Canada faced a lack of labor in many fields during COVID-19 in 2020. At the same time, a lot of people who had travelled to Canada before the international lockdown were stranded in the country for an unknown period of time, unable to return to their own countries.

Based on these two situations, on August 24^th, 2020 the Canadian Immigration Service announced that applicants who are already in the country can apply for a work visa for a specific employer if they have a valid work invitation! In short, if the application is approved, the work permit can be granted while they’re in Canada.

Canadian Work Permit

According to previous regulations, work visas for temporary residents usually need to be applied from outside of Canada. If an applicant who came to Canada as a tourist and submits a work visa application, he had to leave the country to complete the approval procedures.

However, the Canadian government has now adjusted the policy during the COVID-19. Applicants who are in the country and hold a tourist visa can directly apply for a work permit for a specific employer and do not need to re-enter the country after approval.

It is worth noting that these applicants will need an employer and still have to apply for LMIA. What is exempted is only the procedures for exit and re-entry, all other policies have not changed.

Applicants must meet the following conditions:

1. Applicant must be in Canada and have a legal and valid visitor status.
2. Applicant must have arrived in Canada before August 24.
3. He/she holds a job offer.
4. Submit the LMIA specific employer work permit application before March 31, 2021.
5. Comply with other regulations of the Canadian government.

Study in Canada

The Canadian government announced that the length of online classes during the unapproved period will also be included in the graduation work permit (PGWP) time for the study visa applications that are submitted before September 15^th, 2020.

After submitting the study permit application, any time spent studying online outside of Canada during the epidemic will be counted in the PGWP, but it must meet:

• Completion of at least 50% of the courses in Canada.
• Must apply for a study permit before September 15, 2020, and start or have started professional courses in the spring, summer or autumn of 2020.
• The time spent studying online outside of Canada before December 31, 2020 will not be deducted from the evaluation time of the graduation work permit.

Canadian universities are preparing to usher in a different back-to-school season. All colleges and universities have invested in resources, training and digital infrastructure to ensure that students get a participatory and high-quality online learning experience.

Links to some of the school policies during the epidemic are below:

University of Manitoba: http://umanitoba.ca/coronavirus

The University of Winnipeg: https://www.uwinnipeg.ca/covid-19/index.html

Manitoba Institute of Trades & Technology (MITT):

https://mitt.ca/291/blogs/updates-from-mitt-regarding-covid-19-coronavirus

Red River College: https://www.rrc.ca/coronavirus/

The Canadian government has made adjustments in both work and study situation in Canada to provide help and support for people.

Learn more about studying, working and immigrating to Canada by contacting Polaris Strategy. We are always guiding you in the right direction!

info@polariss.ca

Our client had been admitted to Canada as a visitor but granted only a short length of stay here. To make the most of the trip, and particularly with the disruption to international travel caused by the COVID-19 pandemic the client needed to extend their stay in Canada.

The application for a visitor record was submitted before the first period of stay had expired; the application was submitted in March of this year. Delay was encountered during the processing of the application, mostly because of the pandemic.

As part of the processing of the application the client was originally required to provide biometrics. Normally this is not a challenge for an applicant located in Canada, because biometrics can be given at Service Canada locations. In the current period of uncertainty we first had to secure an extension of the time to provide biometrics from IRCC, and then later, when all biometric collection facilities had ceased to operate due to COVID-19 we simply had to wait.

It is important to realize that because we made the application in a correct and timely fashion at the outset, none of these delays caused any prejudice for the client. Because their application was submitted while their visitor status was still valid the client benefited from implied status. Implied status means that the client was considered to keep their valid visitor status while the application is being processed and decided. The application took much longer than normal because of COVID-19, but the because of implied status the client had valid status in Canada throughout the entire time.

In mid-July IRCC recognized that it was unable to process many applications, because it was waiting for biometric information that applicants were unable to provide, since all the biometric collection facilities were closed due to COVID-19. IRCC decided to institute an exception to the biometric requirement for temporary residence applications to allow processing to move forward. The client benefitted from this decision and IRCC finished processing the application.

Because of the delay in processing, and the rule regarding implied status a visitor who originally entered the country in early February, and was given only a one-month duration of stay at that time, has made one application for a visitor record, and is now authorized to remain in Canada until mid-November. Needless to say, this was a very positive outcome for the client.

Earlier today the province of Quebec announced that it would be implementing a program to offer permanent residence in Canada to refugee claimants who have worked in medical support occupations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Today the federal ministry responsible for immigration, IRCC, has announced the launch of a very similar program that applies to the rest of Canada.

