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Canada’s Minister of Immigration, the honourable Sean Fraser, recently announced facilitative measures to ease the matchmaking between Canadian employers who are racing to fill a large number of vacancies in certain critical sectors, and many young, talented, and eligible foreign candidates who require authorization to live and work in Canada. We have published a summary of the recently announced measures here (https://www.cilf.ca/2022/04/22/reopening/)

Though there are many reasonable frustrations related both to setbacks caused by extreme and unexpected events such as COVID and conflicts in Afghanistan and Ukraine, as well as a struggle for IRCC to modernize and adapt to enable processing to keep up with demand, we acknowledge that the Federal Government is signalling the will to listen and adapt to the economic realities of our immigration landscape.

As we regularly receive many inquiries from business regarding young candidates they wish to hire for positions in Canada, we think that the International Experience Class (IEC) program may offer a unique solution for employers to confirm talent and provide the individual with necessary time to qualify for permanent residence.

In summary, the IEC is a well designed and smoothly functioning federal program, which enables young candidates (18 to 35 years of age, inclusive) to qualify for work authorization in Canada for a period of time sufficient to place them in an excellent position to apply for a permanent residency pathway if they so choose. This program may also be an excellent option for American companies who are looking to place their talent in Canada for a year or two while their US immigration status is processed.

As the IEC is available for citizens of countries with which Canada has bilateral agreements permitting the employment of young people, not every country is covered, and there are differences between what is available across these agreements. The best approach is to research what may apply to you and consult with an expert who can guide you though the process. However, some facts we feel are not sufficiently well known, but could be of value to candidates are as follows:

• IEC is also available to citizens of countries that do not have bilateral agreements with Canada, such as India and Brazil. These candidates would qualify with assistance of third parties, aka Recognized Organizations (ROs), which would serve as an intermediary that offers travel and work support for youth.
• There are different options for qualification through IEC, including working holiday, international co-op internship, and young professional categories.
• IEC candidates can get a work permit of up to 2 years, which is sufficient time to qualify for the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) of the Express Entry program and effectively become more competitive in the pool of candidates.
• Processing times once the IEC pool is open is relatively short (3 weeks).
• With the caveat that not all categories receive invitations during each round, for those that do, the chances of successful candidacy are very high as usually the number of participants in the pool is matched by the number of issued invitations.
• Those with an offer of employment from a Canadian company have an even better chance of receiving an invitation.

Immigration is a deeply personal process, where each applicant’s unique circumstances determine the options and strategies that are best suited for their goals. It is certainly good to have options and to be informed of the many possibilities that may be available. Contact our knowledgeable and experienced team of experts to find out what pathways are possible for you.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, increased scrutiny on travelers crossing borders and passing through airports has been par for the course. For good reason, customs officers have been tasked with protecting health and safety of the general population by conducting careful examination of who is permitted to enter a country, or board a plane. In this great turmoil, the conversation about the protection of personal privacy has naturally taken a backseat. With the end of the special measures in sight, the latest announcement on this subject is welcome news.

On March 31, the Government of Canada introduced a Bill to safeguard traveler privacy and rights. Introduced by the Minister of Public Safety, the Bill is designed to strengthen the framework governing the examination of personal digital devices by Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers and United States Customs and Border Patrol preclearance officers operating in Canada. The Bill seeks to create standards that must be met before a personal digital device can be examined. In summary, the proposed legislation would amend the Customs Act and the Preclearance Act to:

• Establish a new threshold that must be met before the initiation of a personal digital device examination, which requires reasonable general concern;
• Create an authority to examine documents on personal digital devices, so that they can be distinguished from other goods, including commercially imported/exported digital devices; and
• Require a specific purpose that formally limits examinations to regulatory border-related examinations.

This effort is clearly designed to balance the rights of travelers against the overarching objective of securing borders. However, following the October 2020 ruling of the Alberta Court of Appeal in R. v Canfield and R v Townsend, which established that paragraph 99(1)(a) of the Customs Act is unconstitutional as it establishes no limits on the right of CBSA to examine contents of personal digital devices, the government is clearly pursuing the broader objective of remedying the previous legislative shortcomings.

Typically, personal digital devices have been treated as goods that travelers have on them when they cross the border, and as such, subject to examination by CBSA. In other words, cellphones, computers, tablets, laptops, digital cameras, and any other device capable of storing digital data, fall under the same category as luggage. The obvious problem of this categorization is that the information stored on a personal digital device is not analogous to contents contained in a knapsack. In fact, the main problem is that rather than dealing with “items”, here we are dealing with personal information. The latter is protected under section 4 of the Privacy Act, which states, “No personal information shall be collected by a government institution unless it relates directly to an operating program or activity of the institution.” To comply with section 4 of the Privacy Act, a government institution must have lawful authority for the collection of personal information.

In October 2019, responding to a number of complaints under the Privacy Act, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada published an investigative report, which among other recommendations such as better officer training and clearer instruction manuals, recommended legislative change. The report concluded that the search of an electronic device at the border is an extremely privacy intrusive procedure and highlighted the inherent problems associated with considering digital devices to be simply “goods” in terms of the application of the Customs Act. The specific recommendations included an update to the definition of “goods” under the Customs Act, development of a clearer legal framework, and elevation of the threshold to “reasonable grounds to suspect”. The proposed threshold was to replace the existing “multiplicity of indicators” standard in the CBSA policy.

The proposed Bill S-7 imports these recommendations, a welcome step towards modernizing the Customs Act, which was enacted in 1985, long before examination of cell phones and other digital devices could have been contemplated by the legislators. It is a hopeful sign that a proper balance can be struck between safeguarding the borders and protecting the personal right to privacy.

Starting today, April 1, fully vaccinated travelers coming to Canada no longer require a PCR or antigen COVID-19 test to enter Canada. This announcement comes amid calls for loosening of the strict travel restrictions due to stable COVID-19 case counts. Fully vaccinated travelers are those who have received at least two doses of an accepted vaccine (consult the Government list to find out which vaccines qualify: https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/travel-restrictions/foreign-sept7-vaccine) or at least one does of Janssen/Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Travelers are still required to fill out the ArriveCan app, using the most up to date version of the app, prior to arriving and may still be selected for random testing upon arrival. If selected, they may be given a take-home test, or sent to a nurse if arriving at an airport. Travelers collect tests or go for swabs, then continue on to their final destinations. There is a limited number of exemptions to the post arrival testing, which you may be eligible for.

It is important to also remember that United States rules are different, and travelers returning to US by air still need to present a negative COVID-19 test.

The reprieve from pre arrival testing may be temporary, as there is already news of a 6th COVID-19 wave and climbing infection rates. The situation is in constant flux.