Canada continues to face a tight labor market and employers are continuing to find innovative ways to attract skilled talent to Canada. In its ongoing effort to support growth in the Canadian labor market, the Minister of Immigration announced on 22 April 2022, some major operational and policy changes which should be of benefit to Canadian employers looking to recruit and retain foreign talent, as well as to the foreign nationals who are looking to make Canada their permanent residence.
To best understand the impact of this announcement, it is important to understand the current context. That is, in terms of permanent residence processing, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has had a pause in place for accepting PR applications under the Skilled Worker, Skilled Trades and Canada Experience Class for many months now. That pause has resulted in many international graduates of Canadian schools being unable to obtain permanent residence status in Canada, and instead being forced to leave Canada at the end of their post-graduate work permit. This results in a great loss of talent for the Canadian labor market.
A Tax Alert prepared by EY Law LLP, and attached below, provides additional details.
