Canada’s immigration levels are starting to slow down The number of new immigrants dipped in April as Canada continues to lose momentum. However, we can expect a stronger finish to 2021.

By Jessica Bolter and Doris Meissner Immigrant Integration Citizenship & Civic Engagement Immigration Policy & Law Refugee & Asylum Policy Asylum Seekers

Canada’s immigration levels are starting to slow down The number of new immigrants dipped in April as Canada continues to lose momentum. However, we can expect a stronger finish to 2021.

Kareem El-Assal

Shelby Thevenot

Published on June 11th, 2021 at 05:00am EDT

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In April 2021, Canada welcomed 21,105 new immigrants, the lowest monthly count since the start of the year.

This new Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) data show that despite a strong start to the year, Canada has been losing momentum over the past two months.

In January 2021, Canada welcomed 24,680 new immigrants followed by 23,395 in February. Levels fell further to 21,105 in March and went even lower in April. It is unknown why Canada’s permanent residence intake has declined following a strong start to the year.

Canada is guided by its Immigration Levels Plan 2021-2023.

Under the plan, the country is seeking to welcome at least 401,000 new immigrants annually beginning this year. These are the highest immigration targets in Canadian history, and are due to the federal government’s goal of supporting Canada’s post-pandemic economic recovery.

Canada sought to welcome 341,000 new immigrants in 2020 but only managed to admit 184,000 due to coronavirus-related disruptions such as the travel restrictions it has had in place since March 2020.

Find Out if You’re Eligible for Canadian Immigration

Indeed, the travel restrictions have resulted in Canada’s weakest immigration numbers since 1998. The country only managed to welcome just over 4,000 new immigrants in April 2020, potentially the weakest month for Canadian immigration since the Second World War.

Canada is no longer on pace to achieve its 401,000 target for this year. However, a number of factors still remain in play that could see the country gain momentum and come closer to achieving the target.

First, the summer months usually see higher immigration numbers due to the warmer weather and newcomers arriving before the resumption of the academic and business calendar in September.

Second, the Canadian government is beginning to openly discuss easing its travel restrictions. In recent weeks, Canada has enjoyed more success administering COVID-19 vaccines and seeing its case totals decline. Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has said the international border would open up in a phased approach, starting with fully vaccinated travellers. Health Minister Patty Hajdu also said Canada could start scaling back quarantine requirements for exempt travellers as early as the first week of July. Reducing such restrictions would allow thousands of Confirmation of Permanent Residence (COPR) holders to finally complete their landing in Canada, after being stranded overseas since the travel restrictions took effect.

Third, IRCC is currently prioritizing transitioning those in Canada to permanent residence through the likes of Express Entry, the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP), and other programs. Express Entry draws are mainly focusing on Canadian Experience Class (CEC) candidates. IRCC has already invited 81,713 candidates to apply for permanent residence in 2021, which is almost double the number of invitations issued at the same time last year. In addition, IRCC has new permanent residency streams, for up to 90,000 international student graduates and essential workers, which started accepting applications on May 6.

IRCC notes that permanent residence applicants from within Canada are less likely to face coronavirus-related challenges. Hence, the focus on domestic immigration applicants should translate in a significant increase in the number of individuals who obtain permanent residence in the second half of this year. The processing standard for Express Entry is six months or less, although it has slowed during the pandemic. Nonetheless, if IRCC is able to land achieve its goal of landing many of these applicants by the end of the year, it will at the very least exceed the 300,000 newcomer threshold in 2021.

Canada plans to lift quarantine on exempt travellers by early July Health minister wants loosen quarantine rules for exempt travellers who are fully vaccinated for the first phase of easing travel restrictions.

Published on June 9th, 2021 at 12:35pm EDT Updated on June 9th, 2021 at 01:25pm EDT

Shelby Thevenot

Published on June 9th, 2021 at 12:35pm EDT Updated on June 9th, 2021 at 01:25pm EDT

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Canadians and exempt travellers who are fully vaccinated will soon have an amended quarantine requirement when arriving from abroad.

Health Minister Patty Hajdu told reporters that travellers who are already exempt from travel restrictions, will not have to quarantine for the full 14 days if they have received a second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine within 14 days of arrival.

The health minister did not give a firm date for when these measures would go into place, but suggested “early July” as long as case counts continue to decline. Hajdu said the general ballpark estimate is the first week of July, but the federal government is still consulting with the provincial governments, as well as the departments of public safety and immigration.

Hajdu also said only vaccines that have been approved in Canada will be accepted. Currently, Canada has approved four vaccines: Astra Zeneca, Johnson and Johnson, Pfizer, and Moderna. Hajdu added that Health Canada will be assessing other vaccines in the future.

Find Out if You’re Eligible for Canadian Immigration

Hajdu said that Canada will proceed with a phased approach to adjusting border measures, agreeing with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau‘s previous statements.

Travellers will still have to provide a negative PCR COVID test upon arrival to the border, as well as a suitable quarantine plan for while they wait for the result. They could be released in as little as one day provided the test result is negative.

Travel restrictions and the mandatory quarantine rules have been in place since Canada went into lockdown in March 2020. The three-day hotel stay quarantine has been a rule since this past February.

Last month, shortly after restrictions were rolled over to June 21, Canada’s COVID-19 Testing and Screening Expert Advisory Panel called for the end of the hotel quarantine rules for all travellers. They said it is not clear if the hotel quarantine even works.

Government officials have been hinting that border restrictions could ease toward the end of June or July. Trudeau had previously said Canada was in no rush to reopen the border, in line with recent public opinion studies. This past week, however, Trudeau has been saying that Canada is looking into a phased-in approach to allowing cross-border travel.

The government has not released an official date for the reopening of the border.

UK Home Secretary Priti Patel is set to unveil a new US-style digital visa regime

The senior Indian-origin Cabinet minister is to confirm the so-called "sweeping changes" to the UK's immigration policy to "streamline" the way .. UK Home Secretary Priti Patel is set to unveil a new US-style digital visa regime at the country's borders in order to measure immigration levels in and out of the country, according to UK media reports on Sunday. The senior Indian-origin Cabinet minister is to confirm the so-called "sweeping changes" to the UK's immigration policy to "streamline" the way in which people come into the country on Monday. The post-Brexit changes will include the border being managed digitally

USCIS Reverses Trump-Era Policy Denying Certain Immigrant Visa Applications

Part of the Biden's administration's broader efforts to reduce barriers to legal immigration- Jun 9, 2021

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced Wednesday it would first request more evidence from immigrant visa applicants before denying their application, as part of the Biden’s administration’s broader efforts to reduce barriers to legal immigration.

The agency said in a statement that it was updating its policies around expedited processing of applications, changing the guidance around Requests for Evidence (RFEs) and Notices of Intent to Deny (NOIDs), and increasing the validity period for certain Employment Authorization Documents (EADs).

“We are taking action to eliminate policies that fail to promote access to the legal immigration system, and will continue to make improvements that help individuals navigate the path to citizenship, and that modernize our immigration system,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas in a statement.

Requests for Evidence and Notices of Intent to Deny

USCIS said it would rescind a 2018 Trump-era memo that allowed immigration officers to deny certain incomplete or ineligible applications instead of first issuing an RFE or NOID.

“This updated policy will ensure that benefit requestors are given an opportunity to correct innocent mistakes and unintentional omissions,” the agency said. “In general, a USCIS officer will issue an RFE or NOID when the officer determines additional information or explanation may potentially establish eligibility for an immigration benefit.”

Expedited Processing

The agency said it would clarify when an application qualifies for expedited processing, making it easier for immigration officers to judge requests for faster processing. The updated policy will also once again permit a nonprofit organization to request expedited processing, even when premium processing is available.

