Date: 19981106
Docket: IMM-1172-98
BETWEEN:
YANG XINMIN
Applicant
- and -
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER
NADON J. :
[1] The applicant seeks to set aside the decision of Daniel A. Vaughan, Vice-Consul at the Canadian Consulate General in Hong Kong (the "Visa Officer"), dated January 12, 1998, pursuant to which his application for permanent residence in Canada was denied.
[2] The applicant applied in the "independent category" under the occupation of "Editor, News" (CCDO 3351-134). The relevant part of the Visa Officer"s decision reads as follows:
I have also considered your application in the occupations of Editor, News CCDO 3351134 and Editor, Financial DDCO 3351126. You have not received the required training in journalism or languages to be assessed in these occupations. The Canada Classification and Dictionary of Occupations states that persons seeking employment as editors should hold a university degree in journalism, languages or the arts. You do not hold such a degree and therefore do not possess the entry requirements for these occupations.
[3] The only issue before me is whether the Visa Officer was correct in concluding that the applicant"s failure to hold a university degree in journalism, language or the arts was a bar to his being considered under the occupation of "Editor, News".
[4] Although the applicant applied under the occupation of "Editor, News", he was not assessed in that occupation because he did not meet the entry requirements for that occupation. Rather, the applicant was assessed under the occupation of "Newspaper Manager - CCDO 1149110". With respect to that occupation, the applicant was refused on the ground that there was a zero demand assigned to that occupation and therefore he could not enter Canada under that occupation. There is no issue with respect to that part of the Visa Officer"s decision.
[5] The occupation of "Editor, News" is described in the Canadian Classification and Dictionary of Occupations ("CCDO") as follows:
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3341-134 EDITOR, NEWS (print. & pub.) DPT:038 |
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GED: 5 SVP: 8 EC: 1 PA: S 5 6 7 |
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Plans layout of news stories for newspaper edition, according to prescribed space allocation, principles of layout, and relative significance of each story; |
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Confers with senior management to discuss page makeup of publication as a whole. Receives notification of available column-inches of space to be allotted to news stories. Receives dummy sheet of each news page, showing portion of each column consumed by advertising matter. Edits, or assigns for editing, news copy received from each department in editorial room. Marks dummy sheet indicating position and length of each story and accompanying cuts (photographs), according to relative significance of stories and knowledge of newspaper-layout principles. Approves proofs submitted by composing room. Writes and alters headlines to fit space allotment. |
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May select items from telegraph copy for publication.
[6] With respect to the entry requirements for this occupation, the CCDO provides the following:
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WRITERS AND EDITORS, PUBLICATION |
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This chapter includes occupations concