Canada seeks extended support and cooperation by Indian Punjab in fight against phony consultants and fake document vendors

At the end of his week long formal visit to India, the Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Canada (CIMC) Minister Jason Kenney called on Chief Minister Punjab Parkash Singh Badal and sought his support and cooperation to crackdown the "developing industry" of document vendors and phony consultants exploiting large numbers of Punjabis wanting to go to Canada.

According to an estimate, two of every three temporary visa applications are rejected by Canadian officials in Chandigarh due to the fake documents that are submitted with applications. These fraudulent documents include, but not limited to, counterfeit letters from MPs, identification papers, employment offers, university transcripts and diplomas, funeral announcements and even pictures of false wedding ceremonies.

Expressing concern over the issue, CM Punjab assured the Minister that Punjab Government would extent its fulsome support and cooperation to evolve a permanent solution to curb this illegal practice.

CM was apprised in the meeting that few owners of marriage palaces are involved in arranging fake marriages in connivance with travel agents/immigration consultants to provide photographs of marriage in support of proof for the purpose of Canadian visa to illegal persons. CM assured the visiting Canadian Minister that State Government would take stringent action against the erring travel agents involved in the exploitation of women in getting them married with the persons intended to seek Canadian Visa which ultimately result in broken marriages.

"Our Canadian officials in Chandigarh are regularly dealing with fraudulent documents produced by unregistered immigration consultants, including fake passports, fake endorsement letters from Canadian Members of Parliament, fake death certificates and many more," said Minister Kenney. "Although the approval rate for temporary visas has improved over the last year, the large number of unauthentic documents being submitted to the Chandigarh mission is a very serious problem for the integrity of Canada’s immigration system. I am pleased that the Chief Minister of Punjab says he will act on this commitment to crack down on unscrupulous immigration consultants, and I look forward to assessing the success of this promise later this year."

Kenney said unscrupulous consultants have been known to target a program, and then tailor the applications to that program. A recent example involved Canada's live-in caregiver program. A surge of applications for the program in 2007 raised eyebrows at the office in Chandigarh, largely because they were from men, who are not the traditional caregivers in India. Officials subsequently discovered many applicants presented documents that said they graduated from care-giving schools that did not exist.

Kenney said there has been a lack of interest in the past on the part of the Indian authorities to pursue visa fraud, but that he expects much closer cooperation between Canadian officials and Chandigarh police in the future.

Canada is the only country to operate a visa office in Chandigarh. The Chandigarh office of the Canadian High Commission opened in 1997 and first began issuing visas in 2004 after former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien attended the opening of the Consulate General of Chandigarh in 2003. About half of the Indo-Canadian community in Canada hails from Punjab.

Canada plans to admit more than a quarter of a million new permanent residents in 2009

In tabling the 2008 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration, the federal government has committed to admitting between 240,000 and 265,000 permanent residents in 2009, which are on par with last year and are among the highest for Canada over the past 15 years.

The 2009 plan includes up to 156,600 immigrants in the Economic Class; 71,000 in the Family Class; and 37,400 in the Refugees and other categories.

Under the Economic Class, Canada intends to take in 72,000 Federal Skilled Workers, 29,100 Quebec-selected Skilled Workers, 12,000 Federal/Quebec Business Immigrants, 10,000 Live-in Caregivers, 26,000 Provincial/Territorial Nominees, and 7,500 temporary workers and foreign students with Canadian degrees and Canadian work experience through the recently introduced Canadian Experience Class.

Under the Family Class, government intends to take in up to 52,000 spouses, partners and dependent children, and 19,000 parents and grandparents.

Under the Refugees Class and other categories, Canada intends to take in 7,500 Government-assisted Refugees, 4,500 Privately Sponsored Refugees, 9,000 Protected Persons in Canada, 6,200 Dependents Abroad, 200 Permit Holders, and 10,000 individuals and families based on humanitarian and compassionate (H&C) considerations, or for public policy reasons.

