Immigration and Canada: Expectations in June

June

For the past few months, the various countries of the world are facing the pandemic and taking the actions accordingly. Canada has closed the international border and taken various measures to fight the pandemic as well as provide various services to locals and immigrants. Some big announcements are expected this month from the Canadian government.

The announcements include whether or not Canada will reopen the borders, the travel restrictions will be lifted or not, various draws for immigration program takes place, or the immigration process gets normal, and so on. It is expected that the Canada-US border may be opened on June 21 and other international travel may start after June 30.

As for now, the travel restriction is the main concern for immigrants, but in addition to that, there are certain other developments that we have to look forward to. You may check out the details below.

This month, four draws are expected for Express Entry that may include Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP), and the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) as shown in the trend where the draw was held every two weeks on Wednesday.

As the travel restrictions are implemented since March, Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has been holding draws that invite candidates from CEC and Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) for permanent residence. As per the trend, Canada targets PNP in a draw and CEC in the next and the two draws have been happening in pairs about every two weeks apart.

It is difficult to predict the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) draws as they are mostly based on the interest of immigration candidates as well as the province’s individual labour market needs.

Although we may review some previous draws where British Columbia holds tech pilot every week and the tech pilot program was extended until June 2020. So we may expect a new announcement soon.

Alberta usually holds a draw once a month but the province has not made any specific announcement recently.

Saskatchewan, before the travel restriction, held draw twice per month this year while the latest one was at the end of May. The next draw may in this month or next depending upon the situation.

Ontario holds the frequent draws and so far in the year, they have held ten different draws including the latest round on June 3. So we may expect to draw this month again according to the given conditions or requirements.

Quebec does not have a PNP, instead, they have their own immigration system. Province will implement some new changes in the requirement of its popular Quebec Experience Program (PEQ) in the coming weeks as announced by the authority along with two new programs for Nursed Aides and Tech Workers.

We have to wait for the announcements as its decision of the respective authorities.

 

More language testing centres scheduled to re-open

The tests like CELPIP and IELTS were suspended temporarily due to pandemic and as mentioned in our recent articles/news, the test centres were going to open soon. Certain provinces like British Columbia, Alberta, and Manitoba will be starting the tests soon along with countries like Hong Kong. IELTS webpage has the lists of locations around the world where the tests are running currently and report that some countries will start the centres this month.

Both the tests are expected to resume in India and other major markets in the coming days. However, it is difficult to mention the exact point in time.

 

Renewal of Open Work Permit Pilot for spouses and common-law partners

The Open Work Permit (OWP) allows foreign national spouses or common-law partners of Canadians to work while their application for permanent residence is being processed. Canada is set to announce whether the OWP pilot will be renewed or not in the coming days. The deadline to renew the pilot is 31st July.


 

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