Canada’s new immigration rule is helping this Toronto woman. But insiders say others are resorting to fraud

2026/11/02 Leave a comment

As always, some people will find a way:

…Experts say the new high-wage rules can help Canada attract and retain highly skilled migrants amid a still volatile immigration system. But the new rules that open a door for Sangam could also open a back door for others. They warn that the system is ripe for manipulation — and the gaming has already begun.

“All you need to do is just hop onto Reddit or go to some Facebook groups and read everyone’s posts,” said Kubeir Kamal, a Toronto-based immigration consultant.

“So many of them are asking, can I change my occupational code? What if my employer is giving me this job offer letter? You can see everybody is trying to figure out how they can circumvent this” for the bonus points.

Removing a safeguard to streamline job offer assessment

For years, Ottawa gave candidates in the immigration talent pool extra points for having a job offer validated through an approved labour market impact assessment by Employment and Social Development Canada. That bonus was removed in March 2025 out of fraud concerns.

“This temporary measure will reduce fraud by removing the incentive to illegally buy or sell labour market impact assessments to improve a candidate’s chances of being selected to come to Canada as a permanent resident,” the Immigration Department stated at the time.

As part of the changes announced in October, the government said high-wage job offers will not be scrutinized by ESDC. The Immigration Department will be solely responsible for verifying whether an offer is genuine.

Not long after the announcement, social media posts emerged showing that people are already talking about ways to embellish work experience and inflate job responsibilities to meet the occupational criteria on the high-wage list….

Source: Canada’s new immigration rule is helping this Toronto woman. But insiders say others are resorting to fraud

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Globe editorial: Immigration is not a provincial fiefdom

2026/11/02 Leave a comment

Good editorial with quotes by Skuterud. Shared jurisdiction, neither just federal nor provincial, and little to no evidence that provinces are better able to resist self-interested stakeholder pressures:

…If there are truly some regions of the country that can’t solve their labour problems without immigration, Prof. Skuterud says this should happen through a small standalone program, rather than being funnelled through the economic immigration system. The goals should be clearly defined, and success in terms of retention and other measures should be tracked.

Instead of empowering premiers to create provincial immigration fiefdoms, Ottawa should protect the federal system. The federal government should also reverse its own moves in recent years that have diluted its points system. Rather than using niche “category-based selections,” Ottawa should select economic immigrants with the highest scores in the general pool of candidates.

The federal and provincial governments should stop thinking of immigrants as fodder to plug labour gaps, subsidize post-secondary institutions or achieve other policy goals. Instead, they should revert to a federal system that selects highly skilled high-earners with the best chance at prospering and encourage them to live where they think they will do best. Further undermining Canada’s economic immigration program by giving the provinces increased control is a step in the wrong direction.

Source: Immigration is not a provincial fiefdom

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