By Uglobal Staff
The Canadian prime minister has listed new priorities for the country's immigration system, which among many things puts an emphasis on faster application processing times as well as a fee exemption for those applying for citizenship.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has unveiled the new priorities in his mandate letter to his new immigration minister, giving an overview of what the Liberal party led government intends to do during its third consecutive term in office following the September elections.
The prime minister called for making the citizenship processing fee for permanent residents in Canada completely free. He also urged for improvement in the Global Talent Stream by forming a new Trusted Employer system and a simplified process to renew residence and work permits. In addition, Trudeau pushed for expansion of permanent residency pathways for foreigners, including students and skilled workers.
Other priorities for the government include providing more support to Quebec in its immigration drive from Francophone countries, creating a new Municipal Nominee Program to overcome labor workforce shortages, improving family reunification processes and the resettling of 40,000 Afghan refugees.
SUCCESS EXPRESS ENTRY APPLICANTS DECLINING
The Express Entry stream has not performed as expected during the pandemic, a report from the Canadian government showed.
The number of people who were successfully able to gain permanent residency via the Express Entry stream is in fact at a three-year low, according to the report. This is despite the fact that the number of people invited by the government to apply under the program remains high. For example, in 2020, 63,923 applicants out of the total 107,000 invitations issued were successful under the program.
Most people who received an invitation under the Express Entry stream between 2018 and 2020 were those who were already in Canada. Other candidates who were invited were mostly from India, the U.S., Nigeria, the UAE and Pakistan, the report added.
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