Employment Authorization Documents

The current one-year validity period for both initial and renewal EADs will be increased to two years for certain adjustment of status applicants. By increasing the validity period of work permits, USCIS said it hopes to decrease the number of EAD requests the agency receives, which should help reduce the current processing delays of adjustment of status applications.

“These policy measures are consistent with the Biden-Harris administration’s priorities to eliminate unnecessary barriers to our nation’s legal immigration system and reduce burdens on noncitizens who may be eligible for immigration benefits,” said Acting USCIS Director Tracy Renaud. “USCIS is committed to promoting policies and procedures that ensure we operate in a fair, efficient, and humane manner that reflects America’s heritage as a land of opportunity for those who seek it.”

Boundless has put together a guide tracking President Biden’s immigration policies and actions.

USCIS Fee Increase Proposed Rule Could Represent the Latest Step in Reshaping Immigration to United States

By Jessica Bolter and Doris Meissner Immigrant Integration Citizenship & Civic Engagement Immigration Policy & Law Refugee & Asylum Policy Asylum Seekers

While much attention has been given to the move by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to raise its application fees—including an 83 percent hike to apply for U.S. citizenship—the policy changes embedded in the agency’s proposed rule are ultimately more notable and have been less scrutinized.

By proposing an application fee for certain asylum applicants, the elimination of most fee waivers for low-income applicants, and a rare transfer of more than $100 million out of the agency’s adjudication services to fund stepped-up enforcement by another agency (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE), the Trump administration would alter key underpinnings of longstanding immigration fee policy.

Taken together, these changes would likely reduce the number and shift the profile of those applying for and being granted legal statuses that permit U.S. residence and citizenship. These actions would be the latest in a continuum of administration policies that could significantly reshape the face of legal immigration to the United States by imposing new barriers for those of more modest means, joining earlier policies such as broadening who is considered a public charge and thus inadmissible, and requiring potential immigrants to have health insurance or financial means to cover health costs.

Not Unprecedented in Practice, But in Scope

USCIS is the rare federal agency whose operations are funded by fees. In 1988, Congress established the Immigration Examinations Fee Account (IEFA) so that immigration adjudications functions could be directly funded through the fees they generate. By law, USCIS is required to review its fees every two years and adjust them as necessary to meet its costs for adjudicating applications. Fee calculations may include direct and indirect costs, for example personnel, facilities, management, and enforcement. They may also cover costs for fee-exempt applications, such as asylum and refugee status and U.S. military service naturalizations.

The increases USCIS proposed in mid-November (there are a few categories where application fees would decrease) are significant but not unprecedented. Since the agency was established in 2003 as part of the creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which absorbed the functions of the earlier U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), fees have been adjusted five times (see Table 1). Under the proposed rule, a public comment period is open until December 30.

Canadian immigration in 2020: Expect a big year for provincial and regional immigration programs Impact of Brexit, U.S. elections in new year could leave Canada competing for economic immigrants

December 31, 2019 by Kareem El-Assal

Millions of new Canadians will arrive through Canada’s various immigration programs during the new decade and several expected policy updates will help to pave the way in 2020.

Here’s a look at some of the notable developments that we can expect over the next 12 months both in Canada and beyond that could help shape the future of Canadian immigration policy.

2020-2022 Immigration Levels Plan announcement by March

By March, Canada’s new Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Marco Mendicino, should be in a position to table the 2019 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration. The report is usually released by November 1 each year, but this was delayed because of the federal election on October 21.

This report is significant because it provides insight into the federal government’s immigration priorities. Perhaps its most notable aspect will be Canada’s 2020-2022 Immigration Levels Plan. We already know the federal government’s immigration targets for 2020 (341,000 newcomers) and 2021 (350,000 newcomers). As outlined in Minister Mendicino’s Mandate Letter, we should expect a modest increase to the 2022 target that, based on current trends, could be in the neighbourhood of 360,000 immigrants.

Parents and Grandparents Program changes expected by April at the latest

It is expected that the federal government will announce their intake process plans for the Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) by April 2020 at the latest. While the federal government has an annual target of welcoming about 21,000 immigrants under the PGP, managing the intake process has proven challenging for many years now given demand far exceeds the supply of available immigration spots. It is likely the federal government will roll out a new process that seeks to avoid previous intake process shortcomings.

