A short overview of what is known about upcoming immigration changes said to be implemented very soon.

It is widely discussed, that proposed changes will be published by the end of 2008, soon after the elections. Some immigration officials (including visa officers from the Canadian Embassy in Moscow, Russia) confirm, that those changes are expected to be in force in November.

It is known, that the major change will constitute the list of demanded occupations, according to which case priorities will be assigned. Some sources even tell that this list (said to be completed already) include 38 occupations. Given that NOC lists thousands of occupations, 38 does not seem too much. Therefore:

• 38 “prioritized” occupations will make up only small part of all applications, and that won’t significantly affect processing of all other cases
  
  Or
• 38 “occupations” will turn out to be 38 categories of occupations
  
  Or
• Number 38 is incorrect (which is unlikely).

Ontario Citizenship and Immigration Minister says that “The Federal conservatives want to limit acceptance of skilled workers into Canada to 38 occupations”, which can mean just that. From his further words it can be concluded that in this scenario provincial immigration programs will not be ready to adopt those applicants who won’t be eligible under the federal programs. Therefore, one can foresee consequent changes to the provincial immigration programs – the process, that can take significant amount of time.

Changes will not affect business immigration programs and Quebec immigration.