On October 2nd, 2020, the immigration minister of Canada announced the new safety measures and travel rules for the families and students in Canada. The new safety measures were announced by the immigration minister in a conference that was held in Ottawa. In this conference, the minister of immigration Marco Mendicino said that the extended family members of Canadian citizens and permanent residents will be able to enter Canada on October 8th.
After a limited control of the COVID-19 cases, the Canadian government has announced to make the travel sanctions quite easier than before, these new measures will be implemented for the Canadian family members, students, study permit holders, and the persons entering in Canada on the humanitarian and compassionate grounds.
Preventions for the DLI:
The Designated Learning Institutes (DLI) are those educational institutes that are approved by the government for the international students. Another rule will take effect on October 20th, which will allow the international students enrolled at the Canadian learning institutions to enter Canada as if their designated learning institution (DLI) has a COVID-19 combat plan. The plan by the designated learning institute (DLI) must be examined by the province or the territory, to enable and ensure the safety measures for the students.
Foreign Nationals:
The foreigners are allowed to enter Canada under compassionate concerns. The situations can include attending a funeral in Canada. The important thing is that the travellers who are entering in Canada, it is mandatory for them to remain self-quarantine for the duration of 14 days.
Eligible family members:
The allowed extended family members who can enter Canada include, the ones indulged in a long time relationship, dependent children, adult children, siblings, and grandparents.
The Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will also upload the further details on its official website on October 8th. Before this recent announcement, the eligible family members were:
- spouses or common-law partners
- dependent children
- dependent children of dependent children
- parents and step-parents, including in-laws
- guardians or tutors
In the previous week, Canada also announced that the spousal sponsorship applications will also be extended that will ramp up the processing to 6,000 sponsorship applications per month. In the initial phase of the travel restrictions, the students could come to Canada if they had their permits approved before March 18th. Canada has also set the exemptions for those students who come from the United States of America. Whereas, before October 20th, Canada allowed only those students to enter, if they had their on-campus classes, labs or workshops in their institutes.
Canada closed its borders on March 18th, and till June 30th. Whereas, the restrictions were increases every month. On the other hand, the government has offered leniency to those individuals who have to come to Canada for the essential reasons that include reunification with the family members etc. In the previous month, the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario witnessed sharp increases in the COVID-19 cases, so they had to impose some sanctions to prevent the hike in the cases.
Canada’s continuity on the immigration system
After the lockdown in the country, Canada had to make its economy on track. The immigration system of Canada is considered as the major stimulant and a contributor to the Canadian economy. So, Canada is trying its best to restore the immigration draws and invitations in order to invite the immigrants to the country. Canada is continuing to hold the Express Entry, Provincial Nominee Program (PNP), and Quebec draws. The more immigrants will enter the country, the more they will support the Canadian economy. The previous Express Entry draws were held after every two weeks, and they were also tied as the second-largest draws in the history of Canada. A total of 12,600 Invitations to Apply (ITAs) were issued to the candidates in the British Columbia and Quebec province. Canada has also planned to support this immigration system and will follow the path to invite more immigrants to the country annually. This October, the Canadian Immigration Level Plan for 2021-2023 will also be announced so that it will clarify the number of immigrants who are going to be invited to Canada under the different classes of immigration.