According to Citizenship and Immigration Canada's 2009 Annual Report, Canada is actually maintaining its immigration levels to meet the country's medium- to long-term economic needs. While other countries have cut back immigration levels as a short-term response to the global economic downturn, Canada is actually maintaining its immigration levels.

On August 24th, Canada's Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney announced the implementation of the redesigned permanent resident (PR) card. The PR card will be in circulation beginning today. The new card contains micro-lettering and fine line patterns that are resistant to copying, similar to banknotes. Also, the card holder's photograph and personal details are recorded on a bar code in an encrypted format that may only be read by authorized officials.

Three new designations to the Immigration and refugee board of Canada (IRB) were announced today by the citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism. Ms Shari. A. stein and Hazelyn Ross were designated the deputy chairperson of the immigration Appeal Division and Assistant deputy Chairperson respectively, in the Toronto Office. Whereas, in the Vancouver office, Ross A Pattee was designated the assistant deputy chairperson.

As of May 19th 2009, the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP) has removed certain occupations from its list of qualifying occupations for the popular U.S. Visa Holder category. Eight Information Technology (IT) occupations are no longer listed as "occupations under pressure" in Alberta. Applicants with work experience in these occupations are no longer qualified for the program.

The new Citizenship law has retroactively restored Canadian citizenship to many who had lost it due to obscure and outdated provisions in past legislation. Secondly, it has henceforth limited citizenship by descent to first generation Canadians. Canadian Citizenship is now restored to anyone born in Canada or who became a Canadian citizen on or after January 1, 1947 and then lost their citizenship.

Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) Minister Diane Finley and Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism (CIMC) Minister Jason Kenney recently announced an investment of $50 million over the next two years to help newcomers have their internationally-obtained education and work experience assessed and recognized more quickly..

Are you considering moving to Canada or are already in the process of moving to Canada? Do you need advice with a personal touch or want to share your immigration experience? LoonLounge.com might be the right website to visit. LoonLounge.com is a place to meet people and learn about life in Canada and the Canadian immigration experience.

Under the new regulation, professionals seeking to work temporarily in Canada under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) can now receive work permits for up to three years and may be renewed thereafter. Earlier. Earlier NAFTA workers were required to renew their work permit every 12 months. By easing the administrative requirements..

The Canadian Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism announced that Canada will maintain its immigration level in 2009, welcoming between 240,000 to 265,000 new permanent residents. The 2009 plan includes up to 156,600 immigrants in the economic category; 71,000 in the family category; and 37,400 in the humanitarian category.

In accordance with the Access to Information Act (ATI), information can be obtained on immigration records held by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. ATI reports have valuable information on the processing of your Canadian permanent and temporary residence applications. It is not the same as the e-Client found on CIC website, which provides very limited information on the status of your file.