Canadian Immigration News Briefs for January 2011

The following is a summary of developments concerning Canadian Citizenship and Immigration that took place or were announced over the last few weeks.

• Helping immigrants integrate into the Canadian workforce

A Vancouver pilot project was launched this week in order to help skilled immigrants better integrate into the Canadian business world. The Newcomer's Mentorship Program is a joint project between the city of Vancouver and S.U.C.C.E.S.S., which is an organization for newcomers in Canada. >>Read more....

• 22,000 new jobs added to the Canadian labour market last December

Canada's unemployment rate has decreased to approximately 7.6% as a result of additional jobs being added to the labour market, matching the number of Canadians entering the labour force. Full-time employment increased along with people employed in the public sector. >>Read more...

• New Brunswick encouraging immigrant entrepreneurs

The city of Fredericton is helping new immigrant entrepreneurs through the Fredericton Business Immigrant Mentorship Program. The program, which originally began in 2009, was created specifically for immigrants who wish to invest in the local business community. Since then, the program has been successful at pairing new immigrants with mentors from various professional fields, such as accounting and finance, business marketing, professional sales and investment. >>Read more...

• More permanent residents wanted in Manitoba

In 2010, Manitoba experienced a 17% increase in the number of immigrants arriving in the province. It is estimated that over 15,000 permanent residents arrived in Manitoba this past year. Manitoba is hoping to increase that number to over 20,000 immigrants by 2016. >>Read more...