Canada immigrant alert: 250,000 allowed in 2014... details here

Economic immigrants will be the most successful of those wishing to become a permanent resident of Canada in 2014. Next year, economic immigrants will make up a higher percentage of newcomers to the country than ever before.

That was concluded based on the Annual Report of Immigration, presented to Parliament in Canada last week. The report includes important information on the Canadian Government’s plans for immigration in 2014.

According to the report, Canada expects to welcome between 240,000 and 265,000 new permanent residents in 2014, a similar number to the target immigration levels in previous years.

The focus of the immigration program will be on the economic immigrant. Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) announced that 63 per cent of the new immigrants will receive permanent residency through an economic immigration program.

Further, a quarter of the new immigrants, or 69,000 applicants, will receive residency under the family sponsorship stream, a program dedicated to the reunification of families in Canada.

The third option – receiving residency on a refugee basis – forms the least likely option; the expected rate of immigrants accepted as a refugee is 10 per cent.

“Securing economic growth is and will remain our government’s top priority,” Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander was quoted as saying. “Canada is in a global competition for the best and brightest immigrants, and this plan is crafted with attracting the people we need for Canada to succeed.”

Earlier this year the Canadian government announced it will gradually move to an Expression of Interest (EOI) model of immigration in 2015. This model, which is currently adopted in Australia and New Zealand, aims to tailor the incoming stream of immigrants to the local economy more directly.

Under the EOI programme, prospective immigrants first complete an online form which states their interest in becoming a permanent resident of Canada. After that, candidates end up in a pool which can be used by employers and Federal, Provincial and Territorial governments to select those employees that are in demand.

While economic immigrants will be drawn from all of these programs, CIC anticipates record levels of admissions from Provincial Nominee Programs and the Canadian Experience Class program, became clear in the Annual Report.

Other economic programs immigrants can enter are the Federal Skilled Worker Program, Federal Skilled Trades Program, or the Business Immigration Programs.

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