initiative. It does not want to waste resources on people who will leave immediately after obtaining permanent residency.

There was a bit of a scandal on the subject. Affected were hundreds of graduates working in a Nova Scotia fast-food restaurant for minimum wage and hoping to get permanent residency in a year. Other requirements were minimal.

Now only a graduate of a local educational institution can become a permanent resident after a year of work in the province. Since the province published information about the change less than a day before it came into effect, the situation attracted the attention of journalists. Those who did not have time to apply or worked for less than a year have a chance to stay in Canada, the provincial Ministry of Immigration has promised to consider their cases on an individual basis.

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Canadian Immigration Minister Sean Fraser gave several interviews. He revealed that in May of this year, the House of Commons tasked him with developing a new immigration stream in 120 days.

During the pandemic, 90,000 temporary Canadian residents became permanent in less than a year. This was an exception to the rule caused by border closures. Now the House of Commons wants to make it easier and faster for temporary residents to get permanent residency. People who are already in the country, it is easier to adapt, they do not need to explain how to draw up documents, rent an apartment, arrange for the children in the garden. Temporary residents usually already have jobs and social connections.

The immigration minister also said processing of applications is now ahead of schedule. This year, 200,000 people received permanent resident status in Canada. More than 216,000 people received work permits. Canada's annual plan was to admit 431645 immigrants, so everything is going according to plan.

Although the Department of Immigration has hired 500 new employees and is processing applications faster than last year, the waiting list for immigration is growing. And not only for immigration, we are waiting for a decision on student visas for a few dozen clients, while none have not yet received this year. In order not to delay the admission in January and May, it is better to start the whole process now, especially one of the colleges, with which we cooperate, offers a $5000 scholarship per year and 12 weeks of free English. Just a reminder that we will be going on vacation soon, so sign up for a consultation about evaluating your chances of getting a visa and selecting an academic program.

Parliamentarians are also dissatisfied with the Immigration Department's call center. Between April and December of last year, the call center received more than 2.6 million calls, and 1.45 million were not in the waiting list. The situation has not improved this year. The immigration minister explained that most of the information in his department is now stored on paper. This summer, the ministry will begin digitization, which will cost $827 million CAD.

Express Entry selections

On July 6, the department promises to resume Express Entry selections for all federal programs. There have been no draws in Express Entry for skilled professionals and workers since December 2020, and no draws for candidates with Canadian experience since September 2021. In addition, the Budget Implementation of Certain Provisions Act, tabled in Parliament on April 7, 2022, passed all readings and received royal assent. Among the approved provisions is an expansion of the government's ability to select permanent residency applicants from the Express Entry pool that meet Canada's economic needs.

Perhaps the Express Entry selection, held June 22, will prove to be the last selection for provincial nominees for the coming months, and the Department of Immigration will now conduct targeted selections at the federal level.

On June 22, 636 people were invited to apply for permanent residency. As of June 20, 2022, there were 220674 applicants in the Express Entry pool.

Provincial immigration selections

In the past two weeks, four provinces have held immigration shenanigans.

British Columbia held a general and a target selection June 14. The general draw invited 138 people. The targeted drawing invited 12 kindergarten teachers, 7 health professionals and less than 5 veterinarians.

June 21 the province invited 125 people: 101 technicians, 14 educators and 10 health professionals.

On June 16, Prince Edward Island held a selection process. Nine entrepreneurs and 127 employees received invitations.

On the same day, June 16, held a selection Albert. One hundred and fifty people received invitations.

And on June 20 it held a special immigration drawing Manitoba. For the fifth time, the province selected Ukrainians who had already submitted an "expression of interest" application. This time, 14 people received invitations.

Canada-Russia Relations

June 12 Russia celebrated a national holiday. Diplomatic protocols require that the Russian flag be raised in the Canadian capital on that day, and that a high-ranking official from the Canadian Foreign Ministry attend the celebration at the Russian embassy.

The Ottawa mayor's office refused to raise the flag, which it had warned about in advance, but nevertheless sent the deputy head of the Department of Protocol of International Relations there. A few days later, journalists raised an uproar with the prime minister calling the presence of Canadian representatives at the celebration unacceptable.

The turbine for Russia's Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline , which runs under the Baltic Sea to Germany, remained in Canada for maintenance due to sanctions. Europe is under-receiving gas. "Gazprom in recent days has reduced supplies through Nord Stream 1 from 167 million cubic meters to 67 million cubic meters per day. Canada promises to supply Germany with its own gas, negotiations are still ongoing.

The Act to Implement Certain Provisions of the Budget was passed. It gave the Canadian government official permission to dispose of the frozen Russian money as it saw fit. Earlier, Trudeau had promised to donate it to help Ukraine.

As for moving to Canada from Russia, it is possible and there were no bans.