On November 2, 2012, Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced the target quota for the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) is between 53,500 to 55,300\u00a0for 2013. In the past years, Canada accepted on average 100,000 immigrants under the FSWP each year. The 2013 target quota represented a major reduction of the FSWP program.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, CIC will increase the target quota for the Canadian Experience Class applications from 7,000 in 2012 to 10,000 in 2013.<\/p>\n
Below is the details of the announcement by Jason Kenney provided by the Citizenship and Immigration Canada.<\/p>\n
Toronto, November 2, 2012<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 Today, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney announced that by the end of 2013, Canada\u2019s immigration system will be transformed from one that was plagued by backlogs into one that is fast, flexible, and responsive to the labour market.<\/p>\n Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC<\/abbr>) announced today it will admit up to 55,300 persons in the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW<\/abbr>) category in 2013. Combined with previous actions taken to manage the backlog, this means by the end of 2013 we will be able to process new applications as they are received \u2013 a \u201cjust in time\u201d system \u2013 and aim to process them in less than a year, instead of up to eight years under the old\u00a0FSW<\/abbr>program. In addition,\u00a0CIC<\/abbr>\u00a0expects to clear the\u00a0FSW<\/abbr>\u00a0applications received to date by the end of 2014, three years earlier than originally expected.<\/p>\n This will allow for the introduction of an Expression of Interest (EOI<\/abbr>) system to be put in place for\u00a0FSW<\/abbr>\u00a0and possibly other economic immigration streams.\u00a0CIC<\/abbr>\u00a0is moving to a just-in-time system that recruits people with the right skills to meet Canada\u2019s labour market needs, fast tracks their applications, and gets them working in a period of months, instead of years.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Government\u2019s number one priority remains the economy and job growth,\u201d said Minister Kenney. \u201cImmigration backlogs are detrimental to our ability to attract the world\u2019s top talent. With the decisive actions we\u2019ve taken to tackle the backlog, we will finally be able to select immigrants who better meet the needs of the Canadian labour market. We will aim to process their applications in less than 12 months.\u201d<\/p>\n The volume of\u00a0FSW<\/abbr>\u00a0applications has been a longstanding dilemma, since the number of applications received inevitably exceeded the space available within the Immigration Levels Plan each year. As a result, wait times in the\u00a0FSW<\/abbr>\u00a0program were as high as eight years.<\/p>\n Over the past few years,\u00a0CIC<\/abbr>\u00a0has taken concrete measures to tackle this problem, including the following:<\/p>\n Taken together, these efforts have dramatically reduced the total number of people waiting in the\u00a0FSW<\/abbr>\u00a0backlog from a height of 640,000 people in 2008 to approximately 100,000 today, even with new applications received since the 2008\u00a0Action Plan<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cBy tackling the backlog to make way for a faster, more flexible just-in-time immigration system, newcomers to Canada will be able to fully participate in the economy more quickly,\u201d said Minister Kenney. \u201cImmigration plays a vital role in our country\u2019s long-term prosperity. By improving our economic immigration system, we can ensure that Canada is competitive on the world stage.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2013,\u00a0CIC<\/abbr>\u00a0plans to admit between 53,500 to 55,300 Federal Skilled Workers, including their spouses and dependants.\u00a0CIC<\/abbr>\u00a0intends to lift the current pause on\u00a0FSW<\/abbr>\u00a0applications in 2013, when the new selection criteria are expected to take effect. The final regulatory changes will be available in the\u00a0Canada Gazette<\/em>\u00a0later this year.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On November 2, 2012, Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced the target quota for the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) is between 53,500 to 55,300\u00a0for 2013. In the past years, Canada accepted on average 100,000 immigrants under the FSWP…<\/p>\n\n