New Business Immigration Measures: What Employers Need to Know

Encourage Family Integration by Increasing the Number of Eligible Applicants for Open Work Permits

IRCC has been implementing measures to allow more temporary residents flexibility within the labour market, principally by removing barriers on hours or the ability to change jobs.

In December 2022, it was announced that spouses and common-law partners and children of certain temporary foreign workers would be eligible for open work permits. For children, this is a new measure that allows young people to participate in the labour market. For spouses, the measure still excludes partners and common-law spouses of workers admitted under the low wage program and certain other categories. This measure came into effect on January 30^th.

New Category-Based Selection for Candidates under Express Entry

The federal government has given itself the authority and capacity to create categories within Express Entry draws, which, among other criteria, may include sub-draws by region, occupation, and/or other factors.

Interestingly, IRCC has stated that it intends to run these category-based draws alongside regular draws: “invitations based on the Comprehensive Ranking System scores and individual programs will remain”.

Canada Welcomes Record Number of Francophone Immigrants

On January 23, IRCC announced that Canada achieved its target of 4.4% French-speaking immigrants outside Québec in 2022. This is the highest number of Francophone newcomers since 2006.

Malaysia Joins Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership

Malaysia joins six member countries of the CPTPP, facilitating entry to Canada for business persons, including business visitors, intra-company transferees, contractual service providers and independent professionals.

IRCC Memo Reveals Extraordinary Measures to Reduce Backlog

A policy memo reveals IRCC’s consideration to waive eligibility requirements for nearly half a million visitor visas. However, no decision has been made official to date.

Canada Reached Target of Over 430K New Permanent Residents in 2022

New permanent residents in Canada surpassed the previous record set in 2021. This represents the largest number of people ever welcomed in a year in Canadian history.

Employers: H-1B Filling Season for Fiscal Year 2024 to Begin. Time to Act if you Don’t Want to Miss the Opportunity to Attract Foreign Talent

Employers should begin assessing their H-1B needs for fiscal year (FY) 2024 now. The quota on H-1B worker is only 65,000 cap-subject H-1B visas per fiscal year, as mandated by the U.S. Congress. 20,000 H-1B visas are available in a separate allotment for foreign nationals who hold a master's or other advanced degree from a public institution of higher education in the United States.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released dates for the H-1B cap registration processes and this year, the registration process will open on March 1, 2023, and will end on March 12, 2023. Employers should contact their immigration attorneys now to identify any individuals for whom H-1B status might be beneficial.

Our team can help you through the registration process, for filing H-B petitions for selected candidates and also identify alternatives either in Canada or the United States for those who won’t be selected.

Related Due Diligence in Mergers and Acquisitions: What Impact on Work Visas and Permanent Immigration Processes in the United States?

In an article published by the International In House Counsel, our Partner and Head of the Business Immigration team Julie Lessard and Business Immigration Lawyer Olga Prygoda in collaboration with Mark Girgis, Groupe Hypertec's Chief Legal Officer and Secretary, discuss the importance of performing due diligence on work visas and permanent immigration processes during a U.S. merger and acquisition in order to avoid several major impacts, penalties and disruptions.

To understand the impact on your future transactions, we invite you to read the article.

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