Government Introduces Action Plan to Reduce Immigration Backlog

Minister Kenney announced at a press conference in Toronto on Monday, November 28, 2008, “We expect federal skilled worker applicants, including those with arranged employment, to receive a decision within six to 12 months, compared with up to six years under the old system.”

“We are glad to see Minister Kenney get to work quickly in tackling the problem of backlog and processing times. However potential immigrants from Ukraine and those in Canada advocating on their behalf will be dissapointed by the narrow profile that the federal program seeks to let into Canada. Immigrant assisting groups and agencies will have to work harder and smarter in finding immigrants that fit the new criteria or redirect others to provinces that have more open provincial immigration programs such as Saskatchewan,” stated Eugen Duvalko, President Canadian Ukrainian Immigrant Aid Society and Chair UCC, Immigration Committee.

Further announcements regarding the federal skilled worker applications and their processing can be found at: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/releases/2008/2008-11-28.asp

UCC Media Contact
Darla Penner
Tel. (204) 942-4627
dpenner@ucc.ca
www.ucc.ca