February 2014

The Canadian government is ending a decades-old, controversial immigration program that provided wealthy immigrant investors a method for fast-tracking their citizenship applications. Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander announced the government’s plans to end the Immigrant Investor Program (IIP) and related Federal Entrepreneur Program as part of this year’s budget.  Alexander said the program provided […]

Canada’s immigration department recently lashed out at Ukrainian government officials and confirmed that they were, at least for now, not welcome in Canada. “Recent actions by members of Ukraine’s ruling elite in the face of popular and growing protests have been utterly deplorable, and compel us to take targeted and meaningful action,” Citizenship and Immigration

Some frequent visitors to Canada may find their future visits less bureaucratic—and less expensive—than before. Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has introduced a multi-entry visa designed specifically with frequent travelers to Canada in mind. As of February 6th, the new multi-entry visa allows qualified visitors to Canada to arrive and depart the country for six

Irish drivers’ licenses will soon be recognized for the use of road vehicles in Ontario, Canada, according to the Irish Road Safety Authority. Ontario is one of several provinces negotiating possible recognition of Irish drivers’ licenses. The recognition of the foreign licenses is seen as a welcome development for thousands of Irish immigrants living and

Just over a month into the recently renewed visa program for parents and grandparents of Canadian citizens and permanent residents, the popular program has reached its maximum for 2014 applications. After reaching the allotted 5,000 applications for 2014, Citizenship and Immigration (CIC) Minister Chris Alexander confirmed that the Parent and Grandparent Program (PGP) will pause

Citizenship and Immigration Minister (CIC) Chris Alexander is not happy with Ontario’s decision to introduce a new program designed to provide refugee claimants with primary care, hospital services and medication. Alexander recently said the federal government was “disappointed with the Ontario government’s recent decision to reinstate healthcare benefits to all asylum seekers, even rejected refugee

As the world’s greatest athletes prepare to go for the gold in the Sochi Olympics, Canada’s Olympic chances are being bolstered by the country’s long history of welcoming immigrants from around the world. While participants in the Olympics are required to be a national of the country that’s competing for medals, new and first generation

The Canadian government is banning employers from hiring foreign workers in industries it deems as “sex trades”—including strippers and escorts—and is increasing tightening regulations on employers of all foreign workers. Changes made to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR) mean that Canadian employers looking to hire temporary foreign workers will have to meet new,

Calling the waits for the processing of live-in caregiver applications “unacceptable,” Canada’s Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander announced that over the coming year Canada will admit 17,500 permanent residents through its Live-In Caregiver Program (LCP). That figure represents almost double the amount of LCP applicants accepted in 2013, and the highest level of applications