CANADA IMMIGRATION
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT COMING TO (OR LEAVING) CANADA
Rule One: Don’t get fooled by fake agents, make sure you are hiring an authorised consultant for your transition to Canada. Image credit: LORENZO RENGA on Unsplash.
By MAHMOOD SABERI
For the past two years my wife and I have seen an elderly Indian gentleman come out of a neighbouring home and take his grandchildren to school, come rain or snow. In the evenings, he would follow them as they rode their bicycles to the nearby park.
He was raking leaves off the front lawn in autumn or shovelling snow from the driveway during a snowstorm.
My wife and I would look out for him and when she greeted him, he would respond with folded hands, slightly bowing his head to her.
Then last week, he came across the street and said he was leaving for home. My wife expressed sadness and asked when he was planning to return to Canada. He did not know, he said.
According to Stats Canada there were more than 3.02 million temporary residents in the country in the first quarter of this year. This included international students, work permit holders, asylum claimants and family members of permanent residents and citizens.
The new Liberal government plans to reduce the number of temporary visitors in Canada to five per cent of the population by 2028.
Ottawa has capped temporary resident visas at 673,650 for this year, and that would also adversely affect Canada’s family reunification programme for new immigrants.
Canada has always welcomed refugees and skilled workers to keep the economy buzzing, and international students for the advancement of research, but that has changed, and the welcome mat has been whisked away.
The reason for this unwelcoming attitude is because of “ghost consultants” (unlicensed immigration consultants) who gamed the system to send “students” to Canada, promising them permanent residency and charging them huge sums of money.
Thousands of “students” arrived in Canada and found there were no jobs and that there was a severe shortage in housing, and groceries were unaffordable.
Meanwhile, “diploma mills” had sprouted and students found at times their designated learning institute (DLI) was just a front and was operating from a dingy small office.
Simultaneously, another fraud was perpetrated with the sale of LMIA (Labour Market Impact Assessment), in cahoots with employers, owners of small business, such as restaurants and home improvement construction.
The LMIA is a document that Canadian employers need to obtain before hiring a foreign worker. It proves that there is a need for a foreign worker to fill a particular job and that no Canadians are available to do the work.
“Agents” were charging ridiculously high sums of $40,000 for the paper. People were willing to shell out that kind of money, after selling their property or jewellery or going into debt to loan sharks.
There were no jobs for the buyers of these fake LMIAs, and the population of Canada scaled to unmanageable proportions, and that in turn adversely impacted various sectors of the economy.
Rents increased due to a housing shortage, “students” swamped food banks and there were long queues of people standing for hours for an opening for a retail job.
Then “consultants” offered a way out to these hapless people, which was not ethical; apply for asylum. The refugee department was inundated by refugee claimants from India, even as officials in New Delhi were decrying these tactics and said it was besmirching the country’s good name.
Canadians who are generally polite and helpful, turned racist and anti-immigrant, even as the US turned extreme-right and started deporting undocumented foreigners.
Canada deported 7,300 individuals in 2024, marking a 95 per cent increase compared to 2022. Most deportations involved rejected refugee claimants.
Millions of temporary residents might have to leave for their home voluntarily or they will be deported, and that will leave a black mark on any future plans to return to Canada.
Make sure you are hiring an authorised consultant for your smooth departure. You can go to https://college-ic.ca, the website of College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC).
Scroll to the section “Verify your Immigration Consultant” and you can find a legit RCIC (Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant) there.
There are ways by which our neighbour can bring back the grandfather; through a programme called the Parent and Grandparent Super Visa, that allows loved ones to stay in Canada for five years, instead of the six-months on a regular visit visa.
If you are an international student and waiting for the asylum application to go through, be aware that it would most probably be rejected. A voluntary departure prevents future entry bans.
Temporary workers who will have to leave after their work permit expires, should make sure that you leave through an official border checkpoint, and ensure that you present proper documentation of your departure, as it will help prevent future complications.
I can assist:
• Navigate PR Pathways
• Offer support for asylum Seekers; assist rejected applicants in filing an appeal or judicial review
• Advise on study and work permits: Guide students and workers on alternative visa options, ensuring compliance with new regulations.
For a free initial assessment, contact M. Saberi, RCIC, at 647 762-5457 or m_saberi@hotmail.com
Mahmood Saberi is a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant – RCIC – based in Waterloo, Ontario.