Canada welcomes increased number of Indian immigrants and students

Canada, 11th September: Canada looks forward to welcoming more Indian immigrants including those wanting to study in Canada to make positive contributions towards Canadian economy.

This was revealed by Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multiculturalism, Jason Kenney who is on a visit to India to help fight immigration frauds in Canada. He has also sought cooperation from India to overcome the root cause of frauds related to immigration.

Canada immigration minister Kenny reiterated that Canada has been benefiting from talented and hard working new immigrants from India.

Over a million Canadians originally belong to India and Canada immigration rules are allowing more Indians to study in Canadian educational institutes, visit their family members or friends in Canada or simply immigrate as permanent residents of Canada, he added. Canada is also welcoming more immigrants to move to Canada and work here, Kenney maintained.

India has emerged as the top nation for sending immigrants to Canada last year. The year 2009 saw around 32,000 Indian applicants being issued Canada permanent resident visas registering an increase of around 13 percent over the year 2008.

Mr. Kenney clarified that although several developed nations like the UK, the US and Australia have put an annual cap on number of immigrants allowed to immigrate into the nation, however, Canada has been open to migrants hailing from India to come to Canada and there has been no cuts, whatsoever, in the number of immigrants allowed entry in Canada each year.

No wonder, increased number of Canada visas for Indian nationals is strengthening relationships between Indian and Canada.

The number of foreign students issued Canada student visas has gone up considerably and is likely to grow three times by the end of 2010 as compared to the figures of 2008. And one of the reasons for this tremendous growth in the number of Canada student visas is cooperation between Association of Canadian Community Colleges and Canada-in-India Student Partners Program by CIC(Citizenship and Immigration Canada).

Moreover, due to the introduction of Canada experience Class by Canadian government, several talented Indian youth will get an opportunity to become Canadian Permanent Residents after successful completion of their studies, Mr. Kenney added.