Canadian Immigration News Briefs for Mid-March 2012

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

• Western provinces seek greater authority

Severe labour shortages in Western provinces have resulted in some provincial leaders calling for radical changes in immigration procedures. >>Read more...

• Immigration Minister talks of aggressive moves to reduce backlog

Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney suggested Wednesday the possibility of legislating away Canada’s backlog of immigration applications. >>Read more...

• New sponsorship restriction aims to reduce marriage fraud

In an effort to cut down on spousal sponsorship fraud, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has put into action a new requirement where any new immigrant to Canada sponsored by a spouse or partner must have permanent residency (PR) status for 5 years before they themselves can sponsor a new spouse or partner from abroad. >>Read more...

• More action on Alberta’s labour shortage dilemma

A newly formed group called the Alberta Coalition for Action on Labour Shortage (ACALS) is pushing the federal government of Canada to amend immigration policies to address a significant labour shortage. >>Read more...