Last Updated On 1 June 2024, 8:33 PM EDT (Toronto Time)

This page enlists all the Canada immigration news and important IRCC updates this May that Canada immigration applicants as well as immigration representatives must know.

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May marks an important month with major updates and developments for citizenship, economic immigration, family sponsorship, and temporary visa categories.

So we consolidated all the new changes and developments in this monthly newsletter to stay updated with the ever-changing Canadian immigration landscape.

Major Canada Immigration News Updates

IRCC Operational Processing Updates

Effective May 1st, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has now switched to reporting processing times for all the categories on a monthly basis rather than updating them on a weekly basis.

There were major changes for citizenship, spousal sponsorship, parent-grandparent sponsorship, provincial nominee programs (PNPs), and most of the temporary residence applications.

Click here to check the latest IRCC processing times for various categories. The next IRCC processing update is expected to be on Monday, June 3, 2024.

In another monthly IRCC update, the department reported that the backlog has risen slightly for temporary residence applications but has decreased for citizenship and permanent residence applications.

Click here for the category-wise latest backlog data.

Citizenship Major Development

On May 23, 2024, Canadian immigration minister Marc Miller introduced the historical new Canadian citizenship by descent legislation, called Bill c-71.

This bill would promptly grant Canadian citizenship to individuals born abroad to a Canadian parent who was also born abroad prior to the Act’s implementation.

Additionally, it would extend the availability of a direct grant of citizenship to children born overseas and adopted by Canadian parents beyond the first generation.

In addition, Bill C-71 would restore citizenship to “lost Canadians“—individuals who were unable to obtain citizenship due to antiquated provisions in previous citizenship laws.

Click here for detailed information on the new Bill C-71.

Express Entry Updates

In a surprising move, IRCC finally announced the most-awaited Express Entry draw for Canadian Experience Class (CEC) candidates on the last day of May 2024.

The previous Express Entry draw for the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) was in September 2021.

3,000 profiles were invited to apply with a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 522 or above.

Click here for all the Express Entry draws announced in May 2024.

As an annual scheduled change, the new proof of funds requirement for the Express Entry system came into effect on May 28, 2024.

Click here for the new proof of funds requirement and who actually needs to update it.

New Family Sponsorship Updates

IRCC has been sending permanent residency invitations under the Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) 2024 intake, beginning this May 21st.

A total of 35,700 invitations will be sent over the course of two weeks, with the intention of admitting 20,500 complete applications.

Click here to get full information on PGP 2024 intake.

In another update at the end of May, IRCC informed that they will now be using two automation tools to speed up the processing of overseas spousal sponsorship (including common-law partners) applications to remove backlogs and reduce processing times for new applications.

Click here to get full information on how these automation tools work.

New Changes to Work Permit LMIAs

Changes to the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) have come into effect on May 1st, as listed below:

New LMIAs will now be applicable for six months, as opposed to the previous twelve, to ensure that they accurately reflect the labour market’s requirements.

Furthermore, all industries are now allowed to hire only 20% of the entire workforce under the low wage stream of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP), except for the construction and health care industries.

Also, employers must evaluate all available individuals in the Canadian job market prior to submitting an LMIA request, including asylum seekers who possess valid work permits in addition to Canadian citizens and permanent residents.

Click here to understand the new changes for work permits based on LMIAs that came into effect in May 2024.

New Updates for International Students

Effective May 15, international students graduating from Canadian public-private partnerships (PPP) educational institutions will no longer be eligible for the post graduation work permit (PGWP).

Public-private partnership educational institutions are private colleges that deliver programs on behalf of public educational institutions that are themselves generally run PGWP-eligible programs.

Click here to understand the full PGWP eligibility criteria.

In a different moment of relief for around 6,700 international students with expiring PGWPs in 2024 got an assurance of work permit extension for up to 2 years in Manitoba.

To be eligible, such international students must be eligible and have submitted an Expression of Interest (EOI) for Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP) prior to May 10.

Click here for the latest information and updates on this policy for MPNP applicants.

PNP Updates

In the month of May, Manitoba sent out most of the provincial nominations (1,565) in 3 PNP draws as compared to any other Canadian provinces.

Also British Columbia sent out around 290 provincial nomination invitations this month in 4 weekly draws.

As per most recent update, Alberta Express Entry draw sent only 40 permanent residence invitations via the Healthcare Pathway with Alberta job offer. Cutoff score was 305.

Additionally, Prince Edward Island sent out only 6 nomination invitations to individuals currently working in PEI in the Healthcare and Construction sectors.

PEI skipped the monthly draw scheduled on May 16 most probably to figure out plans to resolve the concerns raised by international students on the island.

Ontario has not announced any PNP round of invitations since April 23, but we are expecting to see draws beginning in June since IRCC has also resumed express entry draws.

Hope this article help you to stay updated with important updates and developments that happened in regards to immigration.

Kamal Deep Singh, RCIC

Kamal Deep Singh, RCIC (Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant) licensed by CICC (formerly known as ICCRC) with member number R708618. He brings extensive knowledge of immigration law and new changes to rapidly evolving IRCC.