Canada breaks records again: news of the week
Canada's most important news from July 10 to 16.
The past week in Canada began not really positively. The Bank of Canada once again raised its key interest rate, which determines interest on deposits, loans, and mortgages. The rate now stands at 5%, the highest since 2001. However, inflation is gradually falling and is now at around 3%, while the target is 2%.
The cost of rental housing is also breaking records. In June, the average price across Canada reached CAD 2,042 per month across all property types. A one-bedroom home will cost an average of CAD 1,780. The most expensive city remains Vancouver, where residents spend approximately CAD 2,945 on a one-bedroom home. The second most expensive city is Burnaby, and the third is Toronto, where similar housing costs CAD 2,570 per month.
Other disappointing news. According to a recent survey, 3 in 5 Canadians are experiencing more stress at work than they did last year. The main causes of stress include blurred work-life boundaries, increasing workloads, tight deadlines, concerns about job stability, pressure from management, and lack of pay raises.
The environment is raging again in Canada. More than 16,000 lightning strikes and 2 tornadoes were recorded last week in Ontario. This increases the occurrence of wildfires, which have already burned 10 million hectares of land across Canada this year. This has never happened before in the country's history. Smoke from Canadian fires is also reaching the United States, worsening air quality in many states there.
New opportunities
From September 12 to 17, there will be new job fairs from New Brunswick. They will be in Morocco and Belgium, but citizens of all countries are welcome. Only nurses can apply, as well as nurse aides and orderlies.
The premiers of all Canadian regions agree that the country needs to attract more healthcare workers, including those from abroad. Healthcare professionals are in short supply across Canada, and at a recent conference, the premiers were able to come to some agreements with both each other and the federal government.
Immigration draws
Once again, Canada has delighted immigration candidates with Express Entry selections! On July 11, a general drawing was held for all candidates regardless of their occupation and language skills. Invitations were extended to 800 people who scored 505 points or more.
As usual, the passing scores were much lower for priority candidates. On July 12, Canada invited 3,800 people with above-average proficiency in French. They were required to score only 375 points, the lowest passing score in Express Entry in the last 2 years.
On July 11, there was also an immigration selection in British Columbia. The province selected 207 people among workers of various qualifications and university graduates. Separately, applicants with in-demand occupations such as educators, healthcare professionals, and veterinarians received invitations.
On July 13, Manitoba sent out invitations to 540 candidates for permanent residency. Most of those invited were skilled workers who were already in the province. Some had in-demand occupations in health care, administrative, financial and business services, logistics, and transportation.
If you want to immigrate to Canada or get a visa, you should know about the reasons why you may be rejected. We talked in detail about 9 common reasons why you may be turned down for Canada.
Alex Pavlenko, founder of the Immigrant.Today emigration portal
