As of January 11, 2024, the Hard-to-Fill Skills Pilot is closed for a program review, to be completed in spring 2024. Occupations in the health care, agriculture or value-add agriculture sectors are excluded from the closure.
Job Approval Forms received prior to January 11, 2024, will be processed if candidates were identified at the time of submission or if existing employees working in Saskatchewan are added by January 22, 2024.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller says in Ottawa that he’ll be scrutinizing the number of international students and other non-permanent residents coming into Canada as political tension builds around the interplay between housing affordability and immigration.
In an interview airing Sunday on Rosemary Barton Live, Miller said the relationship between housing and immigration is complex, and it was discussed around the cabinet table when it came to setting targets for the number of people coming in to Canada.
“Housing has and continues to be a concern, acutely so now in a post-COVID scenario, with the increase in interest rates, with supply challenges, but also just affordability challenges,” Miller told CBC chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton.
It isn’t immigrants that raised interest rates, but volume is volume and it’s something that we need to look at.”
Canada is facing major challenges around housing affordability. The Conservative opposition has sought to place the blame on the Liberal government by linking government deficits with rising interest rates.
sourse: CBC
In two new rounds of invitations, the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) issued 1,451 invitations to apply for permanent residency today.
630 invitations were sent under the OINP Foreign Worker stream to profiles with a score of 33 or higher and a job offer in any of the 63 skilled trade occupations.
On December 5, 2023, 821 invites were sent to profiles with a job offer in any of the 41 healthcare and 15 tech occupations (listed later in this article) and a score of 40 or higher in another OINP Foreign Worker stream draw. These scores were slightly lower than in previous draws.
| Invitations | Date profiles created | Score range | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 630 | January 9, 2023 – January 9, 2024 | 33 and above | Targeted draw for 63 skilled trades occupations |
| 821 | January 9, 2023 – January 9, 2024 | 40 and above | Targeted draw for 41 healthcare and 15 tech occupations |
The International Student stream for permanent residency has been modified by the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) in order to increase eligibility for foreign students who have obtained a one-year college graduate certificate. These new OINP changes to the International Student Stream will take effect on January 1, 2024, and will not affect those who applied before that date.
All one-year college programs that grant an Ontario College Graduate Certificate are now eligible to apply through the OINP’s International Student stream. Previously, applicants with a one-year certificate from an approved institution could only apply through the OINP’s International Student stream if the program required the completion of a degree as a prerequisite for admission.
| Effective January 1, 2024 Prior to January 1, 2024 | After 1st janury | |
| Program requirement | Students who completed a one-year certificate from an Ontario college resulting in an Ontario College Graduate Certificate are eligible. | Students who completed a one-year certificate from an Ontario college were only eligible if their program required a degree for admission. |
| Program eligibility | Most one-year graduate certificate programs in Ontario will become eligible. | Most certificates were ineligible |
670 Invitations to Apply (ITAs) have been sent out by Canada in a new Express Entry draw that is focused on the transportation industry as truck drivers.
The draw, which took place on December 20, was the second to target the transportation industry after occupation-specific invitations were announced.
A minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 435 points was required in the fifth Express Entry draw held this month.