Canada immigration News, is a trusted news source covering Canadian Immigration and related topics, provided by www.cimmigrationnews.com. Cimmigrationnews.com is owned and operated by the Canadian Citizenship & Immigration Resource Center (CCIRC) Inc and immigration.ca global Network.
The content appearing on this site are edited by Canadian Immigration Lawyer Colin R. Singer, with emphasis on the latest developments in the Canada Immigration and Immigration to Canada industry.
Colin Singer
immigration lawyer
News Publications Edited by
Colin R. Singer – Canada Immigration Lawyer & Certified Human Resources Professional
Canadian Citizenship & Immigration Resource Center (CCIRC) Inc.;Immigration.ca
515-4999 Ste-Catherine St. West Montreal, Canada H3Z 1T3 Office: (514) 487-2011 Fax: (514) 487-2385 http://www.immigration.ca
Canada has welcomed almost a quarter of a million Ukrainians under the Canada-Ukraine Authorization For Emergency Travel (CUAET) – and a growing number of them are arriving as the March 31 travel deadline for the program looms.
“We’re seeing definitely more arrivals week over week, because people are trying to come, people are coming before the end of it,” Ihor Michalchyshyn, CEO and executive director of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, reportedly told the National Post.
Between March 17, 2022 and Feb. 27 this year, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) received 1,189,320 applications under the CUAET temporary residence program.
But while 960,091 of those applications were approved during that period, only 248,726 Ukrainians, or 25.9 per cent of the total, actually made the move to Canada.
That means almost three-quarters of a million Ukrainians, exactly 711,365, are still eligible to come to Canada as temporary residents under CUAET before the end of March.
Read More Canada Immigration NewsStart Of 2024 Sees Canada Spousal Sponsorship Immigration SlowQuebec Issues 1,136 Canada Immigration Invitations In New Expression Of Interest DrawCanada Mentorship Program To Help Internationally-Educated Nurses Get Jobs
In February alone, Canada welcomed 27,495 Ukrainians through CUAET.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces invaded the Ukraine in February 2022, prompting Canada to respond by opening its arms to Ukrainians and putting in place the CUAET pathway in mid-March that year.
The CUAET pathway was meant to allow those fleeing Putin’s war in the Ukraine to stay in Canada for up to three years and make them eligible for free open work and study permits.
Ottawa also upped its immigration application processing capacity in Europe after implementing the CUAET pathway and sent mobile biometrics kits to Warsaw, Vienna and Bucharest to take the fingerprints and portrait photos of prospective Ukrainian refugees in a bid to ensure proper security precautions were taken with the surge in applications.
The government then increased its federal settlement programs to include language training, orientation, employment assistance and other supports for Ukrainians as they settled into their new communities.
Watch Video
In addition to settlement services, Ukrainians fleeing to Canada were also offered transitional financial assistance of $3,000 per adult and $1,500 per child.
“These funds will help Ukrainian nationals and their family members meet their basic needs, such as transportation and longer-term housing, as they arrive in communities across Canada and find a job,” noted IRCC on its website.
“Settlement services will remain available to Ukrainians and their family members after they arrive so that they can fully participate in Canadian communities while they are here. Ukrainians and their family members will also continue to benefit from the one-time transitional financial support, as well as from access to emergency accommodations for up to two weeks, if needed, after they arrive in Canada.”
Hotline To Help Ukrainians With Legal Services
This year, Ottawa upped its offering of help to Ukrainians by pumping $475,788 into a trilingual hotline to help them access the legal services they need for the coming three years.
The money was for Pro Bono Ontario’s Ukrainian Refugee Legal Relief Initiative to allow displaced Ukrainians access legal information and advice, including the toll-free hotline that are accessible nationally and abroad.
The hotline provides Ukrainians in Canada with access to Canadian lawyers so they can ask immigration-related questions on such things as sponsorship, refugee claims and work permits or be referred to provincial pro bono organizations or community groups across Canada
“Our government is grateful to be able to count on organizations, such as Pro Bono Ontario, that improve access to justice, a fundamental Canadian value and an integral part of a fair and effective justice system,” said Justice Minister Arif Virani.
“This investment shows how our government continues to stand with Ukraine, and that we will continue to support Ukrainians forced to flee their homes because of Russia’s illegal invasion.”
With CUAET no longer taking applications from overseas, Ukrainians wishing to come to Canada from abroad can still apply for a visa or a work or study permit through the IRCC’s existing temporary resident programs but are now subject to fees and standard requirements.
Quebec Premier Francois Legault’s request to Ottawa for complete jurisdictional control over immigration has been refused by Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“No, we are not going to give more power (to Quebec) on immigration,” said Trudeau at a Montreal news conference after a meeting with Legault.