The 2009 levels plan sets the upper range of admissions under the Economic Class (1.6 per cent) higher than in 2008 in order to reflect growth in several economic streams, such as Federal Skilled Workers, Quebec-selected Skilled Workers and Provincial/Territorial Nominees. However, the distribution of admissions across categories in the Economic Class has changed to reflect the changing mix of economic immigration. For example, the 2009 levels plan committs nearly 3 per cent increase in Federal Skilled Worker category and 18 per cent in Provincial/Territorial Nominees in comparison of 37 per cent decrease in Canadian Experience Class and 7.5 per cent in Federal/Quebec Business Immigrants.

The 2009 levels plan, combined with $109 million funding from Budget 2008-09, will help the Department boost overall capacity to process more applications, enabling it to meet annual target levels, reduce the current backlog, and manage the inventory today and into the future. As a result, it will help reduce wait times, better respond to evolving labour market needs and support the Government of Canada’s immigration objectives.

In addition to providing a summary of Canada’s immigration levels plan for 2009, this report presents an overview of the current context of Canada’s immigration program, a review of some of the key challenges facing the Department and the initiatives it has developed in response. It further focuses on CIC’s partnerships with the provinces and territories; summarizes activities and initiatives regarding the selection of permanent and temporary residents; provides key statistics relating to permanent and temporary residents admitted in 2007; outlines Canada’s commitment to its humanitarian traditions and to the protection of refugees and others in need of protection and resettlement, including a statistical overview of the refugees and protected persons admitted in 2007; addresses settlement and resettlement programs and special initiatives to facilitate the economic and social integration of newcomers; and discusses activities related to Canadian citizenship.

Canada finally releases shortage occupations list and instructions on processing federal skilled workers

Based on the immigration amendments of June 18, 2008, CIMC Minister Kenney has finally announced the Action Plan for Faster Immigration includes instructions to CIC’s visa officers outlining a set of eligibility criteria that apply to all new federal skilled worker applications received on or after February 27, 2008.

According to these ministerial instructions, applications under the Federal Skilled Worker Class will be eligible for priority processing if they are in 38 high-demand occupations such as health, skilled trades, finance and resource extraction. Skilled worker who has at least one year of continuous fulltime or equivalent paid work experience (within the last 10 years) under one or more of the following 38 occupations should receive a decision within six to 12 months:

Management Occupations

· Financial Managers (0111)
· Computer and Information Systems Managers (0213)
· Managers in Healthcare (0311)
· Restaurant and Food Service Managers (0631)
· Accommodation Service Manager (0632)
· Construction Managers (0711)

Business, Finance and Administration Occupations

· Financial Auditors and Accountants (1111)

Natural and Applied Sciences and Related Occupations

· Geologists, Geochemists and Geophysicists (2113)
· Mining Engineers (2143)
· Geological Engineers (2144)
· Petroleum Engineers (2145)

Healthcare Occupations

· Specialist Physicians (3111)
· General Practitioners and Family Physicians (3112)
· Audiologists and Speech Language Pathologists (3141)
· Occupational Therapists (3143)
· Physiotherapists (3142)
· Head Nurses and Supervisors (3151)
· Registered Nurses (3152)
· Medical Radiation Technologists (3215)
· Licensed Practical Nurses (3233)

Social Science, Education, Government Services and Religion Occupations

· University Professors (4121)
· College and Other Vocational Instructors (4131)

Skilled Sales and Service Occupations

· Chefs (6241)
· Cooks (6242)

Trades, Transport and Equipment Operators and Related Occupations

· Contractors and Supervisors, Pipefitting Trades (7213)
· Contractors and Supervisors, Carpentry Trades (7215)
· Contractors and Supervisors, Heavy Construction Equipment Crews (7217)
· Electricians (Except Industrial and Power System) (7241)
· Industrial Electricians (7242)
· Plumbers (7251)
· Steamfitters, Pipefitters and Sprinkler System Installers (7252)
· Welders and Related Machine Operators (7265)
· Heavy-Duty Equipment Mechanics (7312)
· Crane Operators (7371)
· Drillers and Blasters – Surface Mining, Quarrying and Construction (7372)

Energy, Natural Resources and Agriculture Occupations

· Supervisors, Mining and Quarrying (8221)
· Supervisors, Oil and Gas Drilling and Service (8222)

Processing, Manufacturing and Utilities Occupations

· Supervisors, Petroleum, Gas and Chemical Processing and Utilities (9212)

Federal skilled worker applications that would include an offer of arrange employment or are from a foreign national living legally in Canada for one year as a temporary foreign worker or international student will also be eligible for priority processing under the ministerial instructions and shall be placed into processing immediately upon receipt.

