Economic Class
The immigration legislation defines the purposes of the Canadian immigration system. One of its declared purposes is to allow Canada to maximize the social, economic and cultural benefits of incoming immigration.
Immigrants that are admitted under the economic classification, contribute to the Canadian market by filling shortages in human resources of predefined economic sectors. Another distinct benefit is the contribution of unique knowledge and workforce skills. The economic class has accounted for approximately 70% of the overall immigration entering Canada in recent years. Under the economic class, there are various immigration streams and immigration programs. The immigration streams account for the categorical response to market needs. Whereas the immigration programs are the manifestation of the flexibility awarded to the administrative rank to respond to the ever changing labour market trends. The Canadian government maintains an extensive research array, designed to empirically track market needs and trends and foresee their change over years to come.
Among the researching entities, one would find the following authorities: Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC), Statistics Canada and similar authorities within the provincial administrations.
The fundamental rational that is in the heart of the economic class, is the potential of the immigration applicant to become financially established in Canada. Under this rational, the admittance of skilled workers are a focused response to labour market needs, while simultaneously increasing the chances of financial establishment.
In recent years, the field of immigration law has undergone a process of comprehensive reforms, manifested both in the frequency of changes, as well as their substantive nature. The lion share of these changes was made in the regulatory level, and consequentially, in the administrative level such as by ministerial instructions, internal operational instructions within the CIC etc.
Changes were made to all immigration streams under the economic class, and applicants should be mindful of their suitability in an ever changing environment.