The Ministry of Immigration, Francization and Integration submitted Québec’s Immigration Plan for 2025.
Key Points:
- The province aims to admit between 48,500 and 51,500 immigrants for 2025, in line with Québec’s 2024 immigration planning for permanent immigration, set at 50,000.
- The plan also includes temporary suspension measures for two permanent resident pathways:
- Officials have temporarily suspended applications under the Québec graduate stream of the Québec experience program and invitations to submit an application for permanent selection under the regular skilled worker program.
- These measures are set to remain in place until June 30, 2025.
Additional Information: The Québec Immigration Levels Plan is presented each year to indicate the number of new immigrants the province intends to admit in the coming year. As BAL reported, the Canadian government also recently released its Immigration Levels Plan for 2025-27, stating that it would be cutting permanent resident admissions over the next three years to 395,000 in 2025, 380,000 in 2026 and 365,000 in 2027.
BAL Analysis: Officials stated these measures are designed to manage Québec’s permanent immigration population and reassess of its overall immigration strategy.
This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice Group.
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The Canadian government announced the 2025-27 Immigration Levels Plan, forecasting reduced targets across multiple immigration streams over the next two years.
Key Points:
- Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is implementing new measures to reduce permanent resident targets, including:
- Reducing permanent residents from 500,000 to 395,000 in 2025.
- Reducing permanent residents from 500,000 to 380,000 in 2026.
- Setting a target of 365,000 permanent residents in 2027.
- For the first time ever, the Levels Plan includes controlled targets for temporary residents, specifically international students and foreign workers:
- The temporary population will decline by 445,901 in 2025 and 445,662 in 2026, then will increase by 17,439 in 2027.
- Other measures include transitioning more temporary residents who are already in Canada as students and workers to permanent residents, focusing on long-term economic growth and key labor market sectors (such as health and trades) and strengthening Francophone communities outside Quebec and supporting their economic prosperity.
Additional Information: Earlier this year, IRCC announced a plan to decrease the number of temporary residents from 6.5% of Canada’s total population to 5% by 2026. The Levels Plan supports these efforts to reduce temporary resident volumes in conjunction with the temporary resident reduction measures announced in September and over the past year. Officials stated that the temporary population will decrease over the next few years as significantly more temporary residents will transition to being permanent residents or leave the country compared to new ones arriving.
The government has also implemented additional reforms, including raising the cost-of-living financial requirement for study permit applications and tightening eligibility requirements for temporary foreign workers to reach the targeted decrease of the temporary resident population to 5% over the next two years.
BAL Analysis: The Levels Plan is expected to result in a marginal population decline of 0.2% in both 2025 and 2026, before returning to a population growth of 0.8% in 2027. The transitional Levels Plan is designed to alleviate pressures on housing, infrastructure and social services and pause population growth in the short term to achieve well-managed, sustainable growth in the long term.
This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice Group.
Copyright © 2024 Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. All rights reserved. Reprinting or digital redistribution to the public is permitted only with the express written permission of Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. For inquiries, please contact copyright@bal.com.
The Canadian government announced an extension of a temporary public policy that exempts certain low-risk, in-Canada foreign nationals from needing an additional immigration medical examination (IME) as part of their application.
Key Points:
- The temporary public policy is extended until Oct. 5, 2029, and applies to those who have:
- A new or pending application for permanent or temporary residence or a permanent resident visa made from within Canada.
- Completed an IME within the last five years (which may now be expired) and has posed no risk to public health or safety, or has reported to public health authorities for monitoring, as required.
- Applicants who are not eligible under this temporary public policy are required to undergo an IME as per usual health screening procedures.
- Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will contact individuals who are not eligible for the exemption with additional details and next steps.
Additional Information: IRCC officials stated that this measure supports faster processing of applications and improves client service for eligible foreign nationals. The temporary public policy has benefited more than 286,000 clients in its two-year inception period.
This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice Group.
Copyright © 2024 Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. All rights reserved. Reprinting or digital redistribution to the public is permitted only with the express written permission of Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. For inquiries, please contact copyright@bal.com.
The Canadian government announced an increase to the starting hourly wage for the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program high-wage stream.
Key Points:
- Effective Nov. 8, the starting hourly wage for workers in the high-wage stream will increase 20% to the median wage in the applicable province or territory of work.
- Applications that do not meet the new higher wage threshold will fall under the low-wage stream.
