A new study says more than half of Canada’s small and medium-sized businesses are to limit investment because of a skilled worker labour shortage. The Business Development Bank of Canada survey shows 53 percent of SMEs say their growth is being stunted because they cannot find the right staff. Despite immigration initiatives at the federal and provincial levels to tackle the...

The Liberal Party will introduce a Municipal Nominee Program and abolish the citizenship application fee as cornerstones of its immigration strategy if it wins the upcoming October 21 general election. The party headed by current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will empower local communities across Canada to directly sponsor new immigrants for Canadian permanent residence. “This program will allow local communities, chambers...

British Columbia issued invites to 402 candidates across five streams in the latest draw through the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program. The October 1 draw feature minimum scores ranging from 78 points to 101 points for the different streams. A minimum score of 78 was registered for the entry-level and semi-skilled stream. Elsewhere, the direct provincial skilled worker stream required a minimum...

A new batch of candidates from the Quebec Expression of Interest Bank has been invited to apply for Quebec immigration. A September 4 draw saw Quebec’s immigration ministry (MIDI) issue 32 invitations. Candidates met one of the following criteria: They held a validated job offer. They were in Quebec as a diplomatic agent, consular officer, representative or a duly accredited official of...

Saskatchewan immigration has targeted 77 jobs with 610 invites in a new provincial Expression of Interest draw. The October 2 draw feature invites through two Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program streams: Saskatchewan Express Entry and Occupations In-Demand. There were 396 invites issued through Express Entry, with a minimum score of 68 points. With the same minimum score of 68, Saskatchewan issued 214 invites...

Letters of Advice to Apply were issued across three Manitoba immigration streams in the latest draw through the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program. The September 25 draw saw 224 LAAs issued, majoring on the Skilled Workers In Manitoba stream. SWM candidates received 140 LAAs, with the lowest-ranked candidate scoring 537 points. A Strategic Recruitment Initiative under the Skilled Workers Overseas stream saw a...

The lowest-ranked candidate in the latest draws for Alberta’s Express Entry stream scored just 302 Comprehensive Ranking System points. Two new draws were conducted on September 11 and September 18 that underline the importance of provinces like Alberta for those with lower CRS scores. A total of 478 Notification of Interest letters were sent to candidates, many that would have had...

British Columbia issued invitations to apply to 65 candidates in the latest immigration draw through the BC PNP Tech Pilot. The September 24 draw saw minimum scores of 90 for all four included British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program streams. The draw saw invitations issued in the following four streams: SI – Skilled Worker SI – International Graduate EEBC – Skilled Worker ...

Candidates with skills and experience as carpenters (NOC 7271) were the focus of the latest draw through Nova Scotia’s Express Entry-linked Labour Market Priorities stream. A September 20 Nova Scotia Nominee Program draw saw 22 candidates receive Letters of Interest. As well as two years of experience in the stated occupation, candidates also required a Canadian Language Benchmark score of 5...