Immigration to Canada

Immigration to Canada

By Nadeem Jamali, Canada

I have received a number of messages in response to the posting I recently made suggesting those coming to Canada to consider Saskatchewan as their destination. A number of these questions may be of more general interest. So, even though I had to stop after sending personal replies to a few senders, I will try to answer most of the questions in this posting. In general, I am not able to answer individual messages requesting information or help in immigrating to or studying in Canada. Please do your own thorough research on your options before buying a ticket. A number of questions and requests I received were of the following nature:

 

Request: “Saiin, thank you for the invitation to come to Canada. I would like to come. Please help me in getting immigration.”

 

Answer: I do not have a way to help anyone get immigration. My posting was intended for the following groups of people:

a) Those who are already in North America but considering a move for better opportunities. b) Those who are already well on their way to immigrating to Canada, and are either trying to decide where to settle, or wondering what they would do when they arrive.If you need information about immigrating to Canada;please visit this website: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english Question: “I am a student and want to get higher education in Canada. Does your university give scholarships?”

Answer: Typically, students are admitted to Master’s and Ph.D. programs at University of Saskatchewan only if either they can be supported by the university, or if they have a credible way of funding themselves - such as through a government scholarship.
There are a number of very good graduate programs at Univ. of Saskatchewan.

Visit: http://www.usask.ca/ to learn more about them.

The tuition is much lower at Saskatchewan than most other Canadian universities. Coming to North America as a graduate student is probably the best way for someone to move to this part of the world. This gives you an opportunity to interact with other North Americans as equals in an academic environment. Once you complete a degree, you have qualifications that are recognized and you can compete for employment like anyone else. Look for the section titled: “Coming to Canada for Higher Education” below for some more information. Question: “I am employed in such-and-such part of the world. What is the best way to come to Canada?” Answer: There are a number of ways:a) Look for job listings on the Internet and try to get a job. If you get a job, you will typically come on a Work Permit. If the job is in Saskatchewan, shortly after arriving in Saskatchewan, you will be able to apply for permanent residence under the Saskatchewan Provincial Nominee Program. This is a special arrangement which the province of Saskatchewan has with the Government of Canada, according to which immigration applications are handled on a priority basis. This site has more information about the SINP program.
http://www.immigration.gov.sk.ca/about/ b) Apply directly for immigration. Canadian immigration system has fairly straight forward standards. There are a number of criteria on which you are evaluated. If you have the required number of points, you are qualified. There is, of course, a fees that has to be paid. One part of the fees has to be paid at the time of applying. Rest of the fees is only payable after you have received confirmation of permanent residence and are ready to move.

c) Get admission at an educational institution to update your qualifications. Students who get employment after completing a Master’s or Ph.D. program in Saskatchewan are qualified to apply for permanent residence.

See: http://www.immigration.gov.sk.ca/student/

Coming to Canada for Higher EducationIn Canadian universities, one typically receives adequate financial support along with admission to Master’s or Ph.D. programs in a number of fields in Science and Engineering fields, as well as in a number of Humanities fields. MBAs, medicine, law degrees are typically self funded. Getting admission to North American universities is an involved process. Most North American universities take students for the Fall term which starts in late August or early September. But the admission deadlines are as early as December of the previous year.
Typically, you will have to start preparing for admission into Master’s when you enter your final year. You do not have to have already completed your bachelor’s degree to apply for admission in Master’s. They don’t need your final year marks at application time.You should apply when you are in your final year, so that you can start Master’s as soon as you graduate.
Application procedures for all universities are available on the web. Your first step should be to find that information. If you do not understand something, each department has a contact email address to which prospective students can send questions. In general, all procedures have to be followed, and all deadlines have to be met. If your application is incomplete when the deadline arrives, your application will likely not be considered. To apply for graduate studies, one has to do more work than simply fill out a form and attach copies of one’s degrees. Each university has an admission fees, so one should carefully consider which universities to apply to, based on the likelihood of being admitted somewhere. In addition to the forms, fees and copies of degrees, most universities require a “statement of purpose” and at least three letters of support. Both of these are major challenges. In the statement of purpose, a prospective student writes about past achievements and the reason for pursuing graduate studies. The statement should show enthusiasm about the discipline, determination to succeed, and some level of maturity. Most important things should be stated before the less important ones. There is no need to pretend to know what you will do for your thesis research. But it is good to know which general area you are interested in. You should avoid getting too specific about topic of interest or going into deep discussion about a particular topic, because you may end up looking very naive. For each department that you are applying to, you should go to the web pages of professors and see what are their areas of research interest. This can give you an idea of which are the important research areas in the department.Letters of recommendation are not supposed to be character certificates. You should ask the letter writers — preferably your former professors, but possibly supervisors if you were employed in your field of education — to write specific things like your rank in the class (with size of the class). Letters should highlight your qualities as a student and as a potential researcher. No one wants you to be obedient. But people are interested to know if you are hard working, intelligent, creative, have leadership skills, etc. These letters are very important in the admission decision and are looked at by the admission committee carefully.
Almost all universities require acceptable TOEFL or equivalent scores to show that you know enough English to be able to attend the university. Some universities also either recommend or require a GRE score. You have to start preparing for these exams very early. If you do not speak in English on a regular basis, you need to prepare for TOEFL. To do well enough on GRE, most people require a lot of preparation. If the university you are applying to does not require GRE, it may be better not to send them a score. An unimpressive score for a non-required test is a lot worse than no score.These tests are not something to leave to the last minute because if you do not receive the required score by the deadline, your application will typically not even be considered. As I said before, all of this is general information. Every individual’s situation is different. I cannot evaluate individual situations. So, you’ll have to do your own research.I hope this gives some more information to those who are determined enough to take the next step. Moving to another country and making a better life for yourself is not always easy. You have to be determined and resourceful. Each individual has to do some research to find out whether or not it is a good idea for them, and if it is, what would be the best way for them to go about it.
Good luck!:::::::::::

