If you have been contemplating immigration to Canada, you would be wise to submit your application as soon as possible. Citing economic uncertainty and rising unemployment numbers in the country, Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has announced that Canada is considering reducing its immigration targets for 2009.

The Strategic Recruitment Stream of the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP) has recently been shaken up to reflect the province’s changing labour needs. Its popular US H1B Visa Holder category (for which applicants do not need a job offer) has been modified to reflect key occupations that are common among H1B holders. Additionally, two new categories have been created, which focus on foreign engineers and foreign tradespeople with work experience in Alberta.

Though Canada has been less affected by the global economic downturn than the United States and other OECD nations, the national unemployment rate has increased slightly over the past several months. This has prompted Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) to review immigration numbers to ensure that there will be enough jobs for newcomers once they arrive. Despite these trends, certain regions in Canada remain hot spots for jobs, where regional employers continue to seek skilled foreign workers to meet chronic labour gaps. Notably, the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Manitoba are still experiencing skills shortages and continue to recruit foreign workers to alleviate them.

What started as Ontario’s Pilot Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) in May 2007 has now come into its own as the full-fledged Opportunities Ontario Provincial Nominee Program. The Ontario PNP will now be welcoming a greater number of newcomers from a larger array of skilled occupations. The expansion of the program is great news for soon-to-be Canadian immigrants, many of whom plan to live in Ontario, as it offers a quicker and more efficient route to Canadian Permanent Residency.

On most days, I truly love what I do. Many lawyers spend their working lives locked in adversarial battles, where one side wins and the other loses. Not much fun, if you ask me. In my job I get to work in an environment, where most of the time there are no loses. Our clients nearly always get what they want… Canada gets what it needs… and I get to make a decent living from it all.