New Pathway to Permanent Residency for International Graduates in Canada

Encouraging news was just announced for recent overseas students in Canada hoping to apply for permanent residency. Starting on May 6, 2021, those who possess the skills necessary to strengthen the economy after the COVID-19 pandemic will be able to apply for permanent status under a new stream.

Canada Requires Pearson PTE Academic for non-SDS Study Permits

Canada Requires Pearson PTE Academic for non-SDS Study Permits

Source: Pearson PTE

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada accepts Pearson PTE Academic test results from Indian international students applying for study permits through the regular application process – also known as non-SDS (Student Direct Stream).

PTE Academic scores, along with TOEFL iBT and IELTS Academic are the only results that will be considered for applications outside of the Student Direct Stream. While this process is not the fast-tracked SDS that was recently introduced, approximately 46% of Indian students who chose to study in Canada in 2019 applied using this method.

Managing Director for Pearson Canada, Marlene Olsavsky, believes the PTE Academic test will be beneficial for Indian students hoping to further their education in Canada. “Test takers have a choice of more than 30 PTE centers currently open in India, including in Punjab, Gujarat and Hyderabad, all with required health and safety measures in place.”

Through PTE Academic, students receive the benefits of being able to schedule the time of their test online and typically have to wait just two days for their results.

Olsavsky states, “Once they get their PTE score, students are then able to send it to any number of universities they are interested in, unlike other English tests which limit the amount of institutions where a score can be sent.”

“We believe PTE Academic offers a huge advantage to test takers,” explains Olsavsky. “Our use of leading AI technology means colleges can trust that students’ English proficiency levels are scored accurately and with no bias. We also know students like the flexibility of booking and fast results we offer – making PTE Academic the increasingly popular English language test worldwide.”

PTE Academic is accepted by 194 education establishments in Canada and 90% of Canadian public universities. For more information, please visit their website: PearsonPTE.com

Over Half of Canada’s International Students Want to Stay After Graduation

Source: Study International

The results of a recent survey suggest that more than 60% of students who come to Canada to complete their post-secondary education hope to become permanent residents of ‘The Great White North’ after they graduate.

While pathways to citizenship currently exist for international students, both the government and various institutions feel more can be done. In the coming years, an increased number of employment opportunities, international programs and scholarships will be made available to help make these students feel more at home while they study abroad in Canada.

For further details on the study, visit Study International.

Nova Scotia Invites Students to Study & Stay

Source: The PIE News

Nova Scotia has launched two initiatives aiming to entice international student to stay, work and possibly immigrate after they graduate, in order to shore up the province’s ageing and shrinking workforce.

To read the complete article, visit The PIE News.

Changes to Immigration Policy Offer Benefits to Students with Canadian Degrees

Source: Canadian Business via Academica

Canada has introduced new changes to its immigration policy that will provide additional advantages to international students with Canadian degrees. The changes award additional points within Canada’s Express Entry system to applicants whose degrees were obtained in Canada. Previously, applicants could earn up to 150 points for their educational qualifications, and the only advantage for those who studied in Canada was not having to prove the equivalency of their degrees. Under the new system, applicants with a Canadian educational credential will get up to 30 additional points. “It’s going to be a boon to international students who have studied here—it’s going to give them a big leg up,” says immigration lawyer Tamara Mosher-Kuczer.

Canada Eyes New Visa to Attract Talented Workers

Source: Bloomberg

Canada is considering introducing a “global talent visa” to attract high-skill workers, though the country remains divided on expanding immigration amid pockets of high regional unemployment, Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains says.

For the full article, visit Bloomberg.

How Canada Will Produce the 150,000 Tech Experts It Needs

Source: Globe & Mail via Academica

Canada will require a historic effort to supply the number of tech experts it needs to be a world economic leader in the 21st-century, write Stephen Lake and Sarah Prevette for the Globe and Mail. The authors outline four strategies that Canada can use to produce an additional 150,000 tech experts in the near future, which include making coding part of the education curriculum as early as elementary school; expanding postsecondary co-op programs; fighting for gender equality and parity, particularly in the STEM disciplines; and encouraging immigration.

Canada Looks To Overseas Students To Rejuvenate Ageing Population

Source: Times Higher Education

Mohamed Lachemi is the kind of immigrant Canada wants. “I came to Canada as an international student exactly 30 years ago,” he tells Times Higher Education. “Canada attracted me not just to study but to stay.” He is now the vice-chancellor of industry-focused Ryerson University in downtown Toronto and, in line with federal plans, wants to become “more aggressive” in attracting international students to his institution. Ryerson aims to double its numbers over the next three to five years.

In Canada, official policy, as well as political rhetoric, is… welcoming. In 2014 the country set out plans to attract 450,000 international students by 2022, roughly double the numbers in 2011.

For the full article, please visit Times Higher Education.

MSVU and Venor Partner to Keep International Grads in NS

Source: Mount Saint Vincent University via Academica

Mount Saint Vincent University has partnered with Venor in an effort to help international student graduates find employers and opportunities to start their careers in Nova Scotia. The partnership marks the latest step in the Nova Scotia Scholars Program, which provides personalized career plans that include career building, networking, work experience, and immigration support for participants. “The Mount is committed to assisting international students who choose to remain in the province,” said Paula Barry Mercer, Associate Vice President of Student Experience at MSVU. “Keeping more graduates in Nova Scotia is an important step in helping to ensure the future prosperity of our province.”

ON Suspends Fast-Track Residence Program for International Students

Source: Globe & Mail via Academica

Ontario has announced that it will temporarily close its fast-track residency program for international students due to a backlog of thousands of applicants, reports Simona Chiose for the Globe and Mail. Chiose notes that the closure lends further evidence that Canada’s recent strategies around Express Entry have made immigration into the country more difficult for certain groups. The closure will specifically affect the provincial nominee program for master’s and doctoral grads who earned credentials from an Ontario university. The province is estimated to be currently working its way through 7,000 applicants, nearly half of whom are expected to be recent graduates.

