Strike continues, "green" initiatives, and other news

Strike continues, "green" initiatives, and other news

The main news of the last week of April.

Strikes in Canada still go on. Federal workers continue to demand higher wages and bonuses. While work has slowed down in large agencies, small ones have had to shut down. For example, in one town in Quebec, three schools have temporarily closed, and in Nova Scotia, poachers are catching rare fish while supervisory staff are on strike.

And there were pickets of flight attendants in several major Canadian cities. The reason was unfair working conditions. But unlike strikes, these actions will not affect the work of companies, the purpose of their participants is only to draw attention to the problem.

Green Canada

Canada is committed to a green economy and reducing emissions. The country's largest airline, Air Canada, announced the purchase of 9.5 million liters of clean fuel. This will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 23,500 tons. Clean jet fuel is expensive and produced in too small quantities to supply worldwide, but Air Canada is hoping to work with the Canadian government to make it more affordable.

Nova Scotia has allocated funding for research and development that will help the province reach its zero-emissions goal by 2050. The region is considered a leader in Canada in combating climate change.

But not all of Canada's eco-initiatives are successful. In the 2019 election, the Liberal Party promised to plant 2 billion trees by 2030. However, according to a recent audit, the government is very far from realizing this goal — by 2030 not even a fraction will be planted. But there is still an opportunity to catch up.

Important government initiatives

Canadian medicine has made a breakthrough that will make children less sick with respiratory diseases and adults less sick with asthma and rhinitis. The country has approved a new vaccine for newborns that protects against the respiratory syncytial virus. This virus causes most respiratory tract infections in babies.

Canada has set aside a record investment to promote French in the country. It will affect all areas, but Canada will primarily focus on increasing the number of Francophones through French-speaking immigrants, encouraging bilingual learning, and supporting French-speaking communities.

In the meanwhile, New Brunswick invests in education: school support, social inclusion, and child care. Funding will go to help children with special needs, improve literacy and numeracy, healthy school meals, transportation issues, additional preschools, support to universities, libraries, and scholarships and student loans.

Quebec wants to ban the sale of vapes and vape liquids. The reason is that the composition of the liquids, as well as the effects of vapes and e-cigarettes on the body, are insufficiently studied. Doctors fear that vapors can be as toxic as regular tobacco products. In addition, vapes are often popular among youth.

The Prime Minister of Canada published a statement on the authorities' actions to help residents of the country. Some of the initiatives include immigrants. The program includes eliminating interest on student loans, reducing childcare costs to CAD 10 per day, investing in climate change, creating a First Home Savings Account, dental payments for children, and raising the minimum wage to CAD 15.55 per hour.

Still, Canada is quite an expensive country to live in. According to various sources, in 2023 the average salary in Canada will be CAD 60,000 per year or CAD 5,000 per month. Will this be enough to live alone? And with a family? We've figured out how much it costs on average to live in Canada, considering the different spending categories.

Moving to Canada and work

Back in November 2022, we heard about a new immigration pilot from the province of New Brunswick. It has unique requirements for applicants — or rather, no requirements at all. What's more, they promise to help with relocation, training, and English improvement. The program is now up and running and can be used to relocate.

Canada is ready to welcome 10,000 Uighur refugees over the next few years. Earlier it was revealed that people of this ethnicity are exploited in labor camps in China and are persecuted by the government. This makes it possible for Uighurs to obtain refugee status, but so far Canadian authorities have not developed a special immigration program for Uighurs or assistance measures.

The province of Ontario needs police officers and improves hiring requirements. The local government will pay for specialized training and increase student enrollment. A high school diploma will suffice for admission. Foreigners can also become police officers, but only if they live permanently in Canada and have legal status.

Immigration draws

Alberta held drawings on April 24 and 25. The first one was general for all candidates, but priority was given to those with in-demand professions and relatives in the province. The second selection was only for those who found jobs in Alberta in the healthcare sector. The total number of invitations was 132.

On April 25, British Columbia issued 168 immigration invitations. They were granted only to professionals in demand in the province: technicians, healthcare workers, and childhood educators.

On April 26, the selection in the Express Entry system took place. Canada invited 3,500 candidates. In this draw, the scores dropped slightly, but not to record numbers.

On April 27, Manitoba selected 558 people among skilled workers overseas. Candidates from other streams were not invited this time.

Alex Pavlenko, founder of the Immigrant.Today emigration portal

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