21 Jan 70 candidates have been invited in the first BC Tech Pilot draw
70 candidates have been invited in the first BC Tech Pilot draw
On January 14, 2020, British Columbia held the first invitation round in the Tech Pilot of the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP) in 2020. In this draw, BC invited 70 candidates in four categories: Skills Immigration – Skilled Worker, Skills Immigration – International Graduate, Express Entry British Columbia – Skilled Worker, and Express Entry British Columbia – International Graduate. The lowest score in all four categories was 90 points. Last year, BC invited 1,534 Tech Pilot candidates. So far, in 2020 British Columbia invited 268 foreign nationals to apply for a provincial nomination in 2019.
#British_Columbia, #BCPNP, #Tech_Pilot, #PNP
Ontario announced some changes to the OINP
On January 16, 2020, the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) announced the proposed regulatory amendments to some streams of the program. In the Foreign Worker and International Student streams of the Employer Job Offer category, the OINP proposed to introduce the limits for the number of applications to be approved: 1 application per 5 existing employees (within the GTA) and 1 application per 3 existing employees (outside the GTA). In the In-Demand Skills stream, OINP proposed to add 13 new NOCs for employment positions outside of the GTA. In addition, OINP wants to remove the settlement funds requirement for this stream. The main goal of the proposed amendments is to be more responsive to the regional labour market and employer needs, to remove administrative barriers and support the access of provincial employers to the OINP. The amendments are now posted for public consultation for 45 days.
#Ontario, #OINP, #Employer_Job_Offer_category, #Skilled_Worker, #International_graduate, #In_demand_skills, #regulations
British Columbia invited 25 business immigrants
On January 14, 2020, British Columbia invited 25 business-candidates under its two streams of business immigration. In this round, BCPNP invited to apply 7 candidates in the Regional Pilot. The lowest score in this round was 111, one point less than in the last draw in 2019. In the Base Category of the Entrepreneur Stream, the province invited 18 candidates with the lowest score of 117, also one point less than in the previous draw. In 2019, BC invited 289 business-candidates and 57 of them were invited via the Regional Pilot.
#British_Columbia, #BCPNP, #Entrepreneurs, #Business_immigration, #Regional_Pilot, #Rural_immigration, #PNP
University of Calgary tuition fee increase passed
The University of Calgary Board of Governors met to discuss and vote on a proposal to increase tuition fees. There were many demonstrations outside the venue, but 21 members of the school’s board decided to raise the tuition fees. A dozen students protested in front of the administrative building against the increase in tuition fees. Leaders of the Student Union said tuition increases have negative impacts on students’ quality of life and mental health. When voting, the majority of the attendees of the school council were in favour of tuition increases. As a result, tuition for new Canadian students will increase by 7% and tuition for graduate students will increase by 2%. Tuition for international students and bachelor of engineering students who are new to the school will increase by 10%. The Board of Governors said that Alberta’s economy has recently faced many challenges, and the tuition fees of the University of Calgary are not as high as those of other universities in Canada.
#Alberta, #Calgary, #UofC, #international_students