Canadian Government Signals Renewed Openness to International Students

Source: University Affairs

According to Amit Chakma, president of [CIEC Academic Member] Western University and chair of the federal government’s Advisory Panel on Canada’s International Education Strategy, the Canadian government has recently shown positive signs towards international students hoping to study in Canada. By reviewing the steps these students must take to achieve permanent residency, in addition to changes made to citizenship requirements, Canada aims to make it easier for these students to pursue an education and work in the country after graduating.

For the full article, please visit University Affairs.

Ottawa Looks to Ease International Students’ Path to Permanent Residency

Source: The Globe & Mail via Academica

“International students are the best source of immigrants, in the sense that they’re educated, they’re young, they speak English or French, they know something of the country,” says Canada’s Immigration Minister John McCallum, “so we should be doing everything we can do to court them.” McCallum argues that Canada can greatly enhance the opportunities for international students to gain permanent residence by overhauling the current “Express Entry System,” a computerized program that allegedly prioritizes immigrants who are skilled workers and makes it difficult for many to gain permanent residence.

Immigrant Students Have Higher Success Rate in Education, Study Says

Source: Statistics Canada via Academica

Immigrant students are outperforming Canadian-born students in their educational success, says a recent report from a triennial study by Statistics Canada. Overall, immigrant students were found to have higher levels of high school and university education than Canadian-born students; they were also more likely to report that they expected to, and did, graduate from university. According to the study’s authors, background characteristics of immigrants, such as their country of origin, explained some of the interregional differences in university success. Canadian-born students whose parents were immigrants had similar regional patterns of success as third-or-higher-generation Canadian children.

Canada: Internal Reviews Uncover Delays in Visa Processing

Source: The PIE News

Canada’s visa woes continue as multiple internal government reviews have revealed delays and errors in visa processing, seeing processing times increase by a third for study permits and double for permanent residence permits.

Members of the Canadian Bureau for International Education are “deeply concerned about the ballooning processing times that affect both their current and prospective students”, according to its vice-president, membership, public policy and communications, Jennifer Humphries.

“Timeliness, or its opposite, makes a huge difference in the choices that students make for their future,” she told The PIE News.

“To achieve the ambitions of Canada’s International Education Strategy, it is critical that government departments work together cohesively and make their shared objectives the priority, not departmental interests,” she urged. “It’s also critical that sufficient resources be allocated to deliver on the objectives.”

 

To read the full article, please visit The PIE News.

New Immigration Stream in NS Will Help Employers Hire International Students

Source: ChronicleHerald via Academica

Nova Scotia has introduced a new immigration stream that will help skilled applicants who have been working in the province for at least a year settle there permanently. “What we’ve heard from the universities and the colleges and the business community is that [workers] are falling through the cracks. They had jobs but [companies] couldn’t nominate them through the federal stream,” said NS Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab. It is hoped that the new express stream will encourage employers to target more international student graduates for hiring.

Survey Shows Effects of Policy Changes on Demographics of Prospective Immigrants

Source: Toronto Star via Academica

A new study from World Education Services has revealed some demographic effects of changes to Canada’s immigration policies. The results of a survey completed by approximately 3,200 prospective immigrants show that 95% of respondents were between the ages of 25 and 44, up from 84% before 2013. 59% of respondents said that their highest level of education was a bachelor’s degree, up from 34% in 2012, when Canada introduced the mandatory educational credential assessment process. 42% had a master’s degree, up from 18%, while the number of prospective immigrants with a PhD dropped from 5% in 2012 to 3%. 47% of respondents said they intended to settle in Ontario, 22% said Alberta, 12% said British Columbia, and 4% said Nova Scotia.

CBU Report Calls for Action to Support Immigration

Source: CBImmigrationPilot.ca via Academica

Cape Breton University has released a new report that addresses issues around immigration to Cape Breton. The report recommends taking action to improve permanent settlement and to enhance community support for immigration. It identifies a need to focus on potential immigrants and international students as potentially key contributors to Cape Breton’s work force, particularly given that many local business are dealing with labour shortages and succession issues. The report recommends that steps be taken to convince Cape Breton communities of the benefits of immigration and to make changes at the federal level to provide more support for settlement in rural Nova Scotia.

Panel Recommends Ways to Improve Processes for Integrating Immigrants Into Workforce

Source: Panel on Employment Challenges of New Canadians Report via Academica

The federal Panel on Employment Challenges of New Canadians has released a report that explores ways to improve the process of getting internationally trained immigrants into the Canadian labour force. The report looks at current barriers and makes a number of recommendations such as developing pan-Canadian standards for occupations so that people can assess their credentials before moving to Canada, and developing a broader strategy for alternative careers with more regulator involvement. The federal government also announced support for 2 new initiatives, one led by the Medical Council of Canada and the other by Engineers Canada, which will more quickly and efficiently evaluate the credentials of internationally trained doctors and lawyers. Several Canadian universities have launched initiatives to help internationally trained doctors, lawyers, and midwives.

CICan Signs Agreement for Second Phase of Canadian Immigrant Integration Program

Source: CICan News Release via Academica

Colleges and Institutes Canada has signed a 2-year agreement with Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) to move forward with a second phase of the Canadian Immigrant Integration Program (CIIP). As part of the initiative, CICan will collaborate with the International Organization for Migration to expand pre-arrival services and to ensure consistent curricula and materials worldwide; CICan will also work with the Association des collèges et universités de la francophonie canadienne (ACUFC) to provide access to pre-arrival services for French-speaking immigrants coming to francophone-minority communities.