The July 11 draws were split into two categories: general and targeted.
In the general draw, which included tech occupations, 152 invitations were issued through five BC PNP streams for skilled workers and international graduates. Minimum scores ranged from 87 to 109 points.
In the targeted draw, a further 35 invitations were issued to skilled workers and international graduates scoring at least 60 points in a draw targeting Early Childhood Educators and Assistants under NOC 42202.
A draw targeted at Healthcare workers saw 15 invitations issued to skilled workers and international graduates, also with a minimum score of 60 points.
A batch of less than 5 invitations went to skilled workers and international graduates in a draw aimed at other priority occupations under NOCs 31103, 32104, also requiring 60 points. The number was recorded as less than 5 to protect the identity of those invited.
Canada Immigration Minister Sean Fraser has hailed a generational opportunity for economic growth with digital nomads soon able to come here for up to six months and work remotely in tech roles.
“We’re actually creating a pool of talent of people who will be able to stay in Canada in the long term,” said Immigration Minister Sean Fraser.
“When I think about the 10, 20 and even 30-year horizon, rather than the next few months or even the next election cycle, there’s no question in my mind that having more talent for tech entrepreneurs and professionals in this country is going to be a very good thing half a generation from now.”
Through its Tech Talent Strategy to lure temporary workers in the tech sector in the United States north of the border to fill jobs going begging for a want of qualified employees, Canada is also reaching out to digital nomads the world over.
Digital nomads, defined as people who travel freely while working remotely using technology and the internet, are a hot commodity for both tech companies and traditional companies’ tech departments.
Canada is already a top destination for digital nomads.
Last year, United Kingdom-based Circle Loop, a provider of a cloud-based VoIP solution which provides phone systems accessible via desktop and mobile devices, published its Digital Nomad Index and ranked Canada as the number one destination for digital nomads.
Building on Canada’s popularity with digital nomads, the immigration minister announced in June that Canada will be launching a digital nomad strategy that will allow these highly-skilled foreign workers to come to the country and work remotely.
“(That digital nomad strategy) will allow people who have a foreign employer to come live in Canada for up to six months, live and spend money in communities in this country and, should they receive a job offer while they’re here, we’re going to allow them to continue to stay and work in Canada,” Fraser said at the Collision Conference in Toronto in June.
Are you an employer looking to hire foreign workers in Canada? Immigration.ca can help through its sister company, skilledworker.com. We provide a comprehensive recruitment package to help you identify and hire the best individuals from abroad. Contact us now.
That digital nomad strategy will reportedly not cap the number of people who can come, live and work in Canada.
Through immigration, Canada is hoping to boost its tech sector.
“With Canada’s first-ever immigration Tech Talent Strategy, we’re targeting newcomers that can help enshrine Canada as a world leader in a variety of emerging technologies.”
Developed in collaboration with Canada’s tech, start-up and business communities, the Tech Talent Strategy will lead to the creation by July 16 of an open work permit stream specifically targeted for those foreign nationals working in the United States with H-1B specialty occupation visas, a visa widely used by Silicon Valley companies to bring in highly-skilled immigrants.
Open Work Permit Stream Will Attempt To Lure H-1B Visa Holders In The US To Canada
That stream will also provide work and study permit options for the workers’ family members.
This measure is to remain in effect for one year, or until Canada’s immigration department receives 10,000 applications, with only principal applicants and not their accompanying family members counting towards the application cap.
Under the Tech Talent Strategy, an Innovation Stream is to be developed under the International Mobility Program (IMP) to attract even more highly-talented foreign nationals to Canada.
If you are a candidate looking for a Canada job, or an employer looking to recruit foreign talent from abroad, immigration.ca can help. Access our expertise through our in-house recruitment enterprise skilledworker.com, “the leader in foreign recruitment”.
That Innovation Stream, which is to be launched by the end of this year, is to include:
employer-specific work permits for up to five years for workers destined to work for a company identified by the federal government in Canada as contributing to the country’s industrial innovation goals, and;
open work permits for up to five years for highly-skilled workers in select in-demand occupations.
