Statistics Canada revealed in 2017 that from 1994 to 2014, the number of immigrant workers kept on increasing, and they successfully got permanent residence too. Furthermore, they estimate the trend continued even after 2014. The number is also not small as a lot of immigration plans in Canada value their work experience, and that helps workers to transit to permanent residence status conveniently.
From 1995-1999, of the workers who got the temporary permit to work in Canada, 9% of them got permanent residence within 5 years. For the 2000-2004 period, the percentage increased to 13 and went to 21% for the folks who got their first permit between 2005 and 2009.
foreign workers can mainly apply to two of the major programs:
- Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP)
- The International Mobility Program (IMP)
During the observation period of this study, there were a number of programs inaugurated to allow permanent residence to foreign workers. For example, the Provincial Nominee Programs let Canadian Provinces nominate eligible individuals with credentials. Moreover, the Canadian Experience Class provides permanent residence eligibility to workers who meet certain requirements. Canadian Experience Class is operated by the regulations of the Express Entry plan.
Since Express Entry was not launched until 2015, the study does not include the data for it. But there is an explicit remark of Express Entry. That also includes the stress on pre-arranged employment opportunities, Canadian work experience, and English/French ability to help skilled temp employees to become eligible for PR status.
Not regularly, but a pre-arranged employment opportunity could be a judgment attribute for candidates of the Express Entry system. Also, in the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS), a qualifying job opportunity can bring some award points for the candidate. The CRS is used by IRCC (Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada) while issuing invitations to apply for PR, and they use the rankings based on CRS. However, the points were reduced in November 2016 from 600 to 250 or 50, depending on the job offer. The reason behind the reduction was, IRCC wanted to prioritize human capital factors, skills, and experience.
“Obtaining gainful employment in Canada is a key step to settlement in the country, as well as for the immigration process itself,” says Attorney David Cohen. “The current government has gone on record stating that it wishes to place greater emphasis on human capital, skills, and experience, but a job offer remains valuable in its own right.”
It is noteworthy that Canada always welcomes foreign skills from around the globe. Through various economic programs, the number of people immigrating to Canada has been on rising since 1990. In 2017, the aim was to welcome 300,000 immigrants, higher than every annual intake from the study.