Welcome to Canada

By AHSAN KHAWAJA, Winnipeg, Canada

Welcome to Canada, I am living in Winnipeg since last 3 and 1/2 years, population of wpg is around 800000, lots of opportunities are available, if you want to drive taxi, its easy to get CAB license here, a cab driver make 3000 dollars per month approx. which is better than any other odd job. But climate is little bit harsh… temperature goes up to (MINUS) -50C in winter, which is not bad… we get lots of snow here too. Well, I am the only Sindhi living here, but seriously this is cheap city as compare to other cities of Canada. Climate of Canada is almost same everywhere except Vancouver, but Vancouver is expensive city and very hard to survive especially for new comers. I found Winnipeg is the city where new comers can settle easily and quickly. There is an other place called “Fort McMurry” its a small town not far from Edmonton, couple of my friends moved there, they got some oil fields there, so lots of job opportunities are available on decent wages. I think starting from $15 per hour. Well, u gotten decided. But I won’t suggest you for Toronto. You won’t be able to save some bucks there. If you are intending to do something, just do it. Don’t get scared of climate or anything else. Even though we get -50 here but don’t feel cold more than Pakistan because of the heating system.

Email: khawaja_ahsan@hotmail.com

+-+-+-+-+

Quebec unveils plan to attract more immigrants

Province wants to bring in 55,000 newcomers by 2010 in response to labour shortage and declining birth rate

By Rheal Seguin, Queebec, Canada

The Quebec government will progressively increase the number of immigrants to province over the next three years in its bid to attract 55,000 newcomers from abroad by 2010.

The new immigration plan unveiled yesterday seeks to respond to province’s labour shortage and the declining birth rate in outlying regions where demographic trends point to an increasingly aging population.

“Immigration constitutes an essential element to our development,” Immigration Minister Yolande James said.

The government will fall just short of meeting this year’s target of almost 48,000 immigrants. It is estimated that less than 80 percent of he 48,000 immigrant arriving in Quebec in 2007 will establish permanent residency in the province, with the others moving to other parts of the country.

The government hopes an aggressive campaign will help it attract more newcomers, especially from French-speaking countries. Quebec is targeting 49,000 immigrants in 2008. An almost equal proportion of all immigrants will be drawn from Africa (27 per cent), Asia (26 per cent), Europe (26 per cent) and the Americas (27 per cent).

The government has recently comr under attack by opposition parties for what they consider the squandering of more than $200-million in federal funding the province receives each year to facilitate the integration of immigrants into Quebec society.

Yesterday, Ms James said that, as of next year, the full amount of federal funds will go exclusively to help newcomers learn French and integrate into Quebec society. However, she was unable to give figures on how much the province will spend from its own budget for integration programs in the coming years.

The decision to increase immigration comes on the heels of controversial comments made before the Bouchard-Taylor Commission on reasonable accommodation of religious minorities.

Courtesy: The Globe and Mail, Friday, November 02, 2007

—

Anyone who lived for two years in Alberta, now can sponsor their beloved ones mother/father, son/daughter, sister/ brother, aunt/uncle, niece, Nephew, as per provincial Nomination Prgram.

 

Please see the link below:

 

http://www.albertacanada.com/immigration/immigrate/familystream.html

Immigration to Canada -Western provinces-in one year
By Rasheed Soomro, Saskatoon, Canada
I moved to Saskatchewan last year in Sept and after few months I will be able to sponsor my relatives. There is no limit on the number of people who you can sponsor as long as they meet the requirements. This is infact golden opportunity. Since last year there has been a large number of community inflows to saskatoon. When I had come there was only one halal meat grocery store and within last few months two more have been opened. Plus two new halal food restaurants also have been opened recently.
I think the economic activities in western provinces have increased so much that they need a large number of human resource. The opportunity has already knocked the door. It is up to us whether we take the advantage or miss it. Well it is said that ”opportunity is never lost, it is taken by the other fellow.”
Courtesy & Thanks: Posted by Rasheed Soomro at SANA list on Saturday, June 28, 2008 11:17:06 PM

***

Please note:

I do apologize in advance for any inconvenience for this note. Actually, I am receiving so many emails from friends, readers and admirers that why I am not writing columns in the Sindhi Newspaper. It is hard for me to reply everyone individually. Therefore, through this note I am informing all of the friends that after time to time, I am continuously writing columns in the largely circulated Sindhi Daily Ibrat , Hybderabad. In case, you are outside Sindh and unable to buy Daily Ibrat , then please visit the following link of online daily Ibrat.

http://www.dailyibrat.com

Thank you

Fayaz Soomro