The Tech Talent Strategy also promises a return to the 14-day service standard for work permits under the Global Skills Strategy.
The federal government intends to also create a STEM-specific draw under a category-based selection to issue additional Invitations To Apply (ITA) through the Express Entry system.
Since many immigrant entrepreneurs set up tech-related companies, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is also tweaking the Start-Up Visa (SUV) program with even more spots for foreign nationals who want to immigrate to Canada under this program every year through to 2025.
Under the changes being made to the SUV, applicants will be able to apply for work permits of up to three years sometime later this year. They currently can only get one-year work permits. And the new open work permits for SUV applicants will also be available to each member of the entrepreneurial team.
Video
“We’re prioritizing applications that are supported by venture capital, angel investor groups and business incubators and have capital committed, along with applications that are supported by business incubators who are members of Canada’s Tech Network,” notes the IRCC on its website.
In Canada, the information and communications technology sector employed nearly 720,000 Canadians and accounted for more than 44 per cent of all private research and development spending in 2021. The IT sector was responsible for more than 15 per cent of Canada’s overall economic growth between 2016 and 2021.
Ontario is clamping down on temporary help agencies and demanding they get licensed by January next year in a bid to stop the exploitation of temporary foreign workers.
Temporary Help Agencies (THA) and recruiters, some of whom have been illegally paying foreign nationals less than the minimum wage and denying them basic employment rights, will have to get a licence to operate in the province as of Jan. 1, 2024.
“While temporary help agencies are vital to Ontario’s businesses and jobseekers looking to get their foot in the door, for too long they have operated in a grey zone that allows criminals to prey on vulnerable workers,” said provincial Immigration Minister Monte McNaughton.
“Our government’s licensing system will ensure law-abiding businesses can have confidence in the THAs and recruiters they work with and that those who abuse workers face the harshest fines in Canada and are banned from operating in our province.”
The roughly 2,300 placement agencies and temporary help business locations in Ontario in December 2022 employed about 114,000 full-time employees last year.
But the sector is known to be fraught with exploitation.
In 2020-21, ministry inspections on THA use on farms and in food processing plants, storage and warehousing operations and retirement homes found $4.2 million was owed to more than 10,000 employees even as the businesses who benefited from that labour remained unaware of these violations of the provincial labour laws.
With the coming changes, both businesses and jobseekers will be able to check the ministry’s online database before working with a THA or recruiter, to see if they have met the province’s stringent licensing requirements.
Are you an employer looking to hire foreign workers in Canada? Immigration.ca can help through its sister company, skilledworker.com. We provide a comprehensive recruitment package to help you identify and hire the best individuals from abroad. Contact us now.
It will be against the law for companies to knowingly use unlicensed businesses for staffing and those who hire deceitful recruiters will be required to repay workers for any illegal fees charged to them.
THAs and recruiters will need as of the new year to provide $25,000 in the form of an irrevocable letter of credit that can be used to repay owed wages to employees. Offenders could face up to a $50,000 penalty based on repeat violations, the highest amount in Canada.
Industries that rely heavily on temporary foreign workers welcomed the beefed-up protections for their workers, saying it will protect a key component of their workforce.
If you are a candidate looking for a Canada job, or an employer looking to recruit foreign talent from abroad, immigration.ca can help. Access our expertise through our in-house recruitment enterprise skilledworker.com, “the leader in foreign recruitment”.
“These workers are essential to the operations of greenhouse vegetable farms, and ensuring their safety and protections are vital to the continued operations of our sector,” said George Gilvesy, chair of the Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers (OGVG) industry association.
Chris Bloore, president and chief executive officer of the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario, echoed those sentiments.
“Recruiters and temporary help agencies are critical to helping tourism and hospitality businesses access the skilled workers they need to thrive in Ontario year-round,” said Bloore.
Human Rights Organizations Applaud Beefed-Up Protections For Temporary Foreign Workers
“This new and robust licensing system is a welcome tool to protect some of the most essential workers in our industry and to support businesses in choosing reputable recruitment partners.”
