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British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and PEI invite candidates in this week’s PNP draws

Five provinces have invited candidates to apply for provincial nomination this week.

Immigration is a shared responsibility between the federal and provincial governments, Because of this, the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) was established in 1998 to allow provinces to nominate the economic immigration candidates they feel have the best chance of economically establishing within the province.The federal government releases the total number of PNP nominations each year in the Immigration Levels Plan and divides it among the provinces. The current immigration levels plan has a target of 117,500 new permanent residents admitted through the PNP per year by 2025.Discover if You Are Eligible for Canadian Immigration

On March 10, provincial immigration ministers endorsed a new multi-year immigration plan for the provinces that allows provinces to see the number of new permanent resident admissions that can be expected for up to three years in the future.Quebec does not have a PNP and is the only province in Canada that selects 100% of its economic immigrants. This is due to a unique agreement between the province and federal government.

Provincial immigration results April 15-21

British Columbia

BC invited more than 203 candidates in the latest BC PNP draw on April 18.

The largest draw invited 158 candidates over five streams in a general draw, meaning no occupations were targeted. Candidates from the skilled worker stream (including Express Entry candidates) required minimum scores of 104. Those from the International Graduate stream required scores of 104 and Entry Level and Semi-Skilled candidates required a score of 85.

The province also targeted 29 candidates in the skilled worker and international graduate streams for early childhood educators and assistants (NOC 42202), 16 candidates in healthcare occupations and less than five candidates in other priority occupations. All targeted candidates needed a minimum score of 60.

Alberta

The Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP) has held two draws so far in April with results only published this week. Invitations were issued to candidates with profiles in the Express Entry application management system.

The first draw took place on April 5. There were 53 candidates invited under the Designated Healthcare Pathway: Alberta Job Offer stream with Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) scores ranging from 300-600.

The second was on April 18 and invited 68 candidates from the Sector priority – Agriculture occupation with Alberta job offer stream, with CRS scores ranging from 300 to 700.

Saskatchewan

On April 20 Saskatchewan invited a total of 1067 candidates through the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP). Among them, 444 were nominated from the occupations-in-demand category and the remaining 623 were Express Entry candidates.

All candidates required a minimum score of 69.

This was the first SINP draw in a month and is significantly larger than the March 23 draw in which only 496 candidates received nominations.

Manitoba

On April 17, Manitoba invited 28 candidates from Ukraine in alignment with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s (IRCC) special immigration measures for those affected by the current unrest in the region.

Candidates must still meet certain eligibility criteria under the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program. For example, they require a Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB)  of 4 in reading, writing, speaking and listening as well as an established connection within the province. They must also be able to prove they have sufficient settlement funds.

Prince Edward Island

PEI invited 189 candidates on April 20 in the latest draw of the PEI PNP. Among those invited, 180 were in the Laboure and Express stream and the remaining nine were Business and Entrepreneur nominees who met the minimum point threshold of 72.

This draw indicates a return to the normal draw pattern for the province. PEI typically holds PNP draws once a month, however in March the province invited candidates in three draws, the last being on March 30.

IRCC issues another 3,500 invitations in latest Express Entry draw

Canada has issued 3,500 Invitations to Apply in a new all-program Express Entry draw.

The April 12 draw featured a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System score of 486, five points higher than the previous all-program draw, which took place on March 29.

This was Canada’s sixth all-program Express Entry draw of 2023, with the first two seeing 5,500 ITAs each and the next three 7,000. It has also conducted one draw targeted at Federal Skilled Worker candidates and three at Provincial Nominee Program candidates.

Canada has now issued 41,760 ITAs in 2023 after inviting 45,115 candidates in the whole of 2022.

IRCC issued a record 114,431 ITAs in 2021, to all Canadian Experience Class and Provincial Nominee Program candidates. It beat the previous record of 107,350 set in 2020.

Canada has a record immigration target of 465,000 for 2023.

The latest draw saw the tie-breaking rule implemented on July 19, 2023, at 7.05 am EST. If more than one candidate had the minimum CRS score, only those who submitted their Express Entry profiles before this date and time received invitations.

This was the 10th round of invitations under Express Entry in 2023 and 246^th overall.

Candidates have a 60-day window to submit their applications, which will be processed within the six-month standard.

How the PSAC strike will affect Canadians

The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) announced a strike Wednesday after failing to reach an agreement with its employer — the Government of Canada — on Tuesday night. Now Canadians are bracing for the fallout.

The strike by federal public workers involves staff of Service Canada, Global Affairs Canada, Veterans Affairs Canada and Indigenous Services Canada. It involves a number of bargaining groups, including about 35,000 Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) workers.

PSAC says more than 100,000 workers could walk off the job across Canada.

With about 155,000 non-essential workers on strike, this will affect everything from passport applications to tax return processing and immigration matters.

WATCH | PM comments after the negotiation deadline announcement:

It’s just days away from the tax deadline of April 30, and only a few months after the government reported clearing backlogs that have been plaguing the system during the pandemic.

