The Canadian immigration office - Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) - came up with a new service called Express Entry which is an electronic system that enables foreigners to get permanent residence much quicker than before, according to the TASR newswire.
“The process of relocation to Canada no longer takes years, but only a couple of months,” Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Slovakia President Joseph Burza told Sme.
This year alone, 280,000 people are able to find new home in Canada. Since Slovakia’s accession to the EU in 2004, Slovak citizens have learnt to travel abroad in search of work. Not everyone is eligible for the accelerated procedure. Canadian authorities are not interested in waiters, janitors and/or other auxiliary workers.
“[People with] professional skills and a minimum of one year of practical experience are able to apply for the programme,” said Burza, as quoted by Sme.
René Augustín from work agent company Hagiel says that among the most eligible applicants are engineers, builders, electricians and also doctors and nurses. Also people working in finance and marketing are suitable, he said.
According to the Slovak Statistics Office, Canada ranked the eighth most popular foreign destination of Slovak migrants in 2014. Although only 57 people immigrated to Canada last year, many European countries ranked behind Canada.
“Canada is one of the traditional targets of Slovak migrants,” said Slovak Academy of Sciences analyst Vladimír Baláž, as quoted by Sme adding that the average monthly salary in Canada is 4,500 Canadian dollars, which is approximately €3,400.