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  • An encyclopedic guide to the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot program

    An encyclopedic guide to the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot program (RNIP)

    The Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot Program is one of the successful ideas generated in the year 2019 right after the success of the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program, which was introduced in the year of 2017. Now the very recent is Yukon Community Pilot Program which is also introduced just to stimulate economic growth by attracting skilled immigrants.

    Canada is always known for attracting immigrants in terms of giving quick permanent residence. The majority of immigrants choose to live in cities like Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. The RNIP came into action just to bring skilled immigrants to Canada’s rural areas and by doing so they are looking for a stable economy.

    Rural and Northern Immigration
    RNIP

    What is RNIP?

    The Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot Program is community-driven, where various communities selected for this program are all in all. Permanent Residence is one of the key ingredients of this program.
    RNIP

    Communities with their provinces are below listed

    A. Ontario (North Bay, Sudbury, Timmins, Sault Ste. Marie, Thunder Bay)
    B. Manitoba (Brandon, Altona/Rhineland)
    C. Saskatchewan (Moose Jaw)
    D. Alberta (Claresholm)
    E. British Columbia (Vernon, West Kootenay)
    F. Nunavut
    G. The Northwest Territories
    H. Yukon
    RNIP

    What is the process to apply?

    You are just four steps away from the permanent residence application
    You need to check the requirements as per the IRCC eligibility list and the community-specific list.

    a. IRCC requirements:

    i. Minimum 1 year of work experience inside or outside of Canada with mentioned hours and you should mention your essential
    duties which are listed in your National Occupational Classification (NOC).

    ii. International students are exempted from work experience if they have completed >= 2 years of course within the community.

    iii. Language requirement as part Canadian Language Benchmark(CLB) standard.

    NOC 0 & A: CLB-6

    NOC B: CLB-5

    NOC C & D: CLB-4

    iv. Educational must be a minimum of high school level/diploma and should have the Educational Credential Report.

    v. You need to show settlement funds as per the IRCC list.

    b. Each community will also have its process

    i. Eligibility requirements

    ii. Job search process

    iii. Recommendation Process: You can find that in the specific community website.

    Find a job from the specific community employer you are applying for.

    Above all, if you intend to participate in this pilot program you should have a clear plan to live in the community.

    After getting a job offer you need to apply for a community recommendation.
    If the community recommends you then you can apply for permanent residence.

  • IRCC Issued a Record Number of EOIs in January

    IRCC Issued a Record Number of EOIs in January

    The Canada Government held its latest draw for Federal Express Entry on January 30, 2019.

    A total of 3,350 ITAs (Invitations to Apply) were issued in this draw. The minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score for this draw was 438. It was the lowest cut-off score in a draw.

    Candidates who received an ITA have a maximum of 60 days to submit their application for Canadian permanent residence.

    With this draw, a total of 11,150 ITAs were issued in January. This is the biggest start in the history of the Express Entry system.

    Candidates, who wish to apply, must be eligible in one of the following categories:

    • Federal Skilled Worker Class,
    • Federal Skilled Trades Class and
    • Canadian Experience Class.

    Eligible candidates receive a score (Comprehensive Ranking System or CRS) and are ranked accordingly. ITAs are issued to higher ranking applicants in the draws.

    For this draw, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) used the ‘tie-break’ method to select candidates. The ‘tie-break’ is a method of choosing candidates with the same CRS score. It ranks candidates based on the time their profile was submitted. The candidate whose profile has been in the pool longer gets priority.

  • IRCC Extends Open Work Permit Pilot till Next Year

    IRCC Extends Open Work Permit Pilot till Next Year

    The Government of Canada has recently announced the extension of the Open Work Permit Pilot. The Pilot was scheduled to expire on January 31, 2019, but it will be extended till July 31, 2020. Since the start of the program in 2014, this is the fourth extension of the program.

     

    What is the Open Work Permit Pilot Program?

    This program is also called the Spousal Sponsorship program. It is a section of the Family Class immigration. This program enables any qualified spouse or common-law partner, who are sponsored under the Spousal And Common-law Partner Sponsorship, to apply for an open work permit.

    An open work permit is one that is independent of the employer or job position.

     

    How to Apply for Open Work Permit?

    Candidates have to submit a work permit application along with their sponsorship application. Applicants must have valid temporary resident status, either as a visitor, student or worker, and live at the same address as their sponsor, in order to be eligible.

