Easier citizenship path likely for foreign students

The federal government has revised how it assesses applications for permanent residence from former international students and expects to release the changes later this month, bolstered by recommendations from its panel on economic growth that argued this group is key to Canada’s immigration strategy, writes Simona Chiose for The Globe and Mail.

The changes follow many complaints from international students that Express Entry, the new immigration system introduced on 1 January 2015, has diminished their chances of staying in Canada after graduation. Under the new point-based system, applications from workers who can show that employers need their skills and that no Canadian residents can meet that need have been processed in record time. Thousands of international students, however, have seen their files languish.

“The problem is that people have come here hoping that their time in Canada, on a Canadian campus, will be properly evaluated and valued in the citizenship process,” said Paul Davidson, president of Universities Canada. “And over the last couple of years that did not transpire…”
Full report on The Globe and Mail site