With the holiday season and the New Year upon us, we have an opportunity to take a look back at the year that was and consider what we may expect in Canadian immigration in the year ahead.

The province of Nova Scotia unveiled on Tuesday the Family Business Worker stream of applicants for the Provincial Nomination Program. The program will allow immigrants with family members who will provide them with jobs in family businesses to come to Canada more easily.

The Honourable Monte Solberg, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) announced this month a plan to extend Off-Campus work permits for foreign students to students at private institutions.

Upon request, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) will provide a full refund to those who have provided advance payment for Right of Landing fees with parent or grandparent sponsorship applications.

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. - Eleanor Roosevelt

As the curtain comes down on another calendar year it’s a time to reflect and look ahead.

Thinking back on this past year, there are many things I’m thankful for. In particular:

Hassan Samimifar is bitter, and it is hard to blame him for feeling that way.

Mr. Samimifar, an Iranian national, arrived in Canada 21 years ago and immediately applied for refugee status. Until 2003 he was waiting for an answer. When his file was finally addressed, his application was refused. After an immigration hearing scheduled for early December, Samimifar could be deported to Iran by early 2007.

The time it takes to complete the processing of a Canada Immigration (Permanent Resident) Visa under the Skilled Worker / Professional category can be lengthy. A Canadian job offer can help speed it up.

In October, the Honourable Monte Solberg, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration raised this year’s target for permanent residents. As Canadian birth rates decline and the economy grows, this upward trend has reached levels not seen in decades.

As businesses in Western Canada continue to experience shortages of labour, the Honourable Monte Solberg, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, announced changes to make it easier for companies to hire foreign workers.

A bill working its way through the Ontario legislature targets professional occupations in an aim to help professionals who immigrate to fully integrate into the economy.

Spouses and common-law partners of temporary foreign workers and foreign students, who themselves want to work in Canada, will need an Open Work Permit.

Next week Ontario will go to the polls to vote in municipal elections.

Toronto incumbent Mayor David Miller has argued in the recent campaign that permanent residents living in his city should have the same right to vote in this election as Canadian citizens.

There are more than 200,000 undocumented individuals, more commonly known as illegal immigrants, currently residing in Canada.

Most have integrated in Canadian society and contribute to our economy by working at jobs that would otherwise go unfilled. The problem is that they did not play by the rules in getting to Canada or if they did enter legally, they have since overstayed the date by which they should have left.

While China remains the single largest source country for new Canadian permanent residents, it may not remain so for long as a rise in arrivals from South Asia is causing a shift in the makeup of Canadian immigration.

For professionals such as accountants, engineers and nurses, it is a job seeker’s market in Canada.

Canada is targeting foreign students at Canadian universities as a significant part of its economic strategy.

There has been much talk these days about Malcolm Watson, the 35 year old American teacher recently convicted in the United States of having sexual contact with a 15 year old female student.

From October 16-22nd, Canada marked Canadian citizenship week, an annual tradition led by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. The week is intended to encourage Canadians to reflect on the rights, privileges and responsibilities of Canadians.

Recently, Canadian newspaper editorials have called into question our policy of recognizing multi-citizenships.

The Canadian ideal has been to distinguish ourselves as a “mosaic” rather than a melting pot. In 1971, Canada became the first country in the world to officially adopt a policy of multiculturalism. This policy encourages immigrants to retain their culture, becoming if you will, “hyphenated” Canadians. This cultural combination has become a foundational point for Canadian society.

Both the Provincial Nomination Program and Arranged Employment in Canada can significantly speed up the Canadian Immigration Application Process.

Service Canada (SC) and the Association of Canadian Community Colleges (ACCC) join to help integrate immigrants into the Canadian workforce.

With the likelihood of another Federal election looming over Canada’s Conservative government, winning immigrant voters will make all the difference at the polls.

We are often asked if there are ways to speed-up the processing of an application for a Canada Immigrant (Permanent Resident) Visa. There are.

The Liberal Party of Canada always faired well with Immigrant Canadians, however Harper’s Conservative government is attempting to challenge conventional wisdom and position itself as Canada’s new “Party for Immigrants”.

The Government reached out to Atlantic Canada’s largest Lebanese community recently, promising to do what it could to ease the humanitarian crisis in the war-torn country.

This month marks the launch of the new CICNews.com! The good folks here at Campbell Cohen have been working hard to release the newest version of Canada ’s ‘unofficial’ monthly immigration newsletter.

