by Nancy Mendes
Certified Canadian Immigration Consultant

Totonto, Jun 28: Federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenny has announced new rules and professions for the eligibility for Canadian Immigration in the Federal skilled worker category. Though there will be fewer professions, the qualified professionals will be able to immigrate quicker and join the Canadian work force.

The first such change was introduced in February 2008, with the onset of the Bill C50.  Under these changes FSW applicants will be assessed based on certain criteria.  These criteria are not applicable for applicants intending to live in the Province of Quebec or applications received before June 26th 2010.

As part of the changes, the number of occupations eligible for the federal skilled worker program has also been reduced from 38 to 29.

Due to an oversupply in the job market, 20 of the original 38 job categories have been removed, including managers in finances, computer and information systems, health care and construction, as well as university professors and college and vocational instructors. They are being replaced with 11 new occupations: social workers, psychologists, dental hygienists and therapists, pharmacists, dentists, architects, biologists and related scientists, insurance adjusters and claims examiners, primary industry production managers (except those in agriculture) and professions in business services and management.

The immigration department will also limit the number of applications in each occupation to no more than 1,000; the applications will be processed on a first-come-first-served basis. These instructions and restrictions are effective until June 30, 2011. This limit does not apply for applicants having an Arranged employment opinion.

At the time of applying under the new occupation list one must also submit the results of the official language proficiency test for English and/or French and either

• Have an arranged employment opinion from HRSDC  OR
• Have continuous paid fulltime or equivalent part time of one year of work experience in the past ten years in one of the Preferred 29 occupations listed below:

1. Restaurant and Food Service Managers
2.  Primary Production Managers (Except Agriculture)
3. Professional Occupations in Business Services to Management
4. Insurance Adjusters and Claims Examiners
5. Biologists and Related Scientists
6. Architects
7. Specialist Physicians
8. General Practitioners and Family Physicians
9. Dentists
10. Pharmacists
11. Physiotherapists
12. Registered Nurses
13. Medical Radiation Technologists
14. Dental Hygienists & Dental Therapists
15. Licensed Practical Nurses
16. Psychologists
17. Social Workers
18. Chefs
19. Cooks
20. Contractors and Supervisors, Carpentry Trades
21. Contractors and Supervisors, Mechanic Trades
22. Electricians (Except Industrial & Power System)
23. Industrial Electricians
24. Plumbers
25. Welders & Related Machine Operators
26. Heavy-Duty Equipment Mechanics
27. Crane Operators
28. Drillers & Blasters - Surface Mining, Quarrying & Construction
29. Supervisors, Oil and Gas Drilling and Service

To find out your eligibility you can fill out an online assessment form on www.visatube.com