Contact: Henry J. Chang; Blaney McMurtry LLP (Ontario, Canada)
Introduction
On November 9, 2013, Citizenship and Immigration Minister, Chris Alexander, announced significant changes to the Canadian Experience Class (“CEC”). Citizenship and Immigration Canada (“CIC”) will now impose a total annual cap on the number of new CEC applications that it accepts and introduce limits on the number of applications that may be accepted in certain occupations. In addition, CIC will change the timing of when language ability is assessed.
Total Annual Cap
For the period commencing on November 9, 2013, and ending on October 31, 2014, CIC will accept a maximum of 12,000 new CEC applications. However, it still intends to admit approximately 15,000 individuals (whose cases are currently being processed) as permanent residents under the CEC during 2014.
Sub-Caps for Certain Occupations
As of November 9, 2013, CIC will impose sub-caps of 200 applications each for National Occupational Classification (“NOC”) Level Skill Level B (usually requiring college education or apprenticeship training) occupations. NOC Skill Level 0 (management-level) and Skill Level A (usually requiring university education) occupations will not be subject to occupational sub-caps, but they will be subject to the total annual cap of 12,000 applications.