  • BC Holds Another Weekly Tech Pilot Draw

    British Columbia conducted the latest draw for Tech Pilot on February 5, 2019.

    British Columbia conducted the latest draw for Tech Pilot on February 5, 2019. British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP) issued 32 ITAs (Invitations to Apply) for Permanent Residency. The candidates were chosen from Skills Immigration and Express Entry streams. The Express Entry candidates who received an invitation in this draw received an extra 600 points in their CRS score.

    What is BC Tech Pilot?

    British Columbia is one of the booming markets for tech jobs in Canada. However, the province does not have enough skilled worker to meet the increasing demands for talents. The BC PNP Tech Pilot is a program launched under the BC Provincial Nominee Program. This program is aimed at recruiting top foreign talents in British Columbia’s tech sector. BC had launched its Tech Pilot Stream to hire more skilled talents for its growing tech jobs market.
    To be eligible, candidates must meet the following criteria:
    Have an offer letter for a job which has at least a 1-year term.
    Your job must be in the tech pilot’s 29 priority occupations.
    The BC PNP Tech Pilot has some appealing benefits
    Issuing of weekly invitations to “tech-only” applicants;
    Priority-based processing;
    One-on-one employer support and other PNP sessions and events.
    BC PNP Tech Pilot has priority processing. Thus, applications are usually processed within 2-3 months.

    The Tech Pilot conducts draws every week. Hence, don’t miss the next deadline!

  • New Federal Program to Assist Permanent Residency Immigration in Rural and Northern Canada

    New Federal Program to Assist Permanent Residency Immigration in Rural and Northern Canada

    On January 24, the Government of Canada announced the launch of its new immigration program. The program is called Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot. It is a five-year plan and is similar to the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program. The objective of the program is to provide various assistance to small rural communities to help foreign workers in settling as a Permanent Resident:

    The participating provinces and territories are:

    • Ontario
    • Manitoba
    • Saskatchewan
    • Alberta
    • British Columbia
    • Yukon
    • Northwest Territories
    • Nunavut

    This program will be operating simultaneously with the Provincial Nominee Programs. Communities, willing to participate, have to submit an application to IRCC by March 1, 2019. They also have to fulfil all the eligibility requirements.

    The launch of this program is a major effort in promoting permanent residency among new immigrant in Canada!

  • Canada to reopen Parents and Grandparents Program in late January

    Canada to reopen Parents and Grandparents Program in late January

    The Government of Canada had announced the reopening of the Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) last week. The program is scheduled to reopen from January 28, 2019.

     

    What is the Parents and Grandparents Program?

    The PGP allows the permanent residents and citizens of Canada, who are 18 years of age or above, to sponsor their parents/grandparents for Canadian Permanent Residence.

     

    How to Apply?

    Interested applicants should complete the Interest to Sponsor form. The form will be available from 12 PM (EST) on January 28. They should also check the eligibility requirements beforehand. One of the main eligibility criteria is the Minimum Necessary Income. Applicants will also have to submit a copy of the document with their status in Canada document.

    After submission, IRCC will notify all invited candidates. They will have a minimum of 60 days to submit their complete application and other required documents.

    Candidates will be selected for the invitation on a “first-come, first-serve” basis.

  • Canada holds first Express Entry draw of 2019

    Canada holds first Express Entry draw of 2019

    The Canada Government held the first draw of 2019 for Federal Express Entry. The draw was held on January 10, 2019.

    A total of 3,900 ITAs (Invitations to Apply) were issued in this draw. The minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score for this draw was 449. This was the lowest cut-off score used this year.

    Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) used the ‘tie-break’ method to select candidates. The ‘tie-break’ is a method of choosing candidates with the same CRS score. It ranks candidates based on the time their profile was submitted. The candidate whose profile has been in the pool longer gets priority.

    Candidates who received an ITA have a maximum of 60 days to submit their application for Canadian permanent residence.

    Candidates, who wish to apply for Express Entry, must be eligible in one of the following categories:

    • Federal Skilled Worker Class,
    • Federal Skilled Trades Class and
    • Canadian Experience Class.

     

    Eligible candidates receive a score (Comprehensive Ranking System or CRS) and are ranked accordingly. ITAs are issued to higher ranking applicants in the draws.

    In 2018, a total of 89,800 ITAs were issued. For 2019, the IRCC has set a target of 81,400 ITAs. It is evident that the Canadian Government is trying to invite more candidates to apply for Permanent Residency. The prospects for Canadian Immigration are growing every day. This makes it an ideal time to consider moving to Canada as a Permanent Resident!

  • Canada PNP has started holding new draws for 2019

    Canada PNP has started holding new draws for 2019

    Canada’s Provincial Nominee Programs or PNP had seen major developments last year. PNP allows the participating Canadian provinces and territories to nominate candidates from the Federal Express Entry pool. Nominated candidates receive an additional 600 points to their CRS score. It increases their probability of receiving an Invitation to Apply (ITA) in the next Federal draw.

    n 2018, 34,700 candidates were nominated through PNP (an increase by 1300 from 2017). It is expected that there will be more nominations this year. However, IRCC has not released any numbers yet.

    Within the first week of 2019, a couple of draws has already been held in the provinces of British Columbia and Saskatchewan.

    • On January 2, BC issued the first invitations to candidates in Skilled Worker, International Graduate and Skills Immigration — Entry Level and Semi-Skilled. The lowest scores were 85 for Skilled Worker, 95 for International Graduate and 68 for Entry Level and Semi-Skilled. A total of 151 invitations were issued.
    • On January 3, Saskatchewan issued invitations to candidates in the Entrepreneur category. 90 invitations were issued in this draw. The scores range of the nominated candidates was 115 – 150.

  • Manitoba issues 492 invitations in another big December draw

    Manitoba Issues 492 Invitations in Another Big December Draw

    On December 20, Manitoba conducted its second provincial nomination draw of the month, issuing 492 invitations through the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP). This draw follows the previous one held on December 5, making December a crucial month for aspiring immigrants looking to settle in Manitoba, Canada.

    Manitoba’s provincial nomination program continues to be one of the most popular ways for skilled workers from around the world to immigrate to Canada. The province’s December 20 draw targeted individuals in two main streams: the Skilled Workers Overseas Stream and the Skilled Workers in Manitoba Stream, in addition to the International Education Stream.

    Manitoba Issues 492

    Breakdown of the December 20 Draw

    In this latest draw, the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP) issued 492 Letters of Advice to Apply (LAAs) to candidates through its Expression of Interest (EOI) system. Here’s a breakdown of the invitations:

    1. Skilled Workers Overseas Stream:

      • 351 candidates received invitations.
      • The lowest-ranked candidate had a score of 576 points, making this a competitive draw for overseas applicants.

    2. Skilled Workers in Manitoba Stream:

      • 106 candidates were issued invitations.
      • The lowest score accepted from this stream was 502, indicating strong qualifications among candidates already working within the province.

    3. International Education Stream:

      • The remaining 35 invitations were issued to candidates in this stream, which is geared towards international graduates from Manitoba post-secondary institutions who have demonstrated skills in high demand within the province.

    In total, this draw provided 492 candidates with the opportunity to move forward in their immigration process, bringing them one step closer to securing permanent residency in Canada.

    Importance of the Federal Express Entry System

    Among the candidates invited through the Skilled Workers Overseas Stream, some were selected from the Federal Express Entry system. Although the exact number of Express Entry candidates chosen in this draw was not specified, those who received a Letter of Advice to Apply will benefit significantly.

    When Express Entry candidates receive an invitation through a provincial nomination, they are awarded an additional 600 Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points. This massive boost in CRS score almost guarantees that they will receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA) in a subsequent Federal Express Entry draw.

    What is the Federal Express Entry System?

    The Express Entry system is the Canadian government’s primary platform for managing immigration applications from skilled workers. It operates under three main categories:

    • Federal Skilled Worker Class (FSWC)
    • Federal Skilled Trades Class (FSTC)
    • Canadian Experience Class (CEC)

    By creating an Express Entry profile, candidates are assessed based on various factors such as age, education, work experience, and language proficiency. They are then given a CRS score, which determines their ranking in the Express Entry pool. Periodically, the federal government holds draws from this pool, issuing invitations to candidates with the highest scores to apply for permanent residence.

    When candidates receive a provincial nomination, it greatly increases their chances of receiving an ITA in the Express Entry system, accelerating their immigration journey.

    Understanding the Expression of Interest (EOI) System

    The Expression of Interest (EOI) system is a vital component of Manitoba’s immigration process, serving as a pre-application for candidates interested in applying for the MPNP.