Human rights organizations also applauded the move to add more protection for temporary foreign workers.
“The Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking supports Ontario’s efforts to bring greater accountability to the recruitment industry,” said Julia Drydyk, the organization’s executive director.
“The new registry will help instill transparency and ensure the government has more information to protect foreign nationals from fraudulent recruiters. This initiative is one of many important steps that we need to take to combat labour trafficking and abusive labour practices in this province.”
Video
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) data reveals Ontario is by far the most popular destination for foreign nationals coming to work in Canada through the International Mobility Program (IMP) and Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP).
Last year, Ontario was the destination of choice for almost a third, 30.3 per cent, of all foreign nationals coming to Canada through the TFWP. The province welcomed 41,185 temporary foreign workers through that program in 2022.
Ontario also benefited from the arrival of 180,080 foreign nationals, or almost 38.7 per cent of the total number who arrived through the IMP, that year.
The two programs together allowed Ontario employers access to a labour force of 221,265 foreign nationals. That’s roughly the same as the entire population of Oakville.
THAs and recruiters who apply for a licence, which will have to be renewed annually, before Jan. 1 next year will be allowed to continue operating until they receive a decision from the province on their application.
But if a licence or licence renewal is refused, the applicant will have only 30 days to cease operating as a THA or recruiter.
Ontario also toughened its Working for Workers Act, 2023 earlier this year to give the province the means to slap the biggest fines in Canada on business people who withhold the passports of their temporary foreign workers.
“Anyone who preys on vulnerable members in our community has no place in our society,” said McNaughton.
“If you think you’re going to deny someone’s basic human rights by withholding their passport, we’re going to hit your pocketbook, and you will be behind bars for a long time. We will continue to use every tool in our toolbox to ensure Ontario is a province where hard work pays off and big dreams come true.”
Under that law, which has been sent for a third reading, withholding a foreign national’s passport or work permit could lead to fines ranging from $100,000 to $200,000 for every worker whose rights are violated.
Ontario Set To Start Slapping Some Of The Biggest Fines On Employers Who Infringe On TFW’s Rights
In addition to the per-passport penalties, those found guilty of breaking the proposed law would be liable to either a fine of up to $500,000 or up to a year in prison – or both. Corporations convicted would be liable to fines of up to $1 million.
The Working for Workers law, which would be the third iteration of this law which has had previous versions in each of the last two years, also includes proposed changes to protect remote workers during mass terminations and expands the number of reasons for which reservists can take military leave.
The act would also force construction sites to have women’s-only washrooms and boost cancer coverage for firefighters.
Megan Walker, the now-retired executive director of the London Abused Women’s Centre, says the proposed legislation will send a strong message to those who exploit migrant workers.
“The government is giving migrant workers back their human right to have control over their own documents including their passports,” said Walker.
Since November 2021, Ontario created a new unit to ferret out human trafficking and this has already led to criminal charges, occupational health and safety and employment standards prosecutions, orders and other compliance activities.
In its first year of operation, the unit received over 300 tips, initiated investigations and helped 3,500 workers recover over $400,000 in wages.
York Regional Police chief Jim MacSween says he and his investigators in the force’s human trafficking section are eager to see this new legislation come into effect.
“This legislation … will provide us with another tool to fight labour trafficking and the exploitation of vulnerable people in our community,” said MacSween. “This new law will allow our officers to hold individuals and companies accountable for their actions.”
Experience As A Temporary Foreign Worker Is Often A Stepping Stone To Permanent Residency
Candidates’ profiles then are ranked against each other according to a points-based system called the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS). The highest-ranked candidates will be considered for an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for permanent residence. Those receiving an ITA must quickly submit a full application and pay processing fees, within a delay of 90-days.
Through a network of Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP), almost all of Canada’s ten provinces and three territories can also nominate skilled worker candidates for admission to Canada when they have the specific skills required by local economies. Successful candidates who receive a provincial or territorial nomination can then apply for Canadian permanent residence through federal immigration authorities.
