Although the majority of the rules and regulations concerning immigration and visa applications for Canada have largely remained the same, there have been a number of updates and amendments made to Canadian immigration legislation that may affect your circumstances.

Recently a change in immigration law has allowed children of temporary workers in Alberta and Ontario to obtain work permits. This is currently a temporary scheme and eligible candidates will have to meet certain requirements.  Canadian immigration laws can vary quite substantially from province to province and no similar schemes have been put in place in other areas of the country.

A new report detailing the impact of Canada’s immigration reform has just been released by the Maytree Foundation, a Canadian policy research organisation, and this may bring about further changes to the country’s immigration policy. Currently, Canada has a quite liberal stance in comparison to most countries for migrants arriving from the UK, and the data collected in the report suggests that closer monitoring should be brought in for temporary workers. It was also stated that immigration was “fundamental to the nation’s social and economic well-being”.

The country of Canada is largely under-populated, but smaller communities in the rural areas, such as North Bay, Ontario, have developed initiatives to attract more migrants into these areas. It is well worth considering rural areas as a location to settle if you are applying for a permanent visa to Canada as this will increase the chances of your Canada visa application being approved.