    Candidates must submit an EOI by answering a series of questions about their:

    • Work experience
    • Education
    • Proficiency in English or French
    • Connections to Manitoba (such as having family members in the province or previous work experience in Manitoba)

    Based on their answers, candidates receive a score, which is then ranked in comparison to other applicants. The highest-ranking candidates are issued Letters of Advice to Apply (LAAs), enabling them to proceed with the formal application for provincial nomination.

    How EOI Works

    1. Submission of EOI: Candidates create an online profile and answer questions about their background.
    2. Scoring: Points are awarded based on the candidate’s answers. Factors such as education, language proficiency, and work experience play a key role in the scoring system.
    3. Ranking: Candidates are ranked against others in the pool based on their score. Those with the highest scores are most likely to receive an invitation to apply in a subsequent draw.

    The EOI system ensures that Manitoba selects the most qualified individuals who are most likely to contribute to the province’s economy and community.

    Manitoba’s Skilled Workers Overseas Stream

    The Skilled Workers Overseas Stream targets foreign nationals who have demonstrated the potential to succeed in Manitoba’s labor market. These individuals may be working outside of Canada or residing in the country on temporary permits. To qualify under this stream, candidates must have a strong connection to Manitoba, such as:

    • Previous employment experience in Manitoba
    • Close family ties in the province
    • An Invitation to Apply through a Strategic Recruitment Initiative

    In the December 20 draw, 351 invitations were issued under this stream, with the lowest-ranked candidate scoring 576 points. Given the highly competitive nature of this stream, candidates must ensure they present a strong profile to increase their chances of success.

     

    Manitoba’s Skilled Workers in Manitoba Stream

    The Skilled Workers in Manitoba Stream targets individuals who are already working in the province on temporary work permits. This stream is designed to facilitate the transition of temporary workers into permanent residents, provided they meet specific eligibility requirements.

    In this draw, 106 invitations were issued under the Skilled Workers in Manitoba Stream, with a minimum score of 502 points. This stream provides a valuable opportunity for skilled workers currently residing in Manitoba to secure permanent residency and continue contributing to the province’s economy.

    International Education Stream

    Finally, the International Education Stream is aimed at international graduates from post-secondary institutions in Manitoba. This stream supports the retention of young talent in the province, addressing labor market needs in key sectors.

    In the December 20 draw, 35 invitations were issued to candidates under this stream, giving highly educated and skilled individuals the chance to remain in Manitoba and build a future in the province.

    Conclusion

    Manitoba’s December 20 draw stands as another significant step in the province’s efforts to attract skilled workers and international graduates. With 492 Letters of Advice to Apply issued across three different streams, this draw opens up new opportunities for individuals aspiring to become permanent residents of Canada.

    If you’re interested in applying for Manitoba’s Provincial Nominee Program or would like to explore your immigration options, GreenTech Resources is here to help. As licensed recruiters and immigration consultants, we can guide you through the process and increase your chances of success. Contact us today to begin your Canadian immigration journey.

  • Latest Express Entry breaks Federal ITA record

    Latest Express Entry breaks Federal ITA record

    The latest federal draw for Express Entry was held on December 19, 2018.

    A total of 3,900 ITAs (Invitations to Apply) were issued in this draw. This draw was amongst one of the largest ones held this year.

    This year a total of 89,800 ITAs were issued. This broke last year’s ICCRC record. ICCRC had issued a total of 86,023 ITAs in 2017

    The minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score for this draw was 439. This was the lowest cut-off score used this year.

    Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) used the ‘tie-break’ method to select candidates.

    The ‘tie-break’ is a method of choosing candidates with the same CRS score. It ranks candidates based on the time their profile was submitted. The candidate whose profile has been in the pool longer gets priority.

    Candidates who received an ITA have a maximum of 60 days to submit their application for Canadian permanent residence.

    Candidates, who wish to apply, have to be eligible in one of the following categories:

    • Federal Skilled Worker Class,
    • Federal Skilled Trades Class and
    • Canadian Experience Class.

    Eligible candidates receive a score (Comprehensive Ranking System or CRS) and are ranked accordingly. ITAs are issued to higher ranking applicants in the draws.

    For the coming years, ICCRC has set increased targets. For 2019, the set target indicates 81,400 ITAs issued. The prospects for Canadian Immigration are growing every day. This makes it an ideal time to consider moving to Canada as a Permanent Resident!