Canada is overhauling its signature skilled immigration system. Here’s what is changing

2026/04/15 Leave a comment

Good overview with some of the usual worries about impacts:

Canada is proposing a sweeping overhaul of its skilled immigration system that would include prioritizing higher wages and lucrative job offers when it comes to deciding who gets invited for permanent residence in this country.

Among the proposed changes to the country’s signature “point system” for economic immigrants are factoring in wages and earning potential; offering an edge for those with a job offer in high-wage occupations; and downplaying the need for a Canadian education.

The reforms, currently undergoing public consultation, have created a buzz among experts and critics, some concerned about the use of wages to assess prospective permanent residents and their impacts on local communities where low-wage, low-skilled jobs are also unfilled.

“In the absence of strong pay equity and in the absence of strong employment equity, we know that women and racialized groups still earn less,” said Naomi Alboim, a senior policy fellow at Toronto Metropolitan University specializing in immigration. “If you’re doing it on what their wages were, you’re building potential inequity into the system.”  

…TMU’s Alboim said it’s hard to assess the impacts of these changes to economic immigration without knowing Ottawa’s plan with the provincial immigration nominee program and other regional immigration streams that are meant to meet local economic and demographic needs.

Immigrants who tend to leave are those who are highly skilled because they are in demand everywhere, and removing points for family ties in Canada may further erode their incentive to come and stay here, she noted….

Source: Canada is overhauling its signature skilled immigration system. Here’s what is changing

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Tamil refugee who arrived on MV Sun Sea granted stay of deportation

2026/04/15 Leave a comment

Sloppy not doing the risk assessment:

A man who arrived in Canada seeking asylum with a boatload of Tamils 16 years ago has been spared deportation after court ruled Canadian officials have failed to properly assess the risk he’d face if returned to Sri Lanka.

Kugatheeswaran Thuraisinkam was among the 492 passengers aboard the highly publicized MV Sun Sea in 2010, who were deemed a national security threat by then prime minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative government.

Officials associated them with the separatist group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, and suggested some might have been terrorists. As a result, they had been detained for months and challenged at every step of their asylum process. 

Thuraisinkam has for years dealt with prolonged separation from his wife and three children, homelessness and mental illness. He says an agent mishandled his case and so it didn’t get properly assessed.

“This has been a very difficult process,” Thuraisinkam told the Star through an interpreter. “I am so scared of being deported. I have some relief now. I am very grateful to the courts for saving me.”

In staying Thuraisinkam’s April 16 deportation, Federal Court Judge Sébastien Grammond said Canadian authorities have not yet assessed the risk the man would be facing upon returning to Sri Lanka by virtue of having been a passenger of the MV Sun Sea.

And that’s what Judge William Pentney at the same court had asked the Canada Border Services Agency to do in quashing an officer’s refusal to defer Thuraisinkam’s removal last year.

“It is curious, to say the least, that CBSA is attempting to remove him again when the issue highlighted by Justice Pentney has not yet been resolved,” Grammond wrote in his ruling released this week. 

Like all passengers on the MV Sun Sea, Thuraisinkam was detained for months by Canadian border officials and made a refugee claim based on the fear of persecution of Tamils in Sri Lanka….

Source: Tamil refugee who arrived on MV Sun Sea granted stay of deportation

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Canada saw a plunge in new study permit approvals. Here’s what that could mean

2026/04/13 Leave a comment

Given that much of the increase and thus decrease happened in colleges with over aggressive recruitment practices and considerable fraud, the necessary correction will likely “dry out” the talent pipeline less than ApplyBoard estimates:

The number of new study permits approved for post-secondary international students in Canada dropped by 64 per cent last year — a crash that came amid a push to reduce the population of temporary residents in this country.

It’s a development that experts say risks drying out a much-needed pipeline of foreign talent with Canadian education and work experience.

According to the analysis, the Immigration Department processed 211,000 new post-secondary study permit applications in 2025 and approved just over 75,000, a drastic decline from 209,023 in 2024 and the peak of 435,345 in 2023.

It represented the lowest total in the past decade, even compared to the 92,132 new permits issued in 2020, when the system was upended initially by the COVID pandemic. Meanwhile, study permit extensions made up almost three-quarters of all permits approved for colleges and universities in 2025.

The drop in new post-secondary international enrolment will dry out the pipeline of talent, warned Meti Basiri, CEO of ApplyBoard, which released the report Thursday. A lack of Canadian education and work experience will reduce the number of candidates for permanent residence when students currently on extensions ultimately graduate….

Source: Canada saw a plunge in new study permit approvals. Here’s what that could mean

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Canada is repealing these three immigration programs and changing some work permit rules. Here’s what we know

2026/04/10 Leave a comment

Of note. While appears to be an effort at streamlining and simplification, devil will be in the details:

Ottawa is going to cancel Canada’s three core federal skilled immigration programs and streamline them into a single high-skilled immigration class.

