Immigration Newsweek
By Atty. Henry Moyal
Following the tabling of the 2017 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration on November 1, 2017, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has released details on its 2018 multi-year Immigration Levels Plan. Canada will welcome 310,000 new permanent residents in 2018, 330,000 in 2019 and 340,000 in 2020.
The breakdown of the aforementioned numbers deserve more scrutiny as it is important to recognize which type of immigrants these numbers represent.
For example, the bulk of new immigrant visas will remain steady within the economic program under the Federal High Skilled category. Under this category applicants qualify to immigrate primarily due to factors such as age, education, work experience and English skills.
The Federal High Skilled category includes Federal Skilled Worker Program, Federal Skilled Trades Program and Canadian Experience Class applicants.
The target is to issue visas to his group as follows: 75000 in 2018 / 81000 in 2019 and 86000 in 2020.
The other biggest group, Family Sponsorship, in contrast does not require an applicant to possess any language skills nor education nor work skills. Age is also not a factor within the family sponsorship category.
The target numbers are: 86000 in 2018 / 88000 in 2019 and 91000 in 2020.
The numbers above are really of no surprise. However, the caregiver program seems to be dwindling and it is predicted that it will be eliminated in the not so distant future.
Currently, Canada Immigration is still accepting applications for permanent residence for those who entered under the old live-in-caregiver program which was changed in 2014. Applications received under the legacy Live-in Caregiver Program will continue to be processed, with the final applications expected to be processed in 2019 or 2020.
The other two caregiver programs (Caring for Children Class and the Caring for People with High Medical Needs Class) plus the old live in caregiver program comprises one of the smallest group of immigrants to be issued visas according to the 2017 Annual Report.
Target numbers for caregiver admissions are: 17000 in 2018 / 14000 in 2019 and a mere 5000 in 2020.
As the numbers drastically go down, it is very likely that the caregiver program and pathways will be gone after 2021 as resources will not justify processing for a mere few.
Attorney Henry Moyal is a certified and licensed immigration lawyer in Toronto, Ontario.
The above article is general advice only and is not intended to act as a legal document.
Send questions to Attorney Moyal by email canada@moyal.com or call 416 733 3193
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