Immigration expert and former CIC director Klaudios Mustakas comments on the pilot program launched by Citizenship and Immigration Canada to grant Open Work Permits to spouses of Canadians awaiting Permanent Residency in Canada under the Spousal spohsorship program.
The program started in December 22, 2014, and is deemed to end this December 22, 2015.
The program excludes spouses out of status in Canada, who are admissible for spousal sponsorship but excluded from the pilot program. 1 out of 5 Canadian families are excluded, meaning over 3,200 families have to struggle with a single income for over 17 months, the time it takes to get first stage approval of their applications.
No ministerial instruction has been issued up to this date to ensure the continuity of this program, which means work permits will stop being issued at that date.
The Canadian Bar Association recommended, in a letter sent to CIC last year, to extend this program to all spouses regardless of their status in Canada, and to make it a permanent policy.
Petition to extend the pilot program
The Canada Spousal Sponsorship Petitioners launched this Monday an email campaign aimed at the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, John McCallum, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Members of Parliament of the ridings where applicants and their Canadian spouses live to ask for the extension of the pilot program, which without a ministerial instruction would end on December 22.
They also requested that the pilot program includes all sponsored spouses, regardless of their status in Canada.
The petition was also extended to the Canadian Bar Association due to the suggestions they made this year regarding the pilot program. The group is requesting the CBA to back their petition.
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