Additional Information: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada officials also announced that employers seeking to sponsor foreign workers under the TFW Program will no longer be able to use attestations from professional accountants or lawyers to prove their business legitimacy, effective Oct. 28.
BAL Analysis: As BAL reported, the government has taken steps to strengthen the integrity of the TFW Program recently to ensure it remains responsive to labor market needs and protect temporary foreign workers from fraud and abuse. Officials stated the TFW Program is designed as an extraordinary measure to be used when a qualified Canadian is not able to fill a job vacancy, and further adjustments will be made if needed to help ensure that only compliant employers with demonstrable labor needs can access the TFW Program. A greater number of jobs are expected to be subject to the stricter rules of the low-wage stream after this wage threshold change.
This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice Group.
Copyright © 2024 Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. All rights reserved. Reprinting or digital redistribution to the public is permitted only with the express written permission of Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. For inquiries, please contact copyright@bal.com.
The Canadian government announced changes to its post-graduate work permit, effective November 1.
Key Points:
- As BAL previously reported, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is implementing new measures on several temporary residence programs, including the post-graduation work permit, which will have stricter language requirements and field of study conditions for international students.
- Study permit applications submitted on or after Nov. 1 must meet the new requirements (situation specific) to be eligible to apply for a post-graduation work permit, including:
- Applicants who have graduated from a university bachelor’s degree, master’s degree or doctoral degree program must prove English or French language skills with a minimum level of Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) 7 in English or Niveaux de competence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) 7 in French in all four language areas. All fields of study are eligible; there is no additional field of study requirement.
- Applicants who have graduated from any other university program must prove English or French language skills with a minimum level of CLB 7 in English or NCLC 7 in French in all four language areas and must graduate in an eligible field of study.
- Finally, individuals who have graduated from a college program or any other program not listed above must prove English or French language skills with a minimum level of CLB 5 in English or NCLC 5 in French in all four language areas and must graduate in an eligible field of study.
Additional Information: Earlier this year, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada announced a plan to decrease the number of temporary residents from 6.5% of Canada’s total population to 5% by 2026. The proposed reduction of temporary residents will be reflected in the 2025–2027 Immigration Levels Plan, which is expected to release by Nov. 1.
This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice Group.
Copyright © 2024 Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. All rights reserved. Reprinting or digital redistribution to the public is permitted only with the express written permission of Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. For inquiries, please contact copyright@bal.com.
The Canadian government has updated its guidance for intra-company transfers (ICT).
Key Points:
- Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) introduced updates under section R205(a) of the Canadian Interests — Significant Benefit program.
- Officials clarified that intra-company transferees must be currently employed in an executive, managerial or specialized knowledge capacity transferring from a foreign enterprise of an existing multinational corporation to be considered for the ICT immigration pathway. IRCC provided further guidance on how to assess whether the enterprise is considered a multinational corporation.
- A multinational corporation will now be defined as a company that has business operations in a least one country other than its home country that generates revenue beyond its borders.
- IRCC also clarified additional details on the eligibility criteria for foreign nationals for intra-company transfer, specifically surrounding remote work.
- A reasonable explanation of why a foreign national must be in Canada will now be required if the work can be completed remotely.
- Intra-company transferees must now work at the physical commercial premises where business operations are conducted to be eligible for ICT. Going forward, individuals will not be eligible if business operations are not conducted on physical commercial premises.
Additional Information: IRCC officials stated that ICT should not be used to transfer an enterprise’s general workforce to affiliated entities in Canada. The government is also redefining “specialized knowledge” and whether certain positions require specialized knowledge. The government is releasing policy updates affecting temporary work permit applications, including the changes announced here for intra-company transfers.
BAL Analysis: Employers should be aware of these important changes. BAL will continue to monitor developments and will provide more information as it becomes available.
This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice Group.
Copyright © 2024 Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. All rights reserved. Reprinting or digital redistribution to the public is permitted only with the express written permission of Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. For inquiries, please contact copyright@bal.com.
The Canadian government announced additional measures to manage the volume of temporary resident arrivals, including a further reduction in the intake cap on international student study permits in 2025.
Key Points:
- Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is implementing new measures to several temporary residence programs, including:
- For 2025, the intake cap on international student study permits issued will be reduced to 437,000 (a 10% reduction from the 2024 target of 485,000). The intake cap for 2026 is expected to stabilize and remain the same as 2025.
- Changes to work permit eligibility for spouses of master’s degree students to only those whose program is at least 16 months in duration.
