The Media Roundup provides links to recent and archived articles, in both English and French, on immigration and diversity appearing in the national and local news. Some international content is also included. Articles are updated weekly.
CIC News — New medical exam requirements for permanent residence applications under Express Entry
Canada’s immigration department will require upfront medical exams for applicants applying for permanent residence through Express Entry. This new requirement will come into effect on August 21, 2025, according to Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada’s website. Prior to this change, applicants would submit their complete application for permanent residency, and then await instructions from IRCC on completing any required medical exam(s). Applications submitted prior to August 21, 2025 will not be affected by this change. Non-Express Entry permanent residence applications are not affected by this change.
CBC News — Winnipeg School Division sees spike in international students, including some who planned to study in U.S.
The Winnipeg School Division says it’s getting ready to welcome a record number of students to be part of its international education program in September, driven by what the city has to offer — but also in part because of concerns about the current political culture in the U.S. The division’s program is one of many in Manitoba that allows students from other countries, from kindergarten to Grade 12, to study in Canada for a semester or a full school year.
Le Québec pourrait manquer de travailleurs dans certains secteurs névralgiques d’ici 5 ans, selon des scénarios étudiés par la Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec. L’organisme soutient qu’il faudrait accueillir au moins 106 000 travailleurs immigrants par année pour éviter une « catastrophe ». Nous avons parlé à la présidente de la FCCQ, Véronique Proulx.
La Presse — Dans certains secteurs, « il n’y aura plus personne pour travailler »
Le Québec devra accueillir 106 000 nouveaux travailleurs immigrants chaque année d’ici 2029 pour répondre aux besoins du marché du travail, affirme la Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec (FCCQ). Ce chiffre est tiré d’une note transmise à La Presse, qui présente les grandes lignes du mémoire que la FCCQ soumettra à Québec, en prévision des consultations pluriannuelles sur la planification de l’immigration 2026-2029. Selon les données du ministère de l’Emploi, 1,4 million de postes devront être pourvus d’ici 2033, notamment en raison des départs à la retraite, de la création de nouveaux emplois et d’un nombre insuffisant de jeunes arrivant sur le marché du travail.
The Globe and Mail — Ottawa yet to launch program announced last year that would grant permanent residency to low-wage workers
More than a year after announcing a new immigration stream that would have granted permanent residency to low-wage workers already in Canada, the federal government has yet to move ahead on formally launching the program – suggesting that Ottawa could be backing away from the plan altogether. The plan targeting low-wage workers was informally announced in April 2024, through the Canada Gazette. Consultations were set to begin last year on amending immigration laws to admit a “new permanent economic class of workers in TEER 4 and TEER 5 jobs.” But the program was not included in July’s version of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s forward regulatory plan, which details coming changes to federal immigration rules and programs over the next three years.
CIty News — Migrants returning to Venezuela face debt and harsh living conditions
he hands of Yosbelin Pérez have made tens of thousands of the aluminum round gridles that Venezuelan families heat every day to cook arepas. She takes deep pride in making the revered “budare,” the common denominator among rural tin-roofed homes and city apartments, but she owns nothing to her name despite the years selling cookware. Pérez, in fact, owes about $5,000 because she and her family never made it to the United States, where they had hoped to escape Venezuela’s entrenched political, social and economic crisis. Now, like thousands of Venezuelans who have voluntarily or otherwise returned to their country this year, they are starting over as the crisis worsens.
