How the new immigration policy makes it easier for Indians to settle in Canada

Country raises base number of migrants by 7% to 300,000; Indian students seeking permanent residency to gain from new point-based system

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The Liberal government of Canada is increasing the base number of migrants that will be allowed next year by seven per cent, to 3,00,000, in order to push the country's economic growth even as it grapples with high unemployment.
 
The previous target for the period 2011-15 was 260,000, but that number swelled to 300,000 this year (See Table 1), due to what Immigration Minister John McCallum calls the "special circumstances" of the Syrian refugee crisis. The new figure will now become a permanent base.
 
With this new plan, the number of permanent residents in economic programmes will increase and help Canada deal with the scarcity of skilled workers, business people and caregivers. A CBC News report quoted Kevin Lamoureux, Member of the Canadian House of Commons, as saying immigrants not only fill jobs that would otherwise remain vacant and help develop provincial economies, but also contribute to the character and social fabric of communities.

 

Table 1: Permanent residents admitted in Canada from 2011-2017

Permanent Resident Admissions	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016 Projected	2017 Projected
	248,732	257,809	259,039	260,282	271,847	300,000	300,000

 
What the residency plan means for India
 
Canada is home to more than 1.25 million people of Indian origin and a record 19 Indo-Canadians were elected to Parliament in last year’s general election, reported Hindustan Times.
 
India is the second largest source country for permanent residents in Canada, accounting for more than 1,355,653 or 3.86 per cent of the Canadian population. The number of Indian students rose by 630 per cent to 48,914 in 2015, from just 6,675 in 2004, and constituted 13.7 per cent of the total foreign student population.

Express Entry Programme: With the new residency plan, Indian students in Canada seeking permanent residency after completing education will benefit from a revision in the Express Entry Programme (EEP). Under the new EEP, students’ education will fetch them points from November 19. This will be based on the courses they take up and the time they spend in Canada.

Canada's Express Entry immigration follows a point-system, based on a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) that determines the number of points one can get for each profile factor, such as age, education, work experience, language proficiency.

Under this system, a post-secondary education of three years or more would fetch 30 points, and a one- or two-year diploma, 15 points.

"Previously, those applying for permanent residency could earn up to 150 points based on their educational qualifications. The only advantage for those who had studied in Canada was that they did not have to prove the equivalency of their degrees. Under the new system, applicants (foreign students) with a Canadian educational credential will get up to 30 additional points. This will strengthen their profile in the express entry pool for better chances of selection against other applicants," explains Ontario-based Talha Mohani, immigration law expert and MD at Migration Bureau Corp, according to a Times of India report.

Table 2: Immigration target

Immigration class	2016 target	2017 target
Economic: Includes applicants and accompanying family members in federal programmes in the Express Entry system; the Provincial Nominee Programme; business immigrants; caregivers; and skilled workers and business immigrants selected by Quebec	1,60,600	1,72,500
Family: Includes sponsored spouses, partners and children and parents and grandparents	80,000	84,000
Refugees and Protected Persons: Includes both resettled refugees (government assisted and privately sponsored) as well as protected persons who become permanent residents	55,800	40,000
Humanitarian and Compassionate and Other: Includes persons selected on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, for reasons of public policy and in the Permit Holder Class	3,600	3,500
TOTAL	3,00,000	3,00,000

McCallum said other measures will be announced at a later date, to streamline the process for economic applicants and to improve the process for permanent residency for international students. He said students are among the best candidates to become Canadians, yet they have been "shortchanged" by the system in the past.