British Columbia is opening a new immigration pilot program to attract foreign entrepreneurs to smaller communities around the province.   Known as the Entrepreneur Immigration — Regional Pilot, the two-year program is set to launch in early 2019. The pilot will see the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP) work in partnership with regional communities of less than 75,000 people to welcome approved immigrant entrepreneurs who want to open a new business. Communities must be located farther than 30 kilometres from a population centre of more than 75,000 people in order to be enrolled in the pilot. In an update announcing the new pilot, the BC PNP said the province’s small regional…

At 600 points, a provincial nomination is the most valuable factor under Express Entry’s Comprehensive Ranking System. Canada’s provinces employ a variety of approaches to selecting the Express Entry candidates they invite to apply for a provincial nomination for permanent residence, and the past week saw examples of three of them in action in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Ontario.   Express Entry candidates who receive a provincial nomination are awarded an additional 600 points toward their Express Entry ranking score, which makes a nomination the single most valuable factor and effectively guarantees an invitation to apply for Canadian permanent residence. The different approaches used by Express Entry-linked provincial immigration pathways to…

Immigration a key element of Manitoba’s 2018-2024 labour market forecast. A total of 168,700 job openings are forecasted for this period. Immigrants are expected to play an important role in Manitoba’s labour market in the coming years, according to the provincial government’s new seven-year labour market outlook.   A total of 168,700 job openings are forecasted for the period spanning 2018 to 2024, which works out to 24,100 total job openings per year. An almost equal number of new workers — 168,400 — are expected to join Manitoba’s labour force over this seven-year stretch. Manitoba’s labour market has benefited from record population growth in recent years that the report attributes to the Manitoba…

Rare Thursday draw issues 3,900 invitations to Express Entry candidatesNew draw leaves IRCC less than 8,000 invitations away from beating 2017 Express Entry record The Government of Canada has issued 3,900 new invitations to apply for Canadian permanent residence to Express Entry candidates in a draw held November 15. The minimum Comprehensive Ranking System score for this extremely rare Thursday draw was 449.  Today’s invitation round brings the number of invitations issued by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) in 2018 to 78,100, which leaves IRCC less than 8,000 invitations away from breaking the Express Entry record of 86,023 total invitations set last year. The federal Express Entry system manages the pool…

  New Zealand offers a perfect combination of excellent research opportunities, affordable fees and stunning extra-curricular activities. All eight of the country universities feature in current global rankings. So, wherever you study your PhD, you’ll be researching at an internationally recognized institution. Government support also means that you’ll pay the same fees as a New Zealand citizen – with no higher rate for international students. And of course, you’ll spend your PhD living amongst spectacular scenery, with all sorts of opportunities to get better acquainted with it – from hiking and biking to skiing and surfing. Here are just a few reasons to consider a PhD in New Zealand this year: Unique…

        Before making the decision to move to a new country, many expats tend to carefully look at the career prospects, the pay scales and the work culture of that place. Nations that are rated as good places to work in generally attract a higher number of professionals with global degrees and work experience. For several years, Norway, Sweden, Germany and Luxembourg have been regarded as some of the best places to work in, based on factors like career options, job security and work-life balance. However, in the recent past, Malta ranked as the best place to work, in terms of overall job satisfaction according to expats…

  A labour shortage in Quebec’s Eastern Townships region is leading employers there to pin their hopes on immigrants.   A report in the Montreal Gazette newspaper said the lack of labour is forcing some businesses in the area to share skilled workers while others are increasing salaries and even offering subsidized housing. A recent job fair for newcomers that was held in Sherbrooke, the region’s largest city, had 5,500 positions available, up from 800 positions last year. The available jobs ran from labourers and cooks to educators, engineers and project managers. The Eastern Townships region, which is known in French as The Estrie, is a big draw for tourists with its historic towns…

                      The Government of Canada is now accepting the results of a new test as proof of language ability for French-speaking economic immigration candidates applying for permanent residence.   The Test de connaissance du français pour le Canada (TCF Canada) is administered by the French government-run Centre international d’études pédagogiques (CIEP) to test proficiency in French and will be available at approved test centres in Canada and more than 150 countries. The CIEP says the TCF Canada was designed to correspond with the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)’s recognized French language standards, the Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC). Candidates for economic immigration programs including…

Canada has two official languages: English and French. English is the most commonly spoken language in most provinces and territories. French is the main language spoken in Quebec and in some areas of Ontario, New Brunswick and Manitoba. There are also francophone communities in all provinces and territories across Canada. Quebec has a large minority of residents who speak English. The importance of language skills English or French language skills are very important to help you settle in Canada. You may choose to focus on learning or improving one or the other. This will likely depend on which of the two languages most people speak in the area where you…

    New Zealand, although it is the same size as Japan or Great Britain, but there are a lot of reasons that you should consider going there for your studies abroad. Many people will call natives of the country “Kiwis,” after the bird that only resides there and nowhere else in the entire world. There are a number of reasons that you should consider Studying In New Zealand instead of considering other countries. 1. The people Kiwis are some of the most amazing, loving, and welcoming people that you will ever meet. If you are a stranger, a native New Zealander is going to treat you like you are…