Canadian immigration policy
In Canada, immigration is favored
Before explaining the process, we must begin by defining what immigration means to Canada. We will do this by explaining what the Canadian policy is in this area. Then, we will explain the immigrant selection process, the two laws that govern this selection, the different categories of candidates, as well as the criteria evaluated.
You will then be able to understand how the selection of immigrants is carried out by the government authorities and will have the answers to the questions that are most often asked to us in our practice or during our conferences. Canada is a country that favors immigration. For several years, the objective has been around 250,000 immigrants per year (this is a global quota, because there is no quota per country). For 2007, this objective is also 250,000 people. These data only include people who obtain permanent residence. Those who come only to work or study are not counted.
To highlight these numbers, it should be noted that this means that one new immigrant arrives each year for every 150 Canadians, or nearly 0.75% of the total population. This therefore shows a real government desire to increase the number of inhabitants of Canada, in order to allow better economic and social development of the country. In fact, Canada is a larger country than the United States, but with almost ten times fewer inhabitants.
In addition, in order to allow full and rapid integration, Canada offers newcomers the same social benefits as Canadians and citizenship is available to them after 4 years of residence in the country. (1460 non-consecutive days) during the last 6 years preceding the filing of the citizenship application.
Development of selection grids
Even if the immigration policy is favorable, Canada does not allow anyone interested to settle in its territory. Indeed, the number of applications greatly exceeds the possibilities of acceptance, since the country must be able to absorb and promote the integration of a good number of new inhabitants each year.
It is for this reason that selection grids have been developed. Thus, the candidates are chosen according to a set of criteria, corresponding to the needs of the country. These selection grids, as we will see in detail later, have the particularity of being clear, objective and above all, of applying in the same way to all candidates, regardless of their country of origin. In fact, in its Immigration Act, Canada guarantees to persons seeking permanent admission to the country the objective processing of their application, in accordance with the provisions of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.