Canada Immigration News

Canadians this week are celebrating Canadian Citizenship week at special events throughout the Country. 4,700 people will become citizens, taking the Oath at more than 60 special citizenship ceremonies throughout the country.

On 17 October 2011 Immigration Minister Kenney in a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, awarded heraldic badges to citizenship judges. He also participated in a game show style event "Are You Smarter than a Tenth Grader."

Canada is currently struggling to deal with a backlog of immigration applications.

The backlog of immigration applications is hurting Canada's reputation as a top immigration destination for skilled migrants. In some cases people are choosing Australia as an alternative immigration destination.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said that the situation was a "huge problem". He has spoken frequently about the need to streamline the application process and get the backlog under control.

During the next month in Calgary, Canadian Immigration will hold consultations on hiring temporary foreign workers, Canada's immigration minister announced.

"Over the summer, I held consultations across the country on our overall immigration levels," Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said.

"From what we heard, primarily in Alberta, there is also a need to seek input specifically on temporary foreign workers," he added.

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) has stated that Canada's economic stability and continued growth are at risk if local governments are not given a greater say in helping to develop national immigration policies.

"This government has identified the economy as a number one priority, and we believe immigrants are an important piece of that," said Berry Vrbanovic, FCM president.

Canada has announced improvements to its visa application process that will make Canada a more attractive destination for Latin American travelers.

Minister of State of Foreign Affairs Diane Ablonczy, announced recently that Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) is expanding its visa application center network (VAC) around the world to make the application process more efficient.

A new study on Canadian immigration policy has found that immigrants who come to Canada as independent skilled migrants had "consistently and substantially" the highest earnings of four categories of immigrants. The researchers concluded that Canada should continue to focus on skilled migration. The researchers also hope that their study will influence future Canadian immigration policy.