Canada Immigration News

On 28th October 2013, immigration minister Chris Alexander announced Canada's immigration plan for 2014. Mr Alexander announced that he intended to keep total immigration at between 240 and 265,000. Of these, 63% or 164,500 will be economic migrants. 68,000 will be admitted under the family stream and 28,400 will be admitted under the humanitarian stream.

Mr Alexander announced that two visa programmes will be significantly expanded; the Canadian Experience Class and the Provincial Nominee Program.

The new Canadian immigration minister Chris Alexander has announced a new stream of the Start-Up visa program. A Start-Up visa allows an entrepreneur to apply for a Canadian permanent resident visa if he can raise backing for his business scheme from Canadian venture capitalists.

The new 'Business Incubator Stream' will open on Monday 26th October 2013. It will, according to Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), 'attract early stage and high growth businesses and entrepreneurs who can contribute to a culture of innovation and commercialization in Canada'.

A union which represents Canadian immigration officers stationed at embassies and consulates around the world has come to a pay deal with the Canadian government after four months of industrial action.

It has announced that overseas visa staff will now work to clear a backlog of visa applications as quickly as possible.

The Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers (PAFSO) began a series of one-day strikes in June 2013 which has continued ever since.

One of the opposition parties in Canada's federal parliament has called for Russian politicians who backed a recent law that bans 'homosexual propaganda' to be barred from visiting Canada.

The New Democrat Party has opened a petition and called on members of the public to sign it. The proposal could make it impossible for President Putin to visit Canada.

The Mexican ambassador to Canada, Francisco Suarez, has said that Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto will not make a planned official visit to Canada next year unless the Canadian government acts to remove the requirement that Mexicans obtain travel visas before visiting Canada.

Mr Suarez has said that he would like to see a 'roadmap' put in place which he hopes will eventually lead to the removal of the requirement. This, he told The Canadian Press, would ensure that the matter is not forgotten.

The Canadian Citizenship and Immigration Minister, Chris Alexander has announced a change to the rules for citizenship applications. Anyone who fails to attend a citizenship test or interview without providing good cause will have their application terminated. Mr Alexander says that this will speed up citizenship decisions for those that do attend.