Canada announces immigration levels for 2009.

Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, announced that Canada will stay the course on immigration in 2009, welcoming between 240,000 and 265,000 new permanent residents.

Minister Kenney said that in spite of the fact that countries like the UK and Australia are on their way to take fewer immigrants, the planned number of immigrants for 2009 in Canada are on par with last year and are among the highest for this country over the past 15 years. He said that the numbers reflect a continued commitment to an immigration program that balances Canadian goals regarding economy, humanity and family reunification.

According to the 2009 plan, Canada will intake up to 156,600 immigrants in the economic category; 71,000 immigrants in the family category and 37,400 immigrants in the humanitarian category.

Minister Kenney also announced another step in measures to improve the response of the immigration programs to the Canadian labour market. Retroactive to the 27th of February 2008, which is the date specified by the Federal Budget, the Action Plan for Faster Immigration includes issuing instructions to visa officers reviewing new federal skilled worker applications to process those who:
- Are in the list of 38 high-demand occupations such as health, skilled trades, and finance and resource extraction.
- Already have an offer of arranged employment or have already been living in Canada legally for one year as a temporary foreign worker or an international student.

The list of the 38 high-demand occupations was developed after consultations with the provinces and territories, business, labour and other stakeholders. New federal skilled worker applications that do not meet the eligibility criteria outlined above will not be processed and the applicant will get complete refund of his or her application fee. It is believed that this, along with the funds set aside in the 2008 Budget to improve immigration system, will stop the backlog from growing and will start to bring it down.

Minister Kenney said that the eligibility criteria apply only to federal skilled worker applicants and it will not affect the family reunification or refugee protection goals of Canada. He said that applicants who are not eligible for federal skilled worker category may succeed in qualifying under another category, such as the Provincial Nominee Program, or as temporary foreign workers, which might put them on a path to permanent residency through the new Canadian Experience Class. He added that there are a number of ways to immigrate to Canada.