2017 was a busy year for Canada Immigration. Throughout the year the immigration and citizenship system experienced various developments in its policies and structure, which eventually led to a massive success in its immigration structure. Canada had a much different year than its continental neighbour, the United States, where President Donald Trump spoke of immigration as a threat to both national security and jobs for American citizens- says a statement in the CIC News.

Here is an outline of the areas that were improved & made 2017 a pivotal year in Canada immigration:

Canada Express Entry:

This is the hero of 2017 Canada immigration success story. The year started to see the true potential of the federal government’s two-year-old economic immigration system. In a span of twelve months, nearly 86,023 Invitations to Apply (ITA) were issued in three of its federal categories. This number was more than the double of ITAs (33,782) which issued in 2016.

Comprehensive Ranking Score:

The CRS system experienced a slight shift in its points allotment structure. Candidates, instead of the 600 CRS rule for job offer are now allotted points between 50 to 200 (depending upon the NOC). Likewise, additional points for having siblings in Canada were introduced. Throughout the year, CRS remained at a favourable cut off range for aspirants in the Express Entry pool.

Nomination Allotment:

Through 2017, PNPs gained a tremendous importance in Canada immigration. Many of the PNP aligned with Canada Express Entry were active all the year through. Among the top provinces of the year in Canada Express Entry, Ontario was crowned at the first position. Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia followed the same. In the coming year, candidates interested to settle in Canada through PNP can expect a lot from Manitoba and Alberta. News reveals that both of these programs would be introducing an Express Entry aligned stream in the coming year.

Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program:

To cater the needs of employers of the Atlantic provinces of was to facilitate nearly 2000 immigrants in four provinces of Canada by the end of the year.

Family Reunification:

Federal programs gave way to a successful number of family immigration programs. Moreover, IRCC also reopened its Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) in 2017 to accept 10,000 new applications. To make the process smoother and faster, the government also implemented a new online form of Interest to Sponsor. Another significant shift in the family reunification aspect was an increase of dependent age to 22 from 19 years.

Citizenship:

In October, new rules took effect to help expedite the process of transitioning from Canadian permanent resident status to Canadian citizenship. Among the changes is the new stipulation that permanent residents need to accumulate three years of residency out of five, instead of four years out of six. Also, permanent residents who spent time in Canada as a foreign worker, international student, or protected person before transitioning to permanent residence can now count a portion of this time towards the residency days requirement, where each day spent in Canada on temporary status counts as half a day, up to a maximum of 365 days (statement from the CIC news).

Multi-year Plan:

In the month of November 2017, IRCC revealed a historic plan unveiling the country’s immigration plan for next three years. The Immigration Minister quotes this plan “the most ambitious immigration levels in recent Canadian history,” wherein a million-immigration target is set for Canada from 2018 to 2020.

CIC news confirms that Targets under the new plan would see the number of economic immigrants granted permanent residence through the three Express Entry categories increase by nearly 20 percent over 2017, from 71,000 to 85,800 in 2020. Provincial Nomination Program allotment targets would also rise by 32 percent and targets for Family Class immigrants would increase by a little over eight percent over those of this past year.

If believed by the sources, 2018 is certainly going to a year Express Entry candidates have been waiting for. Check your profile today in assistance of India’s best immigration experts and know your chances for immigration in 2018.

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