Canada Proposes Major Changes To Work Permit Rules: The number of temporary residents in Canada has increased significantly in recent years, primarily due to an increase in international students and temporary foreign workers. Canada’s immigration laws have made some significant changes in order to better adjust the numbers of foreign workers, international students, and permanent residents. The Canadian government will release its most recent Immigration Levels Plan for the following three years by November 1, 2024.
Language Proficiency Requirement for Work Permits
The first important modification to Canada’s work permit regulations will be the addition of a requirement to prove a minimum level of French or English language competency. The Post-Graduation Work Permit Program will be changing, and one of the modifications is that all applicants must speak at least French or English language.
- The establishment of a Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) level 7 for university graduates and CLB 5 for college graduates for anyone applying for a post-graduation work permit is another new work permit regulation for Canada that will go into effect on or after November 1, 2024.
- Year 2025 to 2027 Immigration Levels Plan, which will be made public by November 1, 2024, will take into account the suggested drop in temporary residents from 6.5% of Canada’s total population to 5%.
- Students who are graduates from public college are still qualified for a Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) for a maximum of 3 years, if their field of study is associated with long-term shortage occupations.
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Decreasing the Number of Temporary Residents
Canada is planning to lower the number of temporary residents in order to better manage its population. The population will drop from its current 6.5% to 5% of the total. The Immigration Levels Plan for 2025 to 2027 will include this decrease.
Permit for Post-Graduation Work (PGWP) Limitations
The duration of eligibility for Post-Graduation Work Permits (PGWPs) for graduates of degrees unrelated to long-term shortage occupations will be shortened to 2 years. Canada is going to enforce more stringent qualifying requirements for the PGWP program. Canada anticipates that these adjustments will result in about 175,000 fewer post-graduation employment permits over the next 3 years.
Spousal Open Work Permit Changes
Significant changes also includes to the spouse’s open work visa. Only spouses of highly qualified workers in industries with severe labour shortages, such C-suite executives, Researchers, Engineers, Attorneys, Technicians will be eligible.The eligibility of work permits for spouses of students enrolled in particular courses such as doctoral, masters, and professional programs will also be restricted. Those working in the construction and healthcare industries, however, will still be eligible.
- Canada anticipates that these expect will result in about 100,000 fewer work permits for this category of spouses over the course of the next 3 years.
- The annual immigration levels plan for 2025 to 2027, which will provide additional insight into Canada’s immigration strategy going forward, will be presented by November 1, 2024, by Marc Miller, Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship.