New federal skilled worker applications that would neither be in 38 high-demand occupations nor included an offer of arrange employment or filed from a legal temporary resident in Canada will not be processed now, resulting return of their applications along with case processing fee.

All applications made before February 27, 2008, will be processed according to the rules that were in effect at that time.

The ministerial instructions will also identify other immigration applications and requests that will be given priority processing. These will include all Economic Class applications, except federal skilled worker applications, including:

· Canadian Experience Class
· Investors
· Live-in Caregivers
· Quebec economic applicants, and
· Provincial nominees

Applications which would not be affected by these instruction will include:

· Family Class applications
· Applications from refugees or protected persons
· Requests on humanitarian or compassionate grounds from within Canada, and
· All applications for temporary residence, including temporary foreign workers, foreign students and visitors

These types of applications will be processed in the same manner and with the same priorities as usual.

Overseas requests for humanitarian and compassionate consideration that accompany a federal skilled worker application not identified for processing under the ministerial instructions will not be processed.

Because the eligibility criteria outlined in this Action Plan for Faster Immigration’s instructions for processing federal skilled worker applications are meant to reflect Canada’s labor market needs, it is expected that it would be adjusted over time as the labor market changes.

It is further expected that this new priority procedures will make Canada’s immigration system more efficient and competitive. It will also help manage future growth in the inventory of applications, improving service and reducing wait times.

The new Action Plan for Faster Immigration will come into force on its date of publication in Canada Gazette.

Conservative’s ethnic-outreach specialist promoted as the new Minister for Citizenship and Immigration

The Honorable Jason Kenney has been appointed new Minister for Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism by the Prime Minister Stephen Harper after a sweeping cabinet shuffle on Thursday.

Former Secretary of State for Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity Jason Kenney’s duties since January of 2007, when he took on the Secretary of State position, have been to connect new Canadians, and the various communities they populate, with the government of Canada and unofficially advocate as a Conservative ambassador to these groups on behalf of the party.

As a junior minister for multiculturalism for nearly two years, Mr. Kenney was well-known for his endless strings of dinners and gatherings with minority communities across Canada, making ceremonial declarations, a few formal apologies for Ottawa's past misdeeds and also wooing Conservative votes among groups that traditionally favored the Liberals.

Boosting ethnic-outreach specialist Jason Kenney to Immigration is a huge step up. He has been promoted as immigration minister at a time when new legislation gives his job unprecedented powers to decide what kind of worker gets into Canada first. Now the government is hoping that, as the new immigration minister, the young MP for Calgary Southeast will be able to use his strong ethnic ties to roll out the controversial immigration reforms rammed through by his predecessor, Diane Finley. Those reforms were contained in a budget bill passed during the final days of the last Parliament to further restrict immigrant selections.

Mr. Kenney, however, is pledging to align immigration policy to the economy's labor needs, rather than for political gain.

Mr. Kenney's appointment to the cabinet post also came with hopes by advocacy groups and the ethnic communities. They hope he will address their concerns over what they see as a dramatic shift in immigration policies that increasingly view newcomers as an economic unit, wanted for nothing more than their job skills.

Jason Kenney was first elected to the House of Commons in 1997 and re-elected in 2000, 2004, 2006, and most recently in 2008 with 76 per cent of the vote. In January 2007, Mr. Kenney was appointed Secretary of State (Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity). He previously served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister.

Mr. Kenney was Chair of the Subcommittee on International Human Rights and the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development, and a member of the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics.

Prior to seeking election, Mr. Kenney served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

Mr. Kenney was born in Ontario and raised in Saskatchewan, where he graduated from Notre Dame College. He did undergraduate studies in philosophy at the St. Ignatius Institute of the University of San Francisco.

Former Secretary of State for Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity Jason Kenney would retain his duties in Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity but bring these under the umbrella of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC).

Although, the broad cabinet overhaul enlarged Prime Minister’s second-term cabinet by ten per cent but it is expected that it will give the Conservatives' hard-edge image a younger feel with dramatically improved gender balance and decent ministers from almost every region of the country. The cabinet is now super-sized at 38 members, up four from its last version.