Filipiniana News -
November 2013
RHYME & REASON
As we all know by now, super typhoon Haiyan
hit the central region of the Philippines on 8 November 2013. Although the full extent of devastation is
still unraveling by the day, it is estimated that up to 10,000 people have
perished and millions of families lost their homes and were severely affected
by this tragedy. The various news
footages of the aftermath showing the unbelievable damage caused by this
natural calamity (although arguably worsened by man-made actions) are truly
heartbreaking. It does not require any
expertise to conclude that it would take a very long time and a whole lot of
financial resources to help the victims and their families recover and rebuild
their lives.
Thankfully, the international community has
quickly stepped up in providing emergency relief to the worst hit areas. The Canadian government for its part, has not
only extended an initial support of up to $5 million but also pledged to match
every dollar donated by Canadians to registered charities until 9 December
2013.
If donations are made to UNICEF Canada, the
impact of these donations may even be tripled as corporate sponsors also
pledged to match every dollar donated to UNICEF.
Our Canadian dollars will go a long way in
the Philippines. Even a seemingly modest
$5 dollar donation can feed a family for up to a week or provide clean drinking
water for up to a month.
So please
do not delay and send in your donations NOW!
On 13 November 2013, Citizenship and
Immigration Canada (CIC) announced the following special measures for those
affected by typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines:
a) Upon request, CIC will
prioritize processing of applications made by Filipinos who are “significantly
and personally” affected by this natural disaster; b) Applications to extend the stay of
Filipinos who are in Canada as temporary residents will be “assessed in a
compassionate and flexible manner”; and c) Applications for travel documents by
affected Canadians will be expedited by the Canadian embassy in Manila.
CIC also set up a dedicated crisis line
which may be reached through the CIC call centre 1-888-242-2100 or by emailing situation-philippines@cic.gc.ca.
Meanwhile, on the same day that typhoon
Haiyan struck the Philippines, CIC made a surprise announcement regarding
changes to the Canadian Experience Class (CEC).
That is, effective 9 November 2013, CIC will only accept up to 12,000
CEC applications a year and will impose a sub-cap of 200 applications per NOC B
occupation (consisting mainly of administrative, technical and skilled trades
occupations).
And here’s the shocker: due to alleged overrepresentation of
applications in these occupations, CIC will stop accepting CEC applications for
those whose work experience is in one of the following NOC B occupations:
- cooks (NOC
6322)
- food service
supervisors (NOC 6311)
- administrative
officers (NOC 1221)
- administrative
assistants (NOC 1241)
- accounting
technicians and bookkeepers (NOC 1311) and
- retail sales
supervisors (NOC 6211)
Sans notice or public consultation, CIC
unilaterally decided that authorized work experience in these occupations will
not anymore qualify for permanent residence under the CEC simply because there
are already too many applications of this kind.
All CEC applications which were received by
CIC before 9 November 2013 will not be affected by these changes and would
still be processed to completion.
The same language thresholds of Canadian
Language Benchmark (CLB) 7 for NOC O and A occupations (mainly managerial,
supervisory and professional) and CLB 5 for NOC B occupations will remain. However, CIC will screen the language qualifications
at the outset and will return the entire application package, along with the
processing fee, if the minimum threshold is not met.
CIC calls these changes “improvements” and
“client-friendly” but critics strongly disagree. The absolute lack of due process, i.e. public
consultation on the implications of these changes or any notice that these are
even being considered, is totally disappointing for many. This is
particularly disconcerting for those who may have already been preparing
their CEC applications in one of the now ineligible occupations, but are
suddenly barred from doing so. If their
current or prospective employers are unwilling or not qualified to provide a
formal job offer which would require obtaining a labour market opinion, then
they would not qualify for permanent residence under the Federal Skilled Worker
or Skilled Trades classes either. These
changes may lead to enormous inconvenience, if not serious hardship, to many
prospective immigrants who may have mapped out their lives and their family’s
future based on the legitimate expectation that they will qualify for permanent
residence under the CEC.
If the consequent hardship will reach to
the level of being characterized as “undue, undeserved or disproportionate,”
they may possibly apply for permanent residence on humanitarian and
compassionate (H&C) grounds.
However, an H&C application is very discretionary hence the outcome
is highly unpredictable. This is very
much unlike a CEC application which does not leave much room for discretion and
is based on clear, verifiable standards.
In these precarious times, more uncertainty
is the last thing people need.
This article is provided for information
purposes only and not meant to be taken as legal advice.
The author is an immigration lawyer in
the GTA and may be reached at deanna@santoslaw.ca.
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