According to a report by Canada's Sing Tao Daily, Canadian Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Chris Alexander recently held a media teleconference to provide an explanation regarding the Ministry's recent announcement to cancel six occupational categories under the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) and offered several suggestions to those affected by the new policy.
Alexander stated that since its launch in 2008, the Canadian Experience Class has been a great success overall. The cancellation of the six occupational categories is primarily due to the fact that a sufficient number of applications in these categories have been received over the past two years. The suspension of new applications is intended to avoid a backlog while simultaneously attracting new immigrants with more diverse skills.
Alexander noted that since its inception, the Canadian Experience Class has become the fastest-growing economic immigration category. In September 2012, the country welcomed its 20,000th permanent resident through the CEC program. The number of annual admissions has continued to rise in recent years, with 9,300 permanent residents accepted via CEC in 2012 and 12,000 in 2013. The Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration expects that 15,000 people will obtain permanent residency through the CEC in 2014.
The Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration previously announced that effective November 9, the Canadian Experience Class would no longer accept applications for six occupations, including cooks, food service supervisors, administrative officers, administrative assistants, accounting technicians and bookkeepers, and retail sales supervisors. Alexander explained that the suspension of these six categories is mainly because too many similar applications were accepted over the past year or two, and there is currently a backlog of over 3,700 cases.
At the same time, there is a limit to the total number of CEC immigrants accepted each year. The Ministry has set a cap of 12,000 new applications to be accepted under the CEC category from November of this year to October of next year. If too many applications from the aforementioned six categories continue to be accepted, it would occupy quotas for other categories, thereby affecting the balance and diversity of talent attraction.
For applicants impacted by the aforementioned policy, Alexander offered several suggestions. First, do not give up hope of applying for Canadian immigration. Second, carefully research the more than 200 other occupational categories within the CEC and apply through other occupations. Third, apply through other economic immigration channels such as the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Federal Skilled Trades Program, or the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP).
He pointed out that recent adjustments to Canada's skilled immigration and skilled worker immigration policies are favorable to international students and young professional applicants. For example, in skilled immigration applications, the score for applicants over 35 has been increased, and the importance of language proficiency has been emphasized. Furthermore, processing times for these categories have been significantly shortened. He believes that individuals who have obtained a university degree in Canada, possess high language proficiency, and have more than one year of work experience should be strong candidates.