13 Jan 2016
Category - Uncategorized
4 Jan 2016
BARTLAW LLP Immigration Update
On December 18, 2015, the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) announced the eligibility criteria for their new Entrepreneur stream. To apply, applicants must meet the following minimum eligibility criteria Read More 4 Nov 2015
Canada’s Trudeau Government: A New Era for Immigration
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was officially sworn into office as Canada’s 23rd leader today. The new Liberal Government has announced a 31 member cabinet that includes new ministers for Immigration, Public Safety, and Employment. Read More 27 Jul 2015
BARTLAW LLP News and Canadian Citizenship Law Changes
Jacqueline Bart was rated as the “most highly regarded individual” for corporate immigration law in Canada. Ms. Bart also ranks 5th in corporate immigration for North America. This research was conducted Law Business Research Ltd., the law research sponsor of the American Bar Association SIL. Read More 31 Mar 2015
New Passport Requirements for Canadian Citizens
As of May 9, 2015, the government has changed the passport rules for Canadian Citizens applying for passports as follows: Photos will be valid for six months from the date they were taken (currently 12 months) and; Tinted eye glasses cannot be worn. Read More 3 Mar 2015
International Mobility Program: New Regulations Require Employer Compliance Filings Prior to Work Permit Application
This week, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (“CIC”) unveiled a new employer compliance form under the International Mobility Program. Based on the new regulations, employers are now required to file employment confirmation information prior to filing a foreign worker work permit application. Read More 4 Dec 2014
Government Publishes Express Entry Permanent Residence Application Rules
In January of 2015, the Canadian Government will roll out a new permanent residence application management process called Express Entry (EE), a two-step process which was designed to match Canadian employers with foreign workers and to streamline the application management process. Read More 25 Jun 2014
Government Announces Fundamental Changes to Various Immigration Programs
On Friday, June 20, 2014, major changes were announced by Ministers Kenney and Alexander to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP). The TFWP is being re-organized into two distinct programs. The Labour Market Opinion has now been renamed the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) Read More 2 May 2014
Foreign Worker Program Changes Affecting Fast Food Restaurant Employers
In order to obtain a work permit to Canada for a temporary foreign worker, employers must generally obtain a labour market opinion (LMO) in support of the work permit application. Although there are hundreds of exceptions to this requirement, the LMO exemptions are very specific Read More 21 Apr 2014
BARTLAW LLP Immigration News: Global Immigration Seminar in Toronto
BartLAW is pleased to announce that it is sponsoring and hosting a Global Immigration Seminar in Toronto which is the first of its kind in the world. The seminar is a joint collaboration between the International Association of Lawyers and the International Association of Young Lawyers Read More 25 Mar 2014
Canadian Citizenship Law Changes Anticipated in 2015
On February 6, 2014, Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander introduced Bill C-24, the Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act, for first reading in the House of Commons. It is expected that, after consultations, this bill will come into force in 2015-2016. Read More 31 Dec 2013
New Employer Requirements for LMO-Based Work Permits Become Law December 31, 2013
Starting December 31, 2013, various amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR) come into force, in addition to new Ministerial Instructions issued by the Minister of Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) which impose additional obligations on employers under the LMO-based Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP). Read More 27 Sep 2013
Foreign Service Workers To Return To Full Time Work At Canadian Visa Offices
Canada’s foreign service has reached a deal on a new contract with the federal government, ending a lengthy dispute and rotating strikes that have created an extensive backlog to visa processing and other consular services abroad. The government agreed to increase base pay for senior ranks of the foreign service Read More 29 Aug 2013
Four New Developments in Canadian Immigration Law
Chris Alexander is Canada’s new Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. He replaces Jason Kenney, who is the new Minister of Employment and Social Development (formerly Human Resources and Skills Development). Mr. Alexander, who was elected to the House of Commons for the riding of Ajax-Pickering in 2011 Read More 13 Jun 2013
