Canada launches consultations to identify critical occupational shortages and future role of immigration

Beginning July 7, the department of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) is launching consultation sessions with key stakeholders so as to practically implement the recent changes in Canada’s immigration legislation.

Primarily, the department officials will confer with the representatives of provincial and territorial governments, business, labor, and academic and non-government organization through a series of face-to-face meetings and videoconferencing. Other organizations and interested individuals could also submit their input using an online form available on the website of CIC.

The idea behind these consultations is to gather knowledge and expertise from participants, especially the provinces, to identify critical occupational shortages at workplace/industry/sector/region level on short- and medium-term, the role of immigration in responding to them, and any barriers to recognition and accreditation of foreign credentials. The discussion will also extend to determine the processing priorities of “new” applications (filed on or after February 27, 2008) in the perspective of current labor market needs.

The consultation process will run till the end of July. CIC has scheduled more than ten formal consultation sessions with provinces, territories and other national and regional stakeholders during this time. Other organizations and interested individuals can also submit their feedback online until the end of July. Finally, CIC will organize a roundtable conference on August 15, where Minister will consult with national stakeholders.

After the review of submissions and ideas from all sources, CIC will develop the first “set of instructions” that will be announced by the Minister later this year. By the authority of new legislative changes, the Minister will then issue these instructions to immigration officers on which categories of applications are prioritized, returned with a refund or held for future consideration.

CIC has made sure that every time following such consultations, the instructions will be published in the Canada Gazette and available on CIC website. They will also be tabled in Parliament as part of the Annual Report on Immigration.

To meet the 2008 immigration plan, CIC missions around the world continue to process applications submitted before February 27, 2008. Applications received on or after 27 February 2008 will be placed on hold until immigration officers receive instructions resulting from the consultations. However, federal skilled worker applicants who already have a job waiting for them in Canada will be processed.

Further, the new legislation will not affect agreements with the provinces to process provincial nominees or, in the case of Quebec, Quebec skilled workers, and programs relate to refugee protection, so applications in those areas will continue to process in the usual way. The new legislation is also not intended to affect Canada’s goals for family reunification.