A CRISP ON THE CANADIAN IMMIGRATION

By JusCorpus Blogs January 23, 2023

Canada is infamously known as the ‘Land of Immigrants’, as it is often said that Canadians are all immigrants based on their seniority. Canada provides great economic opportunities; thus, it is one of the most preferred locations by Indians. The other advantages of being in the land of maple leaf are an internationally recognized educational system, active and highly developing information and communication technology, as well as world-class healthcare facilities.

INTRODUCTION

Statistically, over 1 million Indians have now made Canada their permanent home, and this number is growing continuously each year, due to the easy immigration policies the country provides. Internationally, India consists of a growing middle-class population having language skills, settlement funds, work experience, and education, which IRCC (Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada) requires for Visa approval. While, domestically, Canada has altered quite a lot of changes in its immigration policies, making it feasible for Indians to have great benefits.[1]

LEGAL BASIS

According to Article 19[2] of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the Government of Canada, briefly states that any Canadian citizen according to their Citizenship Act, or any Indian registered under the Indian Act, will have the right to remain or enter Canada. The Indian Act is the Canadian Act, opted by the Parliament, which concerns the registered Indians, along with their bands, as well as the system of the Indian reserves. The Act was first passed in the year 1876 and is still enforced, by amending some sections, as a need of an hour. The Act provided a wide range in education, healthcare, and land use, covering governance, scope, and much more on the Indian reserves.

CANADA’S IMMIGRATION HISTORY

Historically, after gaining Independence from the United Kingdom, in the year 1867, Canada used immigration to aid the development of vast tracks of land. The immigrants of that era were encouraged to settle in frontier and rural areas, by recruiters, and campaigns were sponsored by the Government. On the contrary, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the immigration of certain groups was discouraged, consisting of some people of non-Christian, and non-European backgrounds, or the disabled, ill and poor. At the onset of the post-war period, this immigration calculus got changed dramatically as the refugees fled to Europe, and the citizen’s attitude towards the immigrants softened, since, a larger workforce was needed for economic growth. During the time period of the 1960s and 1970s, the legislature embraced multiculturalism, and thus, the lenient formation of immigration rules started.[3]

IMMIGRATION PATHWAYS

Nowadays, IRCC[4], invites most newcomers, through the economic immigration programs, under the skilled programs as follows-

Express Entry System- it is referred to as a point-based online immigration system, launched by IRCC in the year 2015. This program is mainly focused on skilled immigrants, and the selection factors would be Arranged employment, adaptability, work experience, language proficiency, education, and age. Further., the Permanent Residence applications, get classified into, the Canadian experience class, the federal skilled trades program, and the federal skilled worker program[5]
Provincial Nominee Program- it is a crucial pathway depending on province to province. It is suitable for people who are aspiring to migrate to only a specific province. Along with IRCC, the Provinces have the liberty to select the PR candidates who are suitable for the economy and labor market. The workers are selected based on the parameters, criteria, and needs of the province.[6]
Self-employed Visa program- it is formulated for that applicant who are into athletics at the world-class level, cultural activities, managing or purchasing a farm, etc. in this category too, the selection criteria depend on Adaptability, language proficiency, age, experience, and education.[7]
Family- Sponsored program- for families, Canada is one of the best places to migrate, due to, tremendous recreational opportunities, lower crime rate, good academic institutions, low pollution, and huge land area with less population, ultimately, resulting in less competition compared to India.[8]
Quebec Skilled worker program- it is one of the best immigration programs if any immigrant is looking to stay specifically in the Quebec region. The Quebec provincial government certifies the selected applicants with Quebec Selection Certificate, which makes them eligible to further apply to IRCC for Canadian Permanent residency.[9]
Investor immigration- it is a pathway mostly preferred by investors and entrepreneurs. Both the immigration programs are now closed by IRCC, so, the applicants, can apply via other alternatives, like, the Quebec Investor program, or Provincial investor immigration programs. Some common requirements of the programs are intended to settle, the need for sufficient funds, language proficiency, and investment agreement.[10]

IMMIGRATION AS A LAWYER TO CANADA

As stated earlier, Canada has a huge demand for a workforce, and how the IRCC has a flexible ruling as compared to the native country United States. Moreover, being a Lawyer is one of the skilled occupations, and every province has its own Bar exam. For starting the journey as a lawyer in Canada, firstly, a Law student needs to have two to four years of a university degree continuing with a Juris Doctor or Bachelor of Law. In addition, a student must complete their articling period and the bar exam, and then they would receive a license from the Province, where they intend to work. If in case, a person is already a practising lawyer in India, then, firstly, they need to get their degree assessed by the National Committee on Accreditation, Canada, which is working in collaboration with National Lawyers Accreditation. Once, the degree standards match the Canadian level of the education system, then the eligible candidate has to give the Canadian Bar exam, in order to get recognized by the Bar Association, and then further continue their practice in a specific province in Canada.[11] It should be duly noted that aspiring lawyers could even migrate to Canada, without having any Canadian job offer in their hands. However, one of the major requirements would be to get a good CRS score during the Express Entry Pool and at least fulfil minimum of 67 immigration points, which is required for the Canadian Work Visa in the Federal Skilled Worker category.[12]

CONCLUSION

A lawyer in Canada receives a whooping salary of around $130,000 CAD annually^. In addition, almost every province provides free-of-cost healthcare and education services, along with a renowned high-quality lifestyle. In Canada, almost every occupation is assigned an immigration code, for example- 4112 is the immigration code for individuals who are seeking to migrate as Lawyers.[13] So we can the policies of the Canadian government are immigration friendly and people have a golden opportunity to settle and work there. In concluding remarks I can say that the world should adopt migrant friendly immigration policies so that these people can immigrate where they want without any difficulty and we can make the world ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’.

Author(s) Name: Shrishti Sharma (CCS University, Meerut)

References:

[1]CANADA, https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship.html (last visited Dec. 25, 2022)

[2] Immigration and Refugees Protection Act, 2001, § 19, 2001 (Canada).

[3] WIKIPEDIA, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_immigration_to_Canada (last visited Dec. 25, 2022)

[4]CANADA, supra note 1.

[5]CIC, https://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/results-by-topic.asp?top=29 (last visited Dec. 25, 2022).

[6]CANADA, supra note 1.

[7]Ibid.

[8]Ibid.

[9]Ibid.

[10]CIC, supra note 5.