Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander has announced that the government will be offering permanent residence status to a target of 285,000 new immigrants, the highest number since 2010. Sixty five percent of those admitted will, as per Chris Alexander, be economic immigrants which highlights the government’s belief in immigration being a key to Canada’s prosperity.
“We are recruiting a higher calibre of economic immigrant than we have ever seen before,” Mr.Alexander said. “This [increase in the proportion of economic immigrants] is a goal we’ve had for some time. Many provinces already have 70 per cent economic immigration; that’s the aspiration Canada has as well.”
The government’s plan falls in line with the other changes happening in January 2015, specifically the new Express Entry program for highly skilled workers. The express entry program will see a decrease in processing times when applicants are filing for permanent residence which will allow new immigrants to land in Canada faster and more efficiently.
President & CEO
Michael Niren
Mr. Niren is CEO of VisaPlace LLC and the President and Managing Partner of VisaPlace Legal Canada, an immigration law firm based in Toronto, and VisaPlace Legal US a law firm registered in The District of Columbia, USA. Mr. Niren is a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, the Canadian Bar Association’s Citizenship and Immigration Section, American Lawyers Association, and an Associate Member of the American Bar Association.
