RHYME & REASON

Filipiniana News – July 2014 RHYME & REASON Major Changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program;  the LCP is Next? On 20 June 2014, the Canadian government unveiled major changes to Canada's temporary foreign worker program (TFWP) which were essentially meant to limit access to the program and to encourage employers to prioritize hiring Canadians and permanent residents. The TFWP was reorganized into two categories:  the International Mobility Program (IMP) and the TFWP.  The TFWP now refers to workers who require a job offer which was confirmed through a labour market impact assessment (LMIA).  The LMIA, formerly called the labour market opinion (LMO), is a more rigorous assessment of the job offer to ensure that Canadians and permanent residents are given a first opportunity at obtaining the available jobs before they are offered to foreign workers. The IMP on the other hand, refers to those streams of foreign workers who do not require an...

Filipiniana News – June 2014 RHYME & REASON Ongoing Challenges for Live-in Caregivers (Note: The following are excerpts from a presentation given by the author at the Symposium on Intersections of Violence Against Women and Precarious Immigration Status held on 5 June 2014 at the University of Toronto.) The Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP) is a hybrid immigration program within Canada's Immigration and Refugee Protection Act whereby a specific class of temporary foreign workers (live-in caregivers) is given the chance to apply for permanent resident status after fulfilling certain conditions.  On its face, it may seem that live-in caregivers (LICs) are given a special privilege compared to other so-called "low skilled" temporary foreign workers (TFWs) who have no clear path to permanent residence.  However, it must be noted that the LCP is not a smooth sailing program as the conditions imposed on its caregiver participa...

Filipiniana News – May 2014 RHYME & REASON New Quotas and Eligible Occupations for Permanent Residence Applications  Last month, I wrote about Citizenship and Immigration Canada's (CIC) much-touted Express Entry system.   In preparation for its implementation in January 2015, CIC started accepting applications on 1 May 2014 under the new quotas and a new list of eligible occupations for the the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) categories.   It was announced that effective 1 May 2014, there is a new quota of 25,000 applications under the FSWP,   5,000 applications under the FSTP and 8,000 applications under the Canadian Experience Class (CEC)   In addition to these overall quotas under the FSWP, there will be a limit of 1,000 applications to be accepted under each eligible occupation, 500 applications under the PhD stream but no limit for applications with valid arranged employment from a Ca...

Filipiniana News – April 2014 RHYME & REASON Express Entry System for Economic Immigrants On 8 April 2014, CIC Minister Chris Alexander announced that the previously termed "Expression of Interest" (EOI) system will now be officially known as "Express Entry".  As had been previously introduced in the EOI system, the Express Entry is a proactive approach meant to better address Canada's labour market needs.   Set to take effect in January 2015, the Express Entry system will be open to candidates with a  valid job offer or approved provincial/territorial nomination.  These candidates will be invited to apply for permanent residence under any of the following economic immigration streams:  Federal Skilled Worker, Federal Skilled Trades, Canadian Experience or Provincial Nominee classes.  CIC will then process their permanent residence applications on an expedited basis, within a period of six months or less.  Thus, Canadian employ...

Filipiniana News – March 2014 RHYME & REASON Serious Implications of Recent Proposed Citizenship Changes  The recently proposed changes to Canada's citizenship laws were summarized in this column last month.  In government pronouncements, people are made to believe that these proposed changes are meant to strengthen the value of Canadian citizenship. However, a closer look at the proposed changes to Canada's citizenship laws reveal significant implications not just for prospective citizenship applicants but also for Canadian citizens who hold another foreign citizenship.  It is therefore extremely important that people in our community take time to learn more about these proposed changes and to let our collective and individual views be heard.  For instance, we may want to contact our respective members of Parliament to explain how your specific personal circumstances will be negatively impacted by these changes.  In this regard, I am reproduc...

Filipiniana News – February 2014 RHYME & REASON More Citizenship and Immigration Changes! For those who are still keeping tabs on the myriad changes in Canada's immigration law and policy, please see below a summary of further changes that were introduced by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) in just the first two weeks of February 2014.  PGP Sponsorship Applications Closed for 2014 On 3 February 2014, CIC announced that the annual quota of 5,000 complete applications under the parent and grandparent sponsorship (PGP) category had been filled.  Therefore, no new PGP applications will be accepted by CIC in 2014 and prospective applicants will have to wait until the quota is reopened in 2015.  Despite the annual limit of 5,000 applications, CIC expects to admit up to 20,000 parents and grandparents this year most of whom will come from the huge backlog of applications accumulated in the previous years.  This is expected to substantially...