- Additional limitations on work permit eligibility for spouses of foreign workers in management or professional occupations or in sectors with labor shortages under the International Mobility Program and the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.
- Finally, beginning Nov. 1, post graduation work permit applications will require language test results in English or French to be eligible.
Additional Information: Earlier this year, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada announced a plan to decrease the number of temporary residents from 6.5% of Canada’s total population to 5% by 2026. As BAL previously reported, a national cap on study permit applications for 2024 was first announced on Jan. 22 to address the rapid increase of international students in Canada and meet this goal. Since then, the government has announced additional reforms, including raising the cost-of-living financial requirement for study permit applications and reforming the International Student Program to manage the increase of temporary residents. Officials are now also tightening eligibility requirements for temporary foreign workers to reach the targeted decrease of the temporary resident population to 5% over the next three years.
BAL Analysis: The Canadian government continues to implement updates to policies concerning international students and temporary workers to recalibrate the number of temporary resident arrivals. Employers should be aware of these policy updates and consider them in their employment strategies and recruitment efforts.
This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice Group.
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The Canadian government announced a new temporary policy for certain foreign nationals under the Provincial Nominee Program.
Key Points:
- The new policy allows eligible foreign nationals seeking to apply for permanent residency under a Provincial Nominee Program to be issued an open work permit more quickly.
- Foreign nationals must hold an employment offer, a valid work permit or have held a valid work permit as of May 7, and a support letter from the province or territory they reside in outlining their placement in an Expression of Interest pool or other application inventory process.
- The policy expires Dec. 31, and additional details on eligibility can be found here.
Additional Information: The temporary policy allows foreign nationals to work sooner within the nomination and permanent residence process. Previously, applicants have submitted a permanent residence application and received a nomination from the province/territory before being eligible for an open work permit.
BAL Analysis: The Canadian government is hoping to support provinces and territories that are transitioning eligible temporary residents to permanent status via the Provincial Nominee programs.
This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice Group.
Copyright © 2024 Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. All rights reserved. Reprinting or digital redistribution to the public is permitted only with the express written permission of Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. For inquiries, please contact copyright@bal.com.
The Canadian government announced the end of a temporary policy allowing visitors to apply for a work permit within Canada, effective immediately.
Key Points:
- Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada introduced the temporary policy in August 2020 to help nationals who were unable to leave the country due to COVID-19 pandemic–related travel restrictions.
- Applications submitted before Aug. 28 will continue to be processed under the policy.
Additional Information: The temporary policy allowed foreign nationals to apply for a work permit without having to leave the country, and individuals who changed their status to “visitor” could apply to work legally in Canada while waiting for a decision on their new work permit application. The procedure for applying for a work permit application will return to the previous policy; more information on how to apply can be found here.
BAL Analysis: The temporary policy was set to expire on Feb. 28, 2025, but officials stated they are ending the policy earlier than expected to recalibrate the number of temporary residents and preserve the integrity of the immigration system.
This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice Group.
Copyright © 2024 Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. All rights reserved. Reprinting or digital redistribution to the public is permitted only with the express written permission of Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. For inquiries, please contact copyright@bal.com.
The Canadian government announced labor market impact assessments will no longer be processed for the low-wage stream within the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program.
Key Points:
- Effective Sept. 26, the government will refuse to process labor market impact assessments in census metropolitan areas with an unemployment rate of 6% or higher, subject to exceptions for jobs in food security sectors.
- In addition, the maximum duration of employment for workers hired through the low-wage stream will be reduced to one year (from two years).
- Employers will be allowed to hire no more than 10% of their total workforce through the low-wage stream within the TFW program.
Additional Information: As BAL previously reported, the Canadian government has recently announced changes to the TFW program as part of an effort to reduce the number of temporary residents in Canada. Officials stated that exceptions to the maximum employment percentage will be granted for seasonal and non-seasonal jobs in the food security, construction and healthcare sectors. Construction and healthcare sectors will still be allowed to have up to 30% of their workforce on low-wage work permits, and the cap exemption for the agriculture sector and seasonal employers will remain in place.
BAL Analysis: Government officials stated that the TFW program has been used to circumvent hiring talented Canadian workers in recent years, and reductions in access to the program and strengthened compliance measures are being introduced. The government hopes to prevent misuse and fraud and further reduce the reliance of Canadian employers on the program.
This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice Group.
Copyright © 2024 Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. All rights reserved. Reprinting or digital redistribution to the public is permitted only with the express written permission of Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. For inquiries, please contact copyright@bal.com.