“Quebec already has more powers over immigration than any other province because it’s very important to protect French.”
Trudeau did call the conversation “very constructive,” after discussing healthcare funding, economic issues, and immigration with the Quebec premier.
However, the prime minister steered away from commenting on which government has the power.
Read More Canada Immigration NewsStart Of 2024 Sees Canada Spousal Sponsorship Immigration SlowQuebec Issues 1,136 Canada Immigration Invitations In New Expression Of Interest DrawCanada Mentorship Program To Help Internationally-Educated Nurses Get Jobs
“But what interests me is making the system function in a better way,” he said.
“It’s not a question of who has control over what. We are here to collaborate.
“We are here to work in solution mode. It’s not a question of jurisdiction or constitution. It’s a matter of arriving at a solution, and this is what I am concentrating on.”
The federal immigration department recently bypassed Quebec’s cap to speed up family reunification, which Immigration Minister Marc Miller described as “artificially low.”
“We’re talking about people who are husbands, wives, parents, grandparents, who are waiting unsuccessfully to be reunited with their families in Quebec,” said Miller in an interview with Radio-Canada.
Watch Video
This shows Ottawa’s lack of reluctance to pull rank when needed in terms of immigration, and its reluctance to give complete control to Quebec.
Quebec Premier Legault, while answering a question in the National Assembly from Parti Quebecois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, indicated that he intended to make the request for full immigration powers during his meeting on Friday with Trudeau.
Him and Trudeau had not met on their own since December 20, 2022.
Quebec also recently upped its request for compensation for the cost of managing hundreds of asylum seekers entering the province to $1 billion.
Ottawa has agreed to pay $100 million so far.
The latest data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) reveals Canada’s spousal sponsorship program was down almost a third in January this year compared to the level of new permanent residents admitted under the program during the comparable month last year.
In January, the spousal sponsorship program helped 6,975 spouses and common-law partners become new permanent residents.
That’s down 30.8 per cent over the 10,080 new permanent residents who immigrated to Canada under the program during the first month of last year.
The immigration program’s performance was, however, 15.7 per cent better in January this year than it was the previous month as 2023 drew to a close.
In December last year, only 6,030 new permanent residents came to Canada under the spousal sponsorship program.
Read More Canada Immigration NewsCanada Launches Two New Pilots, To Make RNIP PermanentBritish Columbia Issues 156 Canada Immigration Invitations In New PNP DrawAlberta Targets Healthcare Workers With 33 Canada Immigration Invitations
Despite the slower start to the spousal sponsorship program this year compared to the first month of last year, the program could welcome 83,700 spouses and common-law partners this year if the monthly level of immigration in January this year were to hold up for the rest of 2024.
That would be 11.2 per cent more than the 75,250 new permanent residents who came to Canada under the spousal sponsorship program last year.
Canada’s most populous province, Ontario, once again saw the greatest number of arrivals under the spousal sponsorship program in January with 4,140 spouses making it their home last year. That was an increase of 41.1 per cent in the number of new permanent residents under that program in January compared to the previous month.
The other provinces and territories attracted the following number of new permanent residents under the spousal sponsorship program during January:
Newfoundland and Labrador – 15
Prince Edward Island – 20
Nova Scotia – 85
New Brunswick – 65
Quebec – 275
Manitoba – 200
Saskatchewan – 105
Alberta – 920
British Columbia – 1,125
Yukon – 10
Northwest Territories – 15
Nunavut – 0
When a Canadian citizen or permanent resident chooses to sponsor a spouse or common-law partner to immigrate to Canada, the sponsor must sign an undertaking, promising to give financial support for the sponsored person’s basic needs, including:
food, clothing, shelter and their needs for everyday living, and;
dental care, eye care and other health needs not covered by public health services.
This agreement cannot be cancelled, even if:
the person sponsored becomes a Canadian citizen;
the couple divorces, separates or the relationship breaks down;
either the sponsor or the sponsored spouse or common-law partner moves to another province or country, or;
the sponsor experiences financial problems.
EI Payments Considered Income For Sponsor Of Spouse
Maternity, parental and sickness benefits paid under the Employment Insurance Act in Canada are all considered income and contribute to allowing a person to sponsor a spouse or common-law partner but other payments from the government, such as employment insurance and federal training allowances, are not considered income.
On its website, IRCC provides estimates of the current processing times for various types of applications, including spousal sponsorships.
Watch Video
According to that website, the current processing time for sponsorship applications for spouses or common-law partners currently outside the country and planning to live outside of Quebec is now down to 12 months, a considerable improvement over the 20-month processing time in 2022.
That estimated processing time includes: