April 29, 2013: Changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP)

Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, and the Honourable Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, announced reforms to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP).

The Government has introduced legislative, regulatory and administrative changes that will:

• effective immediately, require employers to pay temporary foreign workers at the prevailing wage by removing the existing wage flexibility;
• effective immediately, temporarily suspend the Accelerated Labour Market Opinion process;
• increase the Government’s authority to suspend and revoke work permits and Labour Market Opinions (LMOs) if the program is being misused;
• add questions to employer LMO applications to ensure that the TFWP is not used to facilitate the outsourcing of Canadian jobs;
• ensure employers who rely on temporary foreign workers have a firm plan in place to transition to a Canadian workforce over time through the LMO process;
• introduce fees for employers for the processing of LMOs and increase the fees for work permits so that the taxpayers are no longer subsidizing the costs; and
• identify English and French as the only languages that can be used as a job requirement.

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March 20, 2013:

March is Fraud Prevention Month! Ottawa, March 20, 2013 — Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney is advising Canadians and newcomers to inform themselves to avoid becoming victims of immigration fraud during Fraud Prevention Month.

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December 17, 2012:

The newly updated and revised Yukon Nominee Program Application Handbook is now available!

September 19, 2012:

If the foreign national is to be employed in the transportation industry as a taxi driver, long haul trucker, etc. the following requirement must be met: Applicants who hold a driver's license outside of Canada within the past 3 years must obtain their own driver's record that would show information about recent collisions, violations, or suspensions. Every country has a different procedure for this, but we recommend contacting the agency which issued your license.

September 19, 2012: Incomplete Applications

A letter will be sent to the employer, stating that this application cannot be processed. The employer will be given a period of 30 days to submit the information lacking. If, after a period of 30 days, the necessary information has not been provided, the application will be returned to the employer.

August 31, 2012: Extensions of Nominations

In some cases a nominee may require an extension of their nomination. While the issuance of work permit extensions remains the purview of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), the YNP can assist the nominee in renewing their nomination. The YNP will assist; if the nominee has begun the permanent residence process, has not yet received their permanent status, and the nomination is due to expire in a relatively short period.

Criteria for renewal:

A) The nominee must demonstrate that they have undertaken the permanent residence process, and provide the reviewing officer of evidence of this fact.

B) The nominee must advise the Yukon Nominee program in advance of the imminent expiry of their work permit. The Yukon Nominee Program will not undertake the renewal process if the permit is due to expire in less than 30 days.

C) Yukon provincial nominees are each eligible for a one-time extension of their nomination. Requests for extension of Nomination will only be accepted in writing addressed to the Yukon Nominee manager clearly indicating the reason for extension. The reason(s) for extension will be reviewed by the YNP. There is no guarantee that an extension will be issued. The YNP will not issue more than one extension request.

D) The extension request is subject to all conditions that were in place at the time the original nomination certificate was issued by the YNP.

F) Extension requests may take up to 30 days to process and forward to CIC. The YNP cannot respond to any inquiries about the status of a work permit extension request.

June 12, 2012: Application Processing Time

The current processing time for Skilled Worker / Critical Impact Worker applications is 8-10 weeks from receipt of a complete application. Processing times will increase with the volume of applications received.

June 12, 2012: Foreign Nationals applying to Yukon Nominee Program from within Canada must provide proof of current legal status in Canada.

June 12, 2012: Language Standards:

Starting July 1, 2012 - All Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) applicants to Critical Impact Worker or Skilled Worker Stream will need language testing. This test will show whether your skills meet a minimum standard in each of these four categories: listening, speaking, reading and writing.

Applicants must provide valid results from a language test administered by a designated testing agency. The acceptable tests are:

• the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) General Training;
• the Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program (CELPIP-General); and
• the Test d’évaluation de français (to test proficiency in French).

No other evidence of language proficiency will be accepted.

Requirement for NOC O & A (Skilled Worker):

English: IELTS Level 6 in each category

English: CELPIP: Level 4L in each category

French: TEF Level 4 in each category

Requirement for NOC B (Skilled Worker):

English: IELTS Level 5 in each category

English: CELPIP: Level 3L in each category

French: TEF Level 3 in each category

Requirement for NOC C & D (Critical Impact Worker) :

English: IELTS Level 4 in each category

English: CELPIP: Level 2H in each category

French: TEF Level 3 in each category

PLEASE NOTE: Effective July 1, 2012 only the original IELTS, CELPIP & TEF, language testing documents will be accepted.

April 19, 2012: Please be advised that Guaranteed Employment Offer form has been updated to reflect the recent changes to Low Income Cut-Off figures recently released by Statistics Canada.

March 28, 2012: Incomplete Nominee Applications :

As of April 2, 2012, employers will receive a letter from our office to provide the missing documents within the timeline indicated in the letter. Failure to do that will result in the application being denied.

March 28, 2012: Statistics Canada released the annual CPI figures for the year ending December 2011, noting a 3 percent annual average increase for Whitehorse. Therefore, effective April 1, the wages for Nominees should reflect the 3% increase.

March 23, 2012: Employers, please note that as of March 1, 2012, applications must be submitted on the new forms. Applications in the old format will not be accepted.

Effective March 1, 2012 the Employment Contract is replaced with a Guaranteed Employment Offer, the Affidavit of Support is replaced with a Settlement and Retention Plan. In addition the Memorandum of Understanding and the YNP application form have been revised. The goals of the changes have been to ensure that people who are nominated to immigrate to Yukon can successfully integrate and create a positive experience for nominees and employers.

These changes are being implemented after extensive consultations with the stakeholders in Whitehorse, Dawson City and Watson Lake.

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