How this affects Canadians

This week, the federal government released details on how a potential strike could affect services to Canadians, saying “certain services may be delayed or not delivered at all,” and that “the public may have trouble accessing some Government of Canada buildings where services are delivered.”

Here’s a summary of what may be disrupted:

• Passport processing, as Employment and Social Development Canada is warning that applications and other passport processing services may be partially or fully disrupted.
• Service Canada centres will be limited to clients in need of employment insurance, social insurance, the Canada Pension Plan and old age security.
• Global Affairs Canada says that the department will be limited to essential services in the event of a strike, but delays are expected.
• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada warns that people can expect delays with applications and appointments.
• Canada Revenue Agency warns there may be delays in processing income tax and benefit returns.
• Canadian Transportation Agency warns about delays to dispute resolutions and call-taking.

Bank forecasts inflation will be 3% by mid-2023 and return to 2% next year

The Bank of Canada decided to hold its interest rate steady at 4.5 per cent on Wednesday while the impact of its previous rate hikes filters down through the economy.

The bank’s move was widely anticipated by economists, because the bank had telegraphed its intention to hit pause on rate hikes after raising them eight times between March 2022 and February of this year.

After slashing its benchmark lending rate in the early days of the pandemic to keep the economy going, the bank began an aggressive campaign of rate hikes in early 2022 once inflation soared to its highest level in decades.

Canada’s inflation rate peaked at more than eight per cent in June 2022, and as of February 2023 had cooled to just over five per cent. Data for March is set to be released next week and it’s expected to show the rate has cooled to as low as four per cent.

Impact of labour disruptions at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

As of April 17, 2023, PSAC(Public Service Alliance of Canada), the largest union in the Canadian federal government, said it would go on strike if an agreement is not reached by Tuesday afternoon. As a result, Wednesday, April 18, 2023, there is a possibility that public employees will go on strike. If that happens, it could be the largest strike against a single employer in the history of Canada. Therefore, Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) would experience delays in processing applications.

What services might affect you if IRCC goes on strike?

The PSAC has 60 days to strike under legal circumstances. IRCC handles applications for visitor visas, temporary residence, permanent residence, and citizenship, so about 159,000 public servants can strike, according to the union. There could be delays with several IRCC services if a strike occurs, meaning some will be partially or entirely disrupted

POEA

Contrary to POEA’s claim against Canadian Provincial Nominee and Immigration Services, our immigration firm categorically denies having engaged in any conduct amounting to recruitment and/or employment activities in the Philippines pursuant to Republic Act No. 8042 as amended by Republic Act 10022.

We openly and publicly request and demand POEA to cease and desist from engaging in publication of misleading and deceptive information about Canadian Provincial Nominee and Immigration Services and its affiliates. Furthermore, we demand for a full disclosure of this investigation that has led to POEA’s adverse decision to engage in defamatory publications against CPNIS.

CPNIS is prepared to prove its status and professional track record as a respectable law abiding immigration firm in the Philippines. CPNIS is willing to fully comply with any and all applicable relevant laws, rules and regulations in order to reach an amicable conclusion.

CPNIS obtained independent legal counsel in the Philippines and the advice is as following:

“I confirm that attached advertisement does not make any claim or representation that you are recruiting persons for employment or offering any job placement services. At most, this ad should be construed as a simple statement or listing of occupations in Canada which are in “high demand”. As far as I can see on its face, there is nothing in the said ad that can be construed as anything that would suggest an offer of “recruitment” or “job placement”. 

Under the Labor Code, “Recruitment” and “Placement” is defined as “any act of canvassing, enlisting, contracting, transporting, utilizing, hiring or procuring workers and includes referrals, contract services, promising or advertising for employment, locally or abroad, whether for profit or not”. On the other hand, the term ‘illegal recruitment” refers to performing or undertaking the said act of “recruitment” and/or “placement” without a license. Based on my personal experience with CPNIS, I can categorically say that it does not engage in these activities. As far as I can say, the services of CPNIS are limited to document facilitation and visa assistance for permanent residency. To reiterate, these do not include any act of “recruitment” or “placement”.

Taking on overall look at the circumstances, as long as no such acts of “recruitment” and “placement” can be attributed to CPNIS, there is no reason for any person to suspect that it is engaged in these activities“.

Canadian Provincial Nominee and Immigration Service (CPNIS), operates under strict licence and direct scrutiny of Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC), a regulatory body mandated by the Government of Canada to regulate, monitor, discipline Canadian immigration consultants and protect consumer rights. Dr. Fereidon Alemi and Mr. Ashkan Alemi are the ICCRC licence holders of CPNIS which can be verified by visiting the website of ICCRC: http://www.iccrc-crcic.ca

The Canadian Embassy in the Philippines provides strict oversight over all Canadian recruitment agencies and as such they can verify whether CPNIS and/or its affiliates have ever engaged in any recruitment/employment activities or not.

CPNIS, during its tenure of operation in the Philippines and around the globe has always followed, respected and operated in accordance with its regulatory body rules and regulations and the laws of the host country in which it operates.

CPNIS has always endeavored to engage in best industry practices and refrained from any conduct that offends any rules and regulations in Canada or abroad.