With hundreds of thousands of people from around the globe
applying for Canadian immigration each year, the Canadian government has been
taking concrete steps to be more responsive to the needs of both Canadian
businesses and immigrants. One recent example
involves foreign workers and international students who are legally living and
working with a Temporary Visa to Canada
and who have also applied for a Permanent Resident Visa to Canada via one of the various Canadian
immigration programs, but whose Temporary Visa to Canada is getting close to
expiring. This can be a rather stressful
situation to be in for foreign students and temporary workers living in Canada , and the
Canadian government has recognized this and created a new program to help
immigrants “cut through governmental red tape” and avoid major disruptions to
their lives.
Consequently, on December 20, 2012, the Canadian government
announced a new “Bridging Open Work Permit” which can be made available
immediately to eligible foreign workers and students living in Canada who have applied for a Permanent Resident Visa to Canada
through its Canadian Experience Class (CEC) program, Federal Skilled MigrationProgram (FSMP), Provincial Nominee
Program (PNP), and newer Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP). This new “Bridging Open Work Permit” will, as
the name implied, “bridge the gap” for one year for legal temporary residents
of Canada to allow more time for them to continue living and working in Canada
while they wait for a final decision on their application for a Permanent
Resident Visa to Canada through one of the previously mentioned Canadian
immigration programs.
This is just one of the recent changes that have been made
to Canadian immigration law as Canada ’s
government attempts to attract qualified foreign workers to meet its growing
labor needs. As Jason Kenney, Canada ’s Minister of Citizenship, Immigration
and Multiculturalism stated regarding this new program, “Improvements to our
immigration system like this will help Canada to attract the best and
brightest from around the world – the skilled immigrants we need to fill our
skilled labor shortages.” To learn more
about various Canadian immigration programs, you can visit CanadianVisaExpert website.