The repeal of the existing programs — federal skilled workers, Canadian experience class and federal skilled trades — is among the six anticipated regulatory notices the Immigration Department posted online this week. They cover subjects ranging from streamlining study and work authorizations to asylum reforms and modernizing federal economic immigration.

Although these notices offer scant detail on the actual proposed amendments, they set out the direction of the changes under consideration by the federal government.

According to the latest annual immigration report to Parliament, 92,795 permanent residents were admitted under the three federal immigration programs in 2024. They made up almost a third of the 281,615 newcomers admitted under the economic class.

Although the programs each have their own eligibility criteria, candidates are managed in a talent pool where they receive points for education, work experience and language skills among other personal attributes. They are then ranked against one other and invited to submit permanent resident applications through periodic draws for respective programs.

In repealing the programs, the department’s regulatory notice said it will introduce a new “federal high skilled immigration class” with streamlined eligibility requirements.

“The proposed regulatory changes could positively impact the Canadian economy broadly, and businesses seeking skilled workers, by establishing a more diverse pool of international talent to fill a variety of labour market needs,” it said without elaboration.

“Streamlined requirements would also ensure that the system is easier for clients, employers and partners to understand and navigate.”

In addition, immigration officials would streamline study and work authorizations for foreign nationals in Canada by removing the co-op work permit requirement for international students and the study permit requirement for foreign apprentices….

Source: Canada is repealing these three immigration programs and changing some work permit rules. Here’s what we know

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Globe editorial: An immigration shortcut that’s short-circuited

2026/04/09 Leave a comment

Agreed but will require an effective minister with strong PM support. Good to see Vineberg’s suggestions:

…The IRB should scrap the file review policy. Meanwhile, Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab should take a broader look at the system, with a particular focus on tightening up the approval of asylum claims and international student permits.

Robert Vineberg, a former immigration department director-general, has sensibly suggested that the initial determination of refugee status be moved over to the immigration department. Staff there could do in-depth interviews with claimants, which would be faster than the quasi-judicial hearings at the IRB. 

The IRB could still be used to appeal disputed decisions. However, there needs to be limits on further appeals. The current system that offers multiple avenues to challenge decisions – mapped out in an elaborate flow chart by the Parliamentary Budget Officer – needs to be simplified. 

The asylum system does need to be streamlined, but removing questioning to vet for truthfulness is going too far. For Canada’s asylum system to hold up in the coming years, it needs to operate efficiently, balancing compassion with wide-eyed realism. This will allow Canada to continue offering a safe haven to vulnerable people from around the world. 

Source: An immigration shortcut that’s short-circuited

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Tasha Kheiriddin: Bill C-12 will not solve Canada’s immigration problems

2026/04/09 Leave a comment

More commentary:

…When a system breaks down, so does public confidence. It’s no accident that most Canadians now say there is too much immigration, want to restrict access to social programs for newcomers, and want newcomers to pay for their own healthcare.

C-12 does address some of these concerns, requiring copays on some health costs, but it isn’t enough. Rempel-Garner points out that there are still 3 million people whose visas will expire this year, with no plan to remove them from the country. Some of these people will no doubt claim asylum before their year is up, buying time while the overburdened system adjudicates their cases, at the expense of both taxpayers and legitimate refugees now stuck in the back of an endless queue.

No one blames foreigners who want to stay in Canada. People will do whatever the system allows them to do, to make a better life for themselves: it’s human nature. But if you allow the system to break down, you end up failing everybody, newcomers and Canadian citizens alike. This is not compassionate or humanitarian — it is an irresponsible recipe for social unrest.

Source: Tasha Kheiriddin: Bill C-12 will not solve Canada’s immigration problems

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Immigration officers don’t have latitude to probe refugee claims, experts say

2026/04/09 Leave a comment

Sigh…:

…But immigration lawyer Richard Kurland said current rules prevent those officers from probing the truth of asylum seekers’ stories.

“A person can show up at the border, give a written story prepared with AI, and the officer is instructed to not ask questions that will verify the credibility of the story. Even if officers want to question, and ask permission to so do, they can’t,” Mr. Kurland wrote in an e-mail. 

Internal documents Mr. Kurland obtained from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada under access to information law, which were reviewed by The Globe and Mail, show that immigration officers have been instructed not to block people’s access to the IRB only because they doubt their stories.

The documents include an e-mail sent in October of last year from an immigration official to a senior IRCC colleague asking, in response to questions from another officer, “if we believe the client is not being truthful, can we withhold our eligibility decision until they provide a reasonable story?”

The senior IRCC official, Gianfranco Bonofiglio, responded: “Our role is not to verify the credibility of their story/entry. The IRB (and R&I) will assess that. The declaration/interview we hold is just collecting facts/information.” …

James Yousif, a former IRCC policy director and IRB adjudicator, said such interviews alone are not sufficient.

“The questions asked by IRCC or CBSA officials before the file is referred to the IRB are intended to establish eligibility,” he said. “For example, if a person already has refugee status in another country, they may be ineligible to make a claim in Canada,” he said. 

