May 2015

Last month I sent a young woman back to Japan.  She’d come to Canada as an international student first to finish high school, then to attend Sheridan College in their Animation Program.  Her employer consulted me after their Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), because her position was denied.  They had been paying her the median wage for Ontario, as opposed to Ottawa, which was slightly higher.  Meanwhile, they had no idea there were median wages specific to Ottawa.  They offered her a raise and resubmitted the LMIA application.

But it was too late.

Thousands of Temporary Foreign Workers Lose their Status in Canada

April 2015

April 1^st of each year marks the tradition of playing pranks on one’s friends and family.   Whether it’s toothpaste instead of icing in the kids’ cookies, toilet paper stuffed in shoes to make them seem too small, or the mysterious disappearance of all the staples from the office staplers, these pranks will leave you both annoyed and amused at the same time.

This year, it seemed like the Canadian government was attempting to be the prankster; unfortunately, it wasn’t a joke.

March 2015

I have this great client.  He works in a restaurant at one of Ottawa’s cultural landmarks.  He brings me lunch whenever he has an appointment – really awesome lunches (I’m sure you’re already jealous).  He came here from India to study in the Culinary Management program at Algonquin College.  They obviously trained him well.

So why was this cook not a cook?

Februrary 2015

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) promised to make the first draw from the Express Entry pool by the end of January.

Well, they just made their own deadline.  14 seconds before midnight, January 31^st, CIC sent Invitations to Apply (ITA) to 779 lucky Express Entry applicants.