Four Year Maximum Work Permit Duration
On April 1, 2011, the cumulative duration of work permits issued under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) was reduced to a four year maximum. The government’s primary goal in enacting this law was to prevent foreign workers who are working temporarily in Canada Read More 10 May 2013
Changes to the Parent and Grandparent Sponsorship Program
On May 10th, 2013, Citizenship and Immigration Canada announced the reopening of the Parent and Grandparent Sponsorship Program starting January 2, 2014. Whilst the quota of intake applications will be extremely low, at 5,000 applications in total for the first year, it is a step forward from the suspension of this valuable and important immigration program in 2011. Read More 23 Apr 2013
New Federal Skilled Worker Program: Occupations and Caps Unveiled
Citizenship and Immigration Canada has announced a list of 24 qualifying occupations for the new Federal Skilled Worker Program. The list includes various engineering occupations, certain medical and computer professionals, and a number of other occupations listed below. Read More 12 Apr 2013
Canada Opens a New Immigration Category Pilot: The Start Up Business Class Immigration Program
After announcing the creation of a new type of entrepreneur application process in 2012, on March 30, 2013, Citizenship and Immigration Canada ( “CIC”) changed the law and policy in Canada to implement the Start-Up Business Class, which is currently in a Pilot (ie. test) format subject to further CIC assessment. Read More 8 Mar 2013
International Women’s Day: A Reason to Celebrate and to Reflect
The past five decades have brought meaningful legal improvements into the lives of many women in the world. At our office, we have been discussing how fortunate we are to live in Canada and enjoy the constitutional entrenchment of gender equality and the rule of law. Read More 27 Feb 2013
Immigration Alert: Canadian Permanent Residence Application Categories Now Open
Foreign workers seeking to apply for permanent residence to Canada may now do so based on three new categories. Some of these permanent residence categories have caps and restricted occupations, such as the new Federal Skilled Trades Class and the Skilled Worker Class. For example, the Federal Skilled Trades Class only accepts up to 100 applicants Read More 21 Jan 2013
Canada’s New Immigration Rules 2013
Canada’s efforts to counteract an ageing population and the need for young skilled workers has led to a re-evaluation of the Federal Skilled Worker program and the introduction of new immigration rules by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (“CIC”). The FSW program has been in suspension since July 1, 2012 Read More 19 Sep 2012
Canadian Immigration Changes: A 10-Point Summary
Federal Entrepreneur program is closed. CIC is currently redesigning a new program with the goal of having it implemented by the end of 2012. Investor program has been suspended and the current program has backlogs with a wait time of up to nine (9) years. CIC is currently looking at pilot programs to complement the existing program. Read More 1 Aug 2012
Fast-Track LMO Processing Leads to Compliance Reviews for Employers
Service Canada has implemented a new A-LMO (Accelerated Labour Market Opinion) program which is intended to respond to the needs of eligible employers for timely Labour Market Opinion (LMO) processing. However, this initiative places substantial responsibility on the employer for program compliance Read More 1 Jul 2012
ALMO Report
The most common manner for a foreign worker to be issued a work permit is for the Canadian employer to obtain a positive Labour Market Opinion from Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC)/Service Canada (SC) for the foreign worker’s prospective position. Read More 1 Nov 2011
Immigration Alert: Changes to Parent and Grandparent Sponsorship Application Process
In November, the Government of Canada has announced a new plan to reduce the backlog and wait times for sponsored parents and grandparents. Current processing times for parent and grandparent sponsorship applications exceed seven (7) years. This plan involves a temporary pause of up to twenty-four (24) months Read More 24 May 2011
Immigration Alert: Significant Changes to Temporary Foreign Worker Regulations in Canada
On April 1, 2011, the government introduced into law a number of important legislative amendments on employer immigration compliance concerning foreign worker work permits and Labour Market Opinions from Service Canada. In summary, the immigration law changes effective April 1, 2011 are as follows Read More 29 Sep 2010