Canada has adjusted its 2010 immigration plan by increasing the 2010 quota for economic immigrants. These changes are a response to the Canadian and Global economic recovery and will assist in further reducing the federal skilled worker backlog. As Canada recovers from the recession, increasing economic immigration is beneficial to the country and ensures employers have the workers they need to supplement the Canadian domestic labor supply. Canada expects the need for more economic immigrants will also grow further in the years ahead.

Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Ministry recently introduced a new rule that would better protect the value of Canadian citizenship by strengthening the process of applying for citizenship and cracking down on crooked citizenship consultants. The full package of amendments named as Bill C-37: Strengthening the Value of Canadian Citizenship Act proposes to add legal authority to regulate citizenship consultants and to crack down

Quebec Skilled Worker / Professional applicants intending to reside in Montreal or another city in the Province of Quebec are selected based upon a different set of criteria than applicants who wish to settle elsewhere in Canada. If you want to imigrate to Quebec as a skilled worker, you must first follow a separate selection process before your application is finalised by Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

If you have studied or worked in the province of Quebec, you may be eligible to immigrate to the province of Quebec, in Canada under the fast-track Canadian immigration program. As of Sunday, February 14 2010, the new Quebec Experience Class program is finally in effect and those who qualify can now submit their applications. There are two categories under the Quebec Experience Class.

Temporary residents in Canada can now apply online for work permits. Temporary residents seeking work permits or an extension of their visit in Canada can now apply online. Apart from applying online, applicants can also pay their application fees, check their application status and change their address online. The new online applications will result in faster processing because online applications can only be submitted if they are complete.

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.