Canada opens new economic immigration streams for skilled refugees

Canada’s federal government has introduced two new economic streams under the federal Economic Mobility Pathway Pilot (EMPP) pathway, which creates opportunities for skilled refugees and other displaced individuals to immigrate and to use their education, training and experience to continue their careers in Canada.

The first stream – known as the EMPP Federal Skills Job Offer Stream – is tailored to candidates who have a job offer from a Canadian employer, and the second is available to highly-skilled refugees without job offers.

“By implementing efficiencies and improvements learned through collaboration with partners during the rollout of the first EMPP streams, newcomers using the EMPP will now be able to move to Canada and start working here more quickly,” government officials said in a statement. “These new streams also reduce barriers to access since candidates do not need Canadian work experience to apply.”

“Helping employers access a new global talent pool is another way we are using our immigration system to address ongoing labour shortages,” said the Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship. “Finding these skilled workers among people who happen to be displaced abroad and lack a durable solution is a made­-in-­Canada solution that we are promoting globally. Canada will continue to develop and scale up these types of innovative measures that allow us to welcome more vulnerable people, while helping businesses find the skilled workforce they need to grow.”

The EMPP program was initiated in April 2018 by the government of Canada. EMPP defines a “skilled refugee” as a skilled person in need of international protection and has been identified to be at risk of persecution or serious harm in his/her own country.