Channel migrants: More than 60 people found on Boxing Day in UK

July 26, 2018

More than 60 migrants have been picked up while attempting to cross the Channel in small boats.
Forty-nine people in four boats were met by Border Force and brought to England, while a further two boats were dealt with by French authorities.
The Home Office said it would try to return anyone who arrived in the UK illegally back to mainland Europe.
Charity workers said the government's "tough talk" was "extremely irresponsible".
A search-and-rescue operation was launched in the early hours, with a coastguard helicopter, aeroplane and two Border Force vessels taking part.
An RNLI lifeboat was launched from Dover shortly before midnight on Christmas Day.
French authorities rescued 14 migrants, some of whom were said to be suffering from hypothermia, after a dinghy got into trouble off the coast of Boulogne-sur-Mer.
They were met by border police and medics on their return to the French port.
Since January, more than 120 people who arrived in small boats have been sent back to European countries, the Home Office said.
In the same period, more than 1,800 people have crossed the Channel in such vessels.
The Home Office said: "Illegal migration is a criminal activity. Those who seek to come to the UK illegally and the ruthless criminals who facilitate journeys are all breaking the law and endangering lives.
"When people arrive on our shores unlawfully, we will work to return them to mainland Europe."
It said patrols of French beaches had doubled, with "drones, specialist vehicles and detection equipment" deployed.
Kent Refugee Action Network's Bridget Chapman, who works directly with asylum seekers arriving by boat, said the Home Office's response was "disgraceful".
She said the government's "very tough talk" did not "take account of international law," citing the UN's 1951 Refugee Convention, which states that "refugees should not be penalised for their illegal entry".
She added: "There is no such thing as an illegal asylum seeker."
Ms Chapman said it was an "extremely irresponsible statement," which "appears to be politically motivated and designed to whip up ill feeling towards desperate people".
"I would remind the Home Office that Jesus was a refugee," she added. "Would they have turned him away?"
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption A coastguard helicopter was sent to the scene
Clare Moseley, founder of Care4Calais, which often encounters migrants before they attempt the crossing, said it was "disappointing to see the Home Office criminalising refugees in this way".
She added: "Nearly all the people we work with in France have genuine asylum claims.
"The issue is that there is no safe and legal way for them to get [to England] and have their claims heard."

Dutch church service continues for six weeks to stop police arresting and deporting refugee family

Obscure law preventing police from disrupting services to make arrests

The church is a sanctuary for the Tamrazyan family - Armenian refugees forced to flee their country for political reasons
Jessa van der Vaart and Rosaliene Israel, two Dutch pastors, usually get to church by cycling through the streets of Amsterdam to a Protestant parish in the city centre. But last Wednesday night, they packed their robes into the trunk of a car and drove down the highway to The Hague for what was the equivalent of a priestly shift change.
They would take over at 8pm from a local minister at the modest Bethel Church. Then, at 11pm, they would be replaced by a group from the city of Voorburg, who were scheduled to pull an all-nighter, singing hymns and preaching until daylight, when another cleric would arrive to take the baton.
The two pastors from Amsterdam were running slightly late.
“Well,” said Ms van der Vaart, as Ms Israel started the engine. “They’ll have to keep going till we get there.”
That is because the marathon church service, which started more than six weeks ago and has not stopped since, can never take a break.
Under an obscure Dutch law, police may not disrupt a church service to make an arrest. And so for the past six weeks, immigration officials have been unable to enter Bethel Church to seize the five members of the Tamrazyan family, Armenian refugees who fled to the sanctuary to escape a deportation order.
The service, which began in late October as a little-noticed, last-gasp measure by a small group of local ministers, is now a national movement, attracting clergy members and congregants from villages and cities across the Netherlands. More than 550 pastors from about 20 denominations have rotated through Bethel Church, a non-stop service all in the name of protecting one vulnerable family.
“It’s about practising what we preach,” said Ms van der Vaart, as she and Ms Israel sped down the Netherlands’ A4 highway towards the church.
At a moment when Christianity’s relevance in Europe is waning — and when xenophobia and nationalism are rising — the Bethel service has also been a reminder of the influence that religious institutions can still exert in a largely secular Western Europe. The pastors have given protection to the Tamrazyan family; the family has given them a cause to show the power of their faith.
"We're kind of struggling here as churches in the West. We’re more and more in the margins and as church leaders we can kind of feel this," said Ms Israel, who is the secretary-general of Protestant Church Amsterdam."But with this," she added, "we feel that what we’re doing is quite relevant."
In recent years, nationalists have used xenophobic messaging to win office in Italy, Hungary and Austria, and achieve prominence in Sweden, Germany, Britain, France and the Netherlands, underscoring the impression of a European continent that is turning inward. But as the two pastors reached the outskirts of The Hague, Ms van der Vaart said the marathon at Bethel shows that another Europe still exists.
“I often think we’re entering times with less and less solidarity," said Ms van der Vaart, the vicar at the Oude Kerk, the oldest church and building in Amsterdam. “But then this initiative is all about solidarity and that gives me hope."

Toronto’s tech job growth outpaces San Francisco Bay area, new study finds Ottawa takes "Momentum Market" in CBRE's 2018 Scoring Tech Talent Report

July 26, 2018

Toronto led cities in both Canada and the United States in the number of tech jobs created between 2012 and 2017, outpacing traditional tech hubs like the San Francisco Bay Area, a new study shows.

More than 82,000 tech jobs were created in Toronto during the five-year period, roughly 4,300 more than the number of tech jobs created in the San Francisco Bay Area during this time frame.

Toronto added 28,900 tech jobs in 2017 alone, an increase of 13.6 per cent over the previous year �?making it the fastest growing tech market in North America for the second year in a row.

CRS minimum score drops to 441 in new Express Entry draw

July 25, 2018

The Government of Canada issued 3,750 invitations to apply for Canadian permanent residence in a new Express Entry draw held on Wednesday, July 25. The Comprehensive Ranking System cut-off score for this invitation round was 441.

The minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score in today’s draw is one point lower than the last invitation round on July 11, when the CRS cut-off score was 442.

The score reduction could be attributed to the back-to-back draws of 3,750 ITAs in a 14-day period.

The tie-break date and time used in this draw was December 31, 2017, at 12:14:21 UTC. This means that all candidates with a CRS score above 441, as well as those candidates with scores of 441 who submitted their profile before this specified date and time, received an ITA in this invitation round.

This is the fourth consecutive draw to issue 3,750 Invitations to Apply (ITAs) and brings the total ITAs issued in July to 7,500. This makes July 2018 by far the best July in terms of ITAs issued since Express Entry was introduced in 2015 and follows a record-setting month of June, which also saw 7,500 ITAs issued.

As of today, however, IRCC is still behind last year’s ITA total at this time.

Lawsuit over Immigration Census Question

July 23 ,2018

On Thursday, a federal judge ruled that the Trump administration must face a lawsuit from advocacy groups and states over its intention to ask for the citizenship status of those filling out the US Census in 2020. Manhattan US District Judge, Jesse Furman denied the attempt to dismiss the lawsuit, backed by the District of

Quebec skilled worker Expression of Interest system: New details published New EOI system comes with promise to reduce processing time to less than 12 months

July 18, 2018

Quebec has published more details about its new Expression of Interest system, which will manage the profiles of eligible Quebec Skilled Worker Program candidates.

The new Expression of Interest (EOI) system will replace Quebec’s current first-come, first-served application process for its Quebec Skilled Worker Program (QSWP).

Under the newly published regulations, which come into force August 2, anyone interested in the QSWP will have to first submit an online Expression of Interest profile to Quebec’s Immigration Ministry (MIDI).