"Wait times for Family Class sponsorship applications for parents and grandparents now exceed seven years, and without taking action, those times will continue to grow, and that is unacceptable," said Minister Kenney.

Currently, there are more than 165,000 parents and grandparents who have applied to become permanent residents of Canada who are still waiting for a final decision.

As part of action plan for faster family reunification, Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s announced “Parent and Grandparent Super Visa”, a ten-year multiple entry visa that will allow an applicant to remain in Canada for up to two years.  This comes into effect in December 1, 2011.

CIC is also putting a two-year pause on the acceptance of new sponsorship applications for parents and grandparents effective November 5, 2011. This is to prevent build-up on the number of applications while working on the backlogs.

 

In 2012, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) plans to welcome 55,000–57,000 federal skilled workers up from 47,000–47,400 in 2011.

 “We recognize the importance of immigration to our labour market and we value the contributions of skilled immigrants who add to our international competitiveness” said Minister Kenney.

An extensive evaluation of the FSWP in 2010 has been completed by CIC. It found out that 89% of FSWs were self-employed or employed three years after landing; 95% of employers averred that FSWs met or exceeded their expectations.

This shows that skilled immigrants as continuously needed in Canada.

The Priority Occupation List (POL) is now down to 10,000 applications from last year’s 20,000. The same set of 29 eligible occupations is still the in-demand jobs in Canada under this immigration category.

Canadian Professional Immigration Services, Inc (CPIS) has launched an upgraded website to better serve more Filipinos who are planning to immigrate to Canada. The site’s new look which reflects Filipino façade is very user friendly with easy to navigate icons across all services offered by the company.