Executive Summaries Apr 30, 2021
New Business Immigration Measures: What Your Foreign Workers Need to Know
Every month, our Immigration and Business Mobility Team monitors major news that may impact your foreign workers. Check out these April 2021 business immigration updates.
Re-watch our webinar “International Recruitment, Cross-Border Workers and Business Travel: What’s in Store for 2021?”
Canada Bans Flights from India and Pakistan for 30 Days
As India reported a surge of more than 314,000 new infections on April 22, 2021, the federal government has decided to ban passenger flights from India and Pakistan for 30 days amid rising COVID-19 case counts in India and concerns about mutations of the coronavirus.
Cargo flights will still be permitted in order to maintain shipments of essential supplies, such as vaccines and personal protective equipment.
Canada Opens Door to Permanent Residency for over 90,000 International Graduates and Temporary Workers with One-time Program
An innovative pathway to permanent residency for over 90,000 essential workers and international graduates who are actively contributing to Canada’s economy has been announced by the Government of Canada. These special public policies will grant permanent status to temporary workers and international graduates who are already in Canada and who possess the skills and experience needed to fight the pandemic and accelerate Canada’s economic recovery.
Quebec-Ontario Border Closes Only Essential Travel Allowed
The Quebec Government has released specifics of its plan to limit travel between Ontario and Quebec. Specifically, only certain people will be allowed to enter the province by road from Ontario.
Complaints About Quebec’s Immigration Department Soar
Lost documents, broken commitments, lack of cooperation: The Quebec Ombudsman bemoans the Quebec government’s immigration practices.
Quebec to Welcome More Immigrants
The Minister of Labour informed the Quebec business community of his intention to speed up the arrival of immigrant workers, even though the Immigration Department is more cautious. The Quebec government is about to change the regulations concerning the arrival of temporary foreign workers in order to allow Quebec companies to welcome workers and thus allow for economic recovery in the province and counter the labour shortage.
Acceleration of Caregiver Application Process
IRCC is working to overcome the pandemic-related roadblocks that have interfered with processing applications from caregivers and their families by announcing a plan for 2021. Six thousand caregiver applications will be prioritized by the end of 2021 with 1,500 applications processed by June 30, 2021.
Program Delivery Update: COVID-19 – Public Policy Exempting Certain Visitors in Canada, Medical Examination Validity Date and Biometrics Collection Requirements
The temporary public policy that allows some temporary residents in Canada with visitors’ status to apply for a work permit from within Canada has been extended until August 31,2021.
Learn more about the exemptions
Learn more about the COVID-19 Medical examination validity date
Ottawa Drops Specific COVID-19 Screening for Travellers From Brazil
As the COVID-19 variant spreads quickly throughout Western Canada, Canada has dropped specific screening requirements for travellers arriving from Brazil.
COVID-19 Update: IRCC resumes processing of applications in progress
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will no longer be automatically extend deadlines for submitting the required supporting documentation. However, IRCC will continue to provide deadline extensions to clients who are still unable to provide required documentation due to COVID-19 disruptions.
Canada Offsets Expensive Real Estate With Low Paid, High-Quality Tech Labour
The mystery of how Canada attracts so many big tech companies was revealed in a commercial real estate analysis.
How Montreal’s Diverse Animation Scene has Weathered One Year of Covid
Since about the 1990s, the animation field in Montreal has expanded and diversified enormously, as it has in other cities.
Biden Administration’s COVID-19 Visa Policies Challenged in New Lawsuit
A new lawsuit has been filled challenging the U.S. State Department’s policy of not issuing visas to individuals from countries where access is currently restricted due to COVID-19 issues. The complaint argues that the policy is inconsistent, does not improve public health, and contributes to the massive visa backlog that has only exacerbated problems for employers.
What Happened When the U.S. Government Tried to Digitalize the Immigration System
Learn more about how the U.S. government began its digital shift.
Canada-UK Trade Continuity Agreement (Canada-UK TCA): Temporary Entry and Stay of Natural Persons for Business Purposes
The Canada-UK Trade Continuity Agreement came into force on April 1, 2021 – ensuring preferential market access for both Canadian and UK businesses. Moreover, CETA’s Temporary Entry Chapter , which deals with administrative requirements such as economic needs tests that can impose time delays and administrative costs on prospective business entrants, has been replicated in the TCA.
Closed borders, travel bans and halted immigration: 5 ways COVID-19 changed the way people move around the world
Trips canceled: 2.93 billion. International border closures: 1,299. Lives interrupted: Countless. Learn more about the 5 ways COVID-19 have changed the way people more around the world.
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Our mission is to help you understand the implications that such changes may have in your current operations and your global mobility planning.
