Travel to Canada

The job vacancies portion of this update revealed that Canada had over 1,000,000 job vacancies in May of this year.

Two thirds of Canadian businesses surveyed hire talent from abroad

Canada works hard to position itself as an ideal home for the best and the brightest global talent across all industries.

The Business Council of Canada (BCC) recently released a report in which 80 Canadian businesses were surveyed about how they use Canada’s immigration programs to hire skilled workers. The businesses surveyed cumulatively employ over 1.6 million workers. Two thirds of companies surveyed say they recruit talent overseas using Canada’s immigration system. The remaining third hires immigrants who have already relocated to Canada.

Canada’s Immigration Levels Plan 2022-2024 looks to welcome over 450,000 new permanent residents per year by 2024. Canada offers a multitude of work permit and economic class immigration pathways.

According to the BCC survey, all employers agree that Canada’s labour shortage is widespread, and they face real difficulty finding skilled workers across all industries. Labour shortages are particularly pronounced in Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia.

Canada’s tech sector has been hit hardest by labour shortages as industry growth and demand is outpacing the number of skilled workers. Professions such as computer science, engineering and information tech are in high demand.

Improvement factors:

Only half of respondents agree that the Immigration Levels Plan for 2022-2024 is adequate to address their business needs and the growing labour shortages. The remaining half indicated that the number of economic immigrants needs to be increased but acknowledged that this is not practical until the government has a plan in place to ensure there is adequate housing and other infrastructure to support new immigrants, such as childcare and healthcare.

Employers also believe they have a role to play in helping immigrants settle. This can take the form of language training, assisting employees in obtaining recognition of foreign credentials and relocation assistance.

Canadian businesses expect that competition for skilled immigrants will intensify over the next few years. This is especially true of recent graduates who they say face significant barriers in obtaining permanent residency in Canada due to the time it takes to gain sufficient work experience.

Canada is one of the world's most attractive destinations for international students.

Last year, Canada welcomed 450,000 new international students, an all-time record.

Travelers entering Canada are now subject to artificial intelligence (AI) screening at select land ports of entry, as part of a pilot project by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).

Air Canada and the union representing over 5,200 pilots have reached a tentative four-year agreement, avoiding a strike that could have begun this week.

Air Canada faces a potential work stoppage next week, risking flight cancellations and disruptions to cargo services.

Air Canada flight attendants have vowed to continue their nationwide strike, rejecting a government back-to-work order they argue is unconstitutional. The order, issued by the Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) at Ottawa’s request, was meant to end the walkout by 2 p.m. ET Sunday.

Air Canada flight attendants officially walked off the job at 12:58 a.m. ET on Saturday, August 16, launching a nationwide strike after months of tense negotiations. Within half an hour, the airline responded with a lockout, suspending all Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge operations. The shutdown of Canada’s largest airline is expected to affect roughly 130,000 passengers daily.

With a possible strike by Air Canada flight attendants just a week away, air passenger advocates are advising travellers to remain calm and avoid making costly changes prematurely.

Marc Miller, has expressed concern over the rising number of international students seeking asylum to stay in the country, calling it an "alarming trend."

On January 18th, the Alberta added having relatives in the province to the province selection criteria.

Alberta invites 120 Express Entry candidates and BC targets tech occupations. 

Two provinces have announced major immigration draws this month, together issuing more than 1,700 invitations to apply (ITAs).

Alberta
Between September 2 and 10, the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP) invited 1,376 candidates through seven separate draws. The largest took place on September 4, when 891 invitations were issued under the Alberta Opportunity Stream. Other draws targeted priority sectors such as healthcare, construction, agriculture, and aviation. 

So far this year, Alberta has issued 3,749 provincial nominations from its 2025 allocation of 4,875, leaving 1,126 spaces available for the remainder of the year.

Newfoundland and Labrador
On September 12, the province held its ninth round of 2025, inviting 353 candidates through the Provincial Nominee Program (NLPNP) and the Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP). This included 218 invitations under the NLPNP and 135 through the AIP, the province’s largest AIP-specific draw so far in 2025. 

To date, Newfoundland and Labrador has invited 2,018 candidates under the NLPNP and 586 under the AIP, working within its increased 2025 allocations of 2,050 NLPNP nominations and 475 AIP spaces.

Between June 5 and 19, 2025, Alberta conducted five separate draws through the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP), inviting candidates with relevant experience in priority sectors such as healthcare, construction, and technology.

Alberta will have greater flexibility to bring newcomers in 2025 after Ottawa approved a higher share of provincial nominations.

Alberta has paused its Alberta Opportunity Stream to realign its immigration focus towards sectors with labor shortages, including healthcare and technology. This strategic move aims to optimize the province's workforce by prioritizing critical areas.

The Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP) offers the Tourism and Hospitality Stream to help industry workers gain permanent residency. Applicants must meet job, language, and education requirements.

Canada has some of the strictest impaired driving laws in the world. A blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08% or higher is a criminal offence under the Criminal Code, and even a single conviction can have serious immigration consequences. Since 2018, impaired driving is classified as “serious criminality”, carrying penalties of up to 10 years, even for first-time offenders.

Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has updated its policy regarding the collection of biometrics for permanent resident applicants.

In 2022, Canada admitted a record of 551,405 international students from 184 countries and as the end of 2022; there were 807,750 international students with valid study permits in Canada.