The Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, wearing a protective mask, attends a press conference as efforts continue to help slow the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, March 5, 2021. REUTERS / Blair Gable / Photo File
Justin Trudeau’s special immigration initiative for Hong Kong residents received more than 500 applications in the first three weeks, a spokesman for the Canadian Ministry of Immigration said on Friday.
In November, the Canadian government said it would facilitate the study and work of Hong Kong youth in Canada in response to China’s new security rules imposed on the former British colony.
“In the first three weeks of the program’s opening (February 8 – February 28), the IRCC (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada) received 503 applications for work permits and 10 applications for extensions of work permits,” he said. Press Secretary Alexander Cohen in an e-mailed statement.
“Canada shares the international community’s grave concerns about China’s national security legislation and strongly supports the right to peaceful protest, freedom of expression and freedom of assembly,” the statement added.
Canada said in February that Hong Kong graduates from Canadian universities could apply for a new three-year work permit category that month. Read more
China imposed a new national security law at the end of June 2020 in Hong Kong, which covers everything that Beijing considers subversion, secession or terrorism.
As China imposed the general law, the city’s people moved tens of billions of dollars around the globe to Canada, where thousands hoped to create a new future. Read more
Capital flows from Hong Kong banks to Canada reached their highest levels last year, with about $ 43.6 billion ($ 34.87 billion) in electronic funds transfers (EFT) registered by FINTRAC, the Canadian anti-money laundering agency, which receives reports on transfers over C $ 10,000.
The Hong Kong government has said the city has not seen significant capital outflows since the first anti-government unrest began in 2019.
Canada is the second home for many Hong Kong residents after their families moved to Vancouver and Toronto before the British surrender of its former colony to China in 1997. After obtaining Canadian citizenship, many returned to Hong Kong, which is now about 300,000 Canadians – one of the largest Canadian communities abroad.
Canadian visa applications in Hong Kong, excluding visitor visas, increased by 10% to 8,121 in 2020.
($ 1 = $ 1,2503)
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