New Business Immigration Measures: What Your Foreign Workers Need to Know

Effective January 15, 2022, International Students, Athletes, Workers Must Be Fully Vaccinated to Enter Canada

As of January 15, 2022, certain groups of travellers, who are currently exempt from entry requirements, will be required to be fully vaccinated with one of the vaccines approved for entry into Canada.These groups include:

• People travelling to reunite with family (unvaccinated children under the age of 18 will retain their exemption if they are travelling to reunite with an immediate or extended family member who is a Canadian, permanent resident, or a person registered under the Indian Act);
• International students 18 years of age and over;
• Professional and amateur athletes;
• Persons with a valid work permit, including temporary foreign workers (except those working in the agriculture and food processing industry); and
• Essential service providers, including truck drivers.

After January 15, 2022, unvaccinated or partially vaccinated foreign nationals will only be admitted to Canada if they meet the limited exceptions criteria that apply to certain groups such as agriculture and food processing workers, ship's crew members, persons entering the country for humanitarian reasons, new permanent residents, resettled refugees, and some children under the age of 18. Non-exempt, non-vaccinated travellers will continue to be subject to testing, quarantine and other entry requirements. Non-exempt foreign nationals who are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated will be denied entry into Canada.

Omicron: Canada to Reinstate Testing for Foreign Air Travel and Review Vaccination Strategy

Canada is reviewing its vaccine recall strategy and adding new countries to the list of countries with federal travel restrictions and imposing new restrictions on air travel from abroad, with the exception of the United States, following concerns about the Omicron variant. Foreign nationals from or who have transited the following countries in the past 14 days will no longer be able to travel to Canada:

• Nigeria
• Malawi
• Egypt
• South Africa
• Mozambique
• Namibia
• Zimbabwe
• Botswana
• Lesotho
• Eswatini

"All air travellers coming from outside Canada, with the exception of the United States, will now have to be tested at the airport where they land in Canada, whether they are vaccinated or not. They will then have to isolate themselves until they get their test results," said Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos.

Québec’s Immigration Thresholds to Be Raised in 2022

The Québec government is planning an immigration catch-up in 2022 to compensate for the 2020 permanent resident applications that were not accepted due to the pandemic. Québec is expected to admit between 49,500 and 52,500 immigrants, while the federal government will admit 70,500 permanent residents to Québec.

These 18,000 immigrants represent the difference between the projected 2020 immigration thresholds and the actual number of immigrants who were ultimately admitted.

Sinopharm, Sinovac and COVAXIN Vaccines Accepted in Canada  

Effective November 30, 2021, Canada will expand the list of approved COVID-19 vaccines for travel in Canada. The list will include Sinopharm, Sinovac and COVAXIN, according to the World Health Organization's emergency use listing.

Artificial Intelligence Blamed for Denial of Study Permits in Canada 

Canadian immigration officers have used new artificial software since March 2018 to process visitor visas, work and study permits. Yet, this Microsoft Excel-based software can be seen as a potential threat to decision-making quality and its introduction as a harbinger of more ominous AI technology that could transform the way immigration decisions are made in this country.

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