“Fraud and national security issues often do not emerge until the claimant is questioned. If that happens, the IRB is required by law to halt the hearing and notify the relevant Minister.”…

Source: Immigration officers don’t have latitude to probe refugee claims, experts say

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AI being used to add fake details in immigration, asylum applications, federal officials say

2026/04/08 Leave a comment

Unfortunate but not surprising:

Artificial intelligence is being used to bolster immigration and asylum cases in Canada by generating fake narratives, including references to fabricated court decisions.

Both the federal department, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), and the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB), an independent tribunal that rules on asylum applications, say they have detected the use of AI in applications containing fake or inaccurate information.

The IRB said that the use of AI in applications to stay in Canada as a refugee is creating a fresh challenge for its employees. 

“Recently, we have observed that memoranda of appeal are becoming lengthier, yet this increase in volume does not necessarily translate to stronger arguments. In fact, occasionally these documents include references to case law that do not exist or cite legal precedents for propositions they do not actually support,” the IRB in a statement. “This adds unnecessary complexity and time to our work.”…

Source: AI being used to add fake details in immigration, asylum applications, federal officials say

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StatsCan: Job mismatch among core working age immigrants with postsecondary education

2026/04/08 Leave a comment

Another informative study:

…Recent immigrants more likely than established immigrants and persons born in Canada to experience job mismatch

In September 2024 and September 2025, among core-aged workers with a postsecondary diploma or degree, immigrants (25.2%) were more likely to report being overqualified for their job overall compared with persons born in Canada (19.1%).

The longer an immigrant had lived in Canada after becoming a permanent resident, the less likely they were to report being overqualified, and recent immigrants were most likely to indicate being overqualified for their job (32.6%). Among established immigrants—persons who had become permanent residents more than 10 years earlier—this proportion was 22.4%, much closer to the share observed among persons born in Canada (19.1%).

Across almost all measures, recent immigrants had higher rates of job mismatch than both established immigrants and persons born in Canada. The only exception was the proportion of workers who reported having more skills than needed in their jobs, which was fairly similar among those born in Canada (29.1%), recent immigrants (30.7%) and established immigrants (28.7%).

The pattern of decreasing levels of job mismatch as landed immigrants spend more time in Canada aligns with previous research showing that the labour market outcomes of immigrants tend to improve as they integrate the Canadian labour market over time or pursue additional studies in Canada.Note 8

LFS data show that the share of workers with a postsecondary diploma or degree working in a job requiring a high school diploma or less has been higher among recent immigrants compared with persons born in Canada and established immigrants since the beginning of the data series in 2006. This pattern persisted in September 2024 and 2025, but it should be noted that the share of recent immigrants who faced this type of job mismatch was at its lowest level from 2020 to 2025,Note 9 coinciding in part with the tight labour market conditions of the post-COVID recovery. For more information on the recent labour market experiences of immigrants see: Labour market experiences of recent working-age immigrants and non-permanent residents, 2019 to 2024…

Source: Job mismatch among core working age immigrants with postsecondary education

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Why foreign recruits won’t solve Canada’s military staffing problems

2026/04/08 Leave a comment

Yet another ill-advised boutique program as Banerjee notes:

…Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada in February announced said it is expanding its Express Entry immigration program, adding three new permanent residency streams that cover professions the Liberal government says are needed to fill critical labour gaps, including “highly skilled foreign military applicants” recruited by the Canadian Armed Forces in roles such as military doctors, pilots and nurses.

Ottawa did not specify how many permanent residents it aims to recruit under the new immigration stream. 

The expansion will effectively move applicants in these professions to the front of the line for permanent residency.

The changes essentially placed a few select professions with Canadian work experience at the head of the queue for permanent residency via Express Entry, a stream of economic migrants introduced designed to get immigrants into jobs faster without long delays. 

Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab said the decision to have a new category for skilled foreign military applicants “supports Canada’s defence industrial strategy,” and aims to “strengthen our armed forces, defend our sovereignty and to keep Canadians safe.”…

Canada’s shift toward a category-based “boutique” immigration system that prioritizes certain professions over other immigrants is concerning, said Rupa Banerjee, an associate professor at Toronto Metropolitan University and Canada Research Chair in economic inclusion, employment and entrepreneurship of immigrants.

Labour market needs can shift quickly, and it’s difficult to accurately predict which jobs are in demand now and how that may change in the future, she said.

Banerjee pointed to the 1990s dot-com boom which saw Canada actively recruit IT and computer science professionals, anticipating massive demand. Following the subsequent tech bubble burst, many of these skilled immigrants faced unemployment, highlighting the volatility of relying on specific, fast-changing industries for economic growth and immigration planning.

“We’ve seen that labour market needs change before we are able to respond … and there’s always this lag,” Banerjee said. “It’s very short-sighted.”

Source: Why foreign recruits won’t solve Canada’s military staffing problems

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