Like the Quebec program the federal pathway is designed to allow refugee claimants in Canada who have been doing crucial work, and caring for vulnerable Canadians during the COVID-19 pandemic to gain permanent status in Canada, regardless of the strength or weakness of their refugee claim.

The requirements of the program, as they have been announced so far are as follows:

• Have claimed asylum before March 13, 2020
• Were issued a work permit after they made a claim for asylum
• Have worked in the health-care sector, in health institutions (for example, hospitals, long-term care homes, home care through an organization or agency, assisted living facilities)
• Have worked in a designated occupation for no less than 120 hours between March 13, 2020 and August 14, 2020. The designated occupations that are included in this special measure are orderlies, nurses, nurses’ aides and patient service associates, assistant orderlies and certain home support workers.
• Demonstrate 6 months of experience in the designated occupation before being granted permanent residence. Applicants will have until August 31, 2021 to acquire this experience.
• Meet existing admissibility requirements, including those related to criminality, security and health

The program announced by the government of Quebec is open to applicants who are refugee claimants – either those whose claim is still being adjudicated, or those who have been refused. The applicant must be working in one of the following occupations:

• Nursing co–ordinators and nursing supervisors (NOC code 3011)
• Registered nurses (NOC code 3012)
• Licensed practical nurses (NOC code 3233)
• Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates (NOC code 3413)
• Home support workers (NOC code 4412 related to direct personal care)

Neither the federal nor Quebec programs offer a pathway for individual to come to Canada to do this work in exchange for permanent residence; in either program eligibility is limited to those who are already refugee claimants. The programs are backward looking, and in a way, is a reward for those doing difficult and dangerous work at a time when Canada badly needed people to do that work.

With the announcement of the federal program and Quebec program today there is now a pathway to permanent residence for qualifying asylum seekers no mater where in Canada they live and work.

As many people are aware there are currently a variety of restrictions in place t the Canadian border, limiting who may enter the country. Restrictions are in place for all types of travelers, how are international students restricted?

Which international students can currently travel to Canada:

Generally, there are now three categories of international students eligible to enter Canada:

• A student holding a valid study permit
• Students with a student visa issued prior to March 18, 2020
• Students from the U.S. with a student visa issued at any time

It is important to remember that there is a difference between a study permit and a student visa. A student is issued a study permit when they first travel to Canada to begin studying. A student holding a valid study permit is one who will likely already have been in Canada studying before the COVID-19 outbreak. Students who have been approved for study in Canada will be holders of a visa but not a permit. For these students either the visa must have been issued prior to March 18, 2020, or they must be from the U.S.

Which international students cannot currently travel to Canada:

Students who do not meet one of the criteria above will not be able to travel to Canada at this time. In addition, there are two more requirements for students traveling to Canada:

• Students must be able to complete a 14-day quarantine upon arrival
• Travel to Canada must be non-optional for the travelling student

A quarantine period is mandatory for all persons entering Canada at this time, and officers at the border will expect the traveler to have a plan for completing this quarantine – where they will stay, how they will meet their needs without exposing others, etc. If an officer determines that the traveler is not willing to quarantine or does not have the ability or resources to quarantine themselves they will not be permitted to enter Canada.

Even for those meeting the criteria for travel to Canada the travel must be non-discretionary. For a student, that means that they must need to be in Canada to continue their studies. If a student’s educational institution is not offering classes or is providing an option to continue classes online then the student would not need to be in Canada to study, and would not be permitted entry.

Here’s how it has been affecting EE process and more…

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused tremendous disruption in societies worldwide, and Canada is no exception. In the area of Canadian immigration, measures have been taken to deal with COVID-19, and this has caused real uncertainty for applicants and practitioners.

One area that may appear to have been less seriously affected by the pandemic, is the express entry system. In this category, immigration officials continue to hold draws and continue to process applications, so it might seem that not very much has changed. Is this still what we see when we take a more detailed look at the numbers?

Throughout 2019 and the early part of 2020 the express entry system was both stable and predictable. General draws were held regularly, and the points threshold required for selection stayed fairly stable, in the 460s – 470s. In spite of the predictability of these results they were not fully satisfying, because the points requirement was quite high – 460 CRS points is a difficult bar for many applicants to clear.

With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic this period of stability has ended. Draws are still being held regularly, but their structure has changed. More importantly, at least at first glance, the points requirement has started to go down.   Does this mean that fewer people are creating profiles in the system? Does this mean that this is the time for applicants who couldn’t qualify before to seize an opportunity? It’s not that simple, but to understand exactly what is happening requires a more detailed look at the structure of the draws and the numbers.