Canada still allows high volume skilled immigrants

As reported by Work Permit, preliminary figures recently released by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) reveal that Canada continued admitting a high volume of new migrants into the nation in 2011. The report revealed an influx of 248,660 new permanent residents for 2011, among them 156,077 new economic migrants (which included those holding Canada’s skilled worker visa) and 56,419 more family class immigrants.

The Canadian Skilled Worker visa has a current yearly cap of 10,000 fresh applications with a limit of 500 for each occupation. Applicants who receive a job offer for an occupation in which there exists a shortage will not be affected by the limit. Those without such a job offer should keep in mind the limited number of available visas, as the 500 visa limit per occupation mat be reached quite quickly.

Jason Kenney, Canada’s Citizenship & Immigration Minister, said the country still has one of the world’s highest per-capita immigration rate. Immigration has long been a sustaining aspect of Canadian history and still plays a vital role in developing the country, he said.

Canada’s new Parent and Grandparent Super Visa is proving to be a popular option for new immigrants, as over a thousand applications have been approved since the scheme began last December. The overall approval rate has been 77 per cent.