Canadian Election could affect Immigration to Canada

A Canadian Federal election will be held on October 14, 2008, either re-elect the governing Conservatives, or to elect a new party and Prime Minister.

It is expected that the outcome of this election will have a great effect on the current changes in the Canadian Immigration policy that was recently approved. The speculations are as follows:

Should the conservatives and the Prime Minister Stephen Harper are re-elected, their new immigration priorities will finally be implemented.

On the other hand if other political parties are elected, there is a possibility that the current proposed plan will be repealed to give way to another set of strategies in the hope of modernizing and trimming the backlog brought about by the current immigration system.

Why there was a need for an election was because Prime Minister, Stephen Harper’s Conservatives are currently a minority government in the House of Commons. Due to the opposition they have received since taking office in 2006, including the resistance that they have received to the their proposal to amend the Immigration Act this spring, doing so, he hopes that he will capture more seats in the upcoming election so that his government can make up a majority in the House of Commons, which would give him the support to be able to implement the changes that wishes to spearhead.

If the Conservatives are re-elected, the immigration changes that they have been promoting since March, will be finally put into practice, and all those Federal Skilled Worker applicants that have been frozen in the system since February 27th, will finally get a decision.

If Conservative plans are carried out, it seems that Federal Skilled Worker applicants will be selected based on whether their occupations are on Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s (CIC) recently established list of 38 qualifying occupations. Applicants whose occupations are on this list and who meet the minimum points requirements under the Federal Skilled Worker category will be qualified for Permanent Residency. Those whose occupations are not on the list, will need to apply for Canadian Permanent Residency through the Provincial Nomination Programs (PNP), if they can qualify.

According to CIC Minister Diane Finley, this list will not be made public until later in the fall.

While all of this are being considered, Stephane Dion, leader of the Liberal party, has announced his views and plans for Canadian immigration, if elected as Prime Minister. He has cited that in addition to repealing the Conservative amendments, the Liberal party would allocate $800 million to modernize and streamline the Canadian immigration system.

This is how the budget will be allocated.

- $400 million would go towards clearing out the existing backlog of applicants.

- $200 million would be allocated to develop new initiatives to help immigrants succeed in the workforce, they call this “Bridge to Work” - a program that will help applicants with their foreign credentials recognition, training and accreditation, and access to internships, mentorships, and work placement opportunities.

- and another $200 million would be invested in a language training program.

It is good to note though that in either case, whether the Liberals or the Conservatives will win the election, that the Canadian Federal Election’s effects to Immigration to Canada remains the same.

Both parties intends to speed up the process; the only thing that is left on the discussion table is how this will be carried out.

If immigration to Canada, is one of your plans, it is important that you realize that now is the best time to apply considering the positive developments.

Should this plans be carried out, the effect will be a speedier and easier migration to Canada, which will result to the quota to be filled up a lot faster.

It is in this context that we urge you to come up with a decision soon, we do not want you to loose this opportunity.

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