25 percent fall in Canada immigration

Canada, 18th July: Immigration to Canada witnessed a decline of 25 percent in the initial quarter of the current year over the last year.

And this is, inadvertently, a cause of great concern for future immigrants wanting to come to Canada.

Fall in Canada visas this year—There has been a fall in the total number of Canada visas (Canada visas for permanent residency) granted by Canada immigration department in the first three months of 2011.

As per the official data made available by CIC (Citizenship and Immigration Canada), the number of Canada visas issued during the first quarter happen to be 63,224 this year showing a fall from 84,083 in the previous year.

There has been a drop in almost all categories of Canada visas issued this year. As per the figures, number of Canada visas for refugees went down by 25 percent, while the number of Canada family sponsored relatives visas and Canada skilled workers visas declined by 14 and 28 percent respectively.

It may be noted that Canada has been successful in maintaining the annual immigration levels to nearly 250,000 for the past one and a half decade.

Public consultation on future levels of Canada immigration—CIC has announced a pubic consultation on the number of immigrants to be allowed into Canada each year as well as the type of immigrants needed by Canada economy. Canada immigration department acknowledged the need for immigration into Canada in the wake of growing number of baby boomers in the nation.

Canada immigration department, while accepting the need for immigrants in Canada, also seems to question the issue of additional funding in case the country accepts increased levels of Canada immigration. To make the things clearer, the CIC wants to seek public opinion on the likelihood of spending $850 million on settlement and integration services for new immigrants in Canada.

Choose better immigrants--There is a need for allowing only the better immigrants into Canada who would require comparatively lesser financial help for integrating into Canada society.

And since the Canada immigration minister can take a decision on future levels of Canada immigration and the type of immigrants to be allowed into Canada, this could mean turning back the applications received in excess by Canada immigration department, states Mario Bellissimo, Canada immigration lawyer.