Letter by the CCA requests the Federal Government look closely at improving Canada ’s immigration system with “meaningful reform” facilitating entry into Canada ’s booming construction industry.

The House of Commons committee (HCC) on citizenship and immigration is calling on the Federal Government of Canada to stop all deportations of undocumented workers until a new immigration policy is established.

CIC continues to process immigration applications to Canada while the Government evacuates Canadian Citizens.

People marry for all kinds of reasons. Love. Money. Companionship. A better life. Most of the time, the decision to marry is complex and involves multiple reasons. Who could possibly state with conviction that they know exactly why another person decided to tie the knot?

Over the Canada Day long weekend, I wrote a letter to the Montreal Gazette in response to their editorial about Yves Bourbonnais, the former Immigration and Refugee Board appeals division judge who has pleaded guilty of receiving bribes. I’d like to elaborate on a few of the points I raised in the Gazette.

The lack of skilled construction workers threatens to bulldoze Alberta’s white-hot construction industry growth if the critical labour deficit is not adequately addressed. The Conference Board of Canada (CBC) estimates that approximately 332,000 workers will be needed by 2025.

Ludhiana-based Punjab Agricultural University ( PAU ), India , prepares prospective immigrant Indian farmers in Canadian farm practices.

Farmers wanting to immigrate to Canada can do so under Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s (CIC) Business Immigration Program under the Self-Employed category. This category is open only to individuals with prior self-employed experience as farmers, athletes (at an international level), or artisans.

Toronto Pride Week’s theme “fearless in 2006″, serves as a reminder to some Canadian refugees that in many parts of the world, being gay means the difference between life and death.

New fairness commissioner would make regulatory bodies accountable for how they treat immigrants

Former Immigration and Refugee Board appeals division judge Yves Bourbonnais pleaded guilty yesterday to multiple counts of obstruction of justice stemming from his leading role in a bribery scheme that targeted cases he was scheduled to hear. He was sentenced to six years in prison.

In a recent speech, Prime Minister Stephen Harper defended the need to keep Canadian borders open against calls that immigration was breeding terrorism in Canada.

As if we have a choice.

Apparently “respect your elders” is a proverb that officials at Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) have never heard.

While Canadian citizens and permanent residents have little problem gaining status for their spouses and children, there is an increasing backlog of parents and grandparents hoping to reunite with their family members. A 2005 promise by the Liberals to triple the number of parental and grandparent sponsorships from 6,000 to 18, 000 a year hides the fact that this number is in fact lower than pre-2002 levels. This is simply not high enough, as years of limiting sponsorships to 6,000 a year has contributed to a crippling 100,000 person waitlist.

Canada welcomes more immigrants per capita than any other immigrant-receiving nation in the world. Last year, Canada received over 260,000 newcomers and newly-appointed Immigration Minister Monte Solberg has expressed his desire to “see the numbers stay about where they are right now”.

Oilsands production is expected to bounce from 45% to 80% of production capacity by 2020. The province of Alberta’s unemployment rate is at a near record low and the demand for manpower far exceeds the available supply of skilled workers in many sectors of the economy.

Ontario’s Immigration minister Mike Colle says the “career bridging” program will benefit more than 3,000 newly-landed Canadian immigrants.

In the first 100 days of the Harper government, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has been busy strategically charming Canada’s massive immigrant population.

The Province wants to attract more immigrants by allowing economic immigrants to establish businesses in all sectors of the provincial economy.

Effective as of May 1st, 2006 the 90-day retake policy regarding candidates who must redo their IELTS was amended.

Government plans to make it easier for Canadian parents to adopt foreign-born children.
New law will ease the way for professional credentials recognition in Quebec.
Right of Permanent Resident Fee reduced by half.

The Liberal Party leadership race has been a pretty uninspired affair so far. No candidate has yet to position himself/herself as the favorite, and the leading candidates haven’t distinguished themselves anymore than as “that guy who taught at Harvard”.

Last week I was interviewed by a reporter from the CBC, Canada’s national television network, for a story they were doing about the sad situation of Laila Elumbra. Television being what it is, most of the interview ended up on the cutting-room floor by the time it reached television screens. I feel strongly about the subject matter and I’m using this space to share my thoughts with readers.

Do you want to feel ridiculous?Go try and tell someone who is enjoying a meal that they aren’t eating like a Canadian. Now try telling that to a seven-year old boy.

Saskatchewan has launched a test program which provides a facilitated means for Ukrainian skilled workers to obtain work permits through the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP).