This program is open to immigrants with skills that are in demand in the economy and who are also assessed to have the ability to integrate themselves in the country. A new program, Express Entry (implemented starting January 2015), assesses applicants based on an online profile they complete, putting them into a pool and inviting top candidates to apply for permanent resident status.
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Canada's Parents and Grandparents sponsorship program reopened to
expressions of interest on January 28, sparking fierce competition among
aspiring sponsors.
01
The Interest to Sponsor form for the popular program was due to go live
at 12 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, with Immigration, Refugees and
Citizenship Canada (IRCC) accepting 27,000 submissions on a first-in,
first-served basis.
02
Completing and submitting the form is the first step in the sponsorship
process through IRCC's Parents and Grandparents Progra (PGP), which
allows eligible Canadian citizens and permanent residents over the age
of 18 to sponsor their parents and/or grandparents for immigration to
Canada.
03
The form opened and closed again within minutes, sparking a torrent of
comments on IRCC's social media channels from frustrated users who
said they were either unable to access the form or were in the process of
completing a form but could not because the intake ended.
04
Mathieu Genest, press secretary for Canada's Minister of Immigration,
Refugees and Citizenship, Ahmed Hussen, told CIC News that more than
100,000 individuals attempted to access the Interest to Sponsor form
when it went live.
05
IRCC reached the submissions cap by 12:11 p.m., at which point it
announced on its social media channels that the form submission period
was over.
Posts to IRCC's social media channels questioned a tweet from IRCC
that was published just after 12 p.m. announcing the form "will be
available momentarily. Thank you for your patience."
IRCC's tweet, which was subsequently deleted, was followed moments
later by the announcement that the Interest to Sponsor submission
period was over.
Many frustrated users some who said they have been trying to
sponsor family through the PGP for years condemned the process as
unfair.
"This is not a concert ticket you are selling, this is about uniting families.
The whole process is atrocious," wrote Twitter user Naimul Khan.
Mohammad Keyhani