By Andrew Rogerson LLB (Hons) TEP

The majority of the over 60 Canadian immigration programs have, and will continue, to accept applications despite a temporary freeze on the acceptance of applications for the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) program.

Many prospective immigrants are seeking new paths to come to Canada following an announcement that as of July 1, 2012, the FSW program will not be accepting new applications until January 2012. Luckily for them, a number of programs remain open, with few to no restrictions regarding the number of applications that will be received for processing. These include: the Quebec Skilled Worker program, the various Provincial Nominee programs, and the Canadian and Quebec Experience Class programs.

In addition to these open programs, individuals with offers of arranged employment as well as those applying through the PhD stream may still apply to the FSW program. Overall, the temporary pause in accepting applications will not greatly affect the number of immigrants applying for Canadian immigration. The FSW program in recent years was subject to a strict cap of 10,000 applications annually, and Canada continues to take in more than 150,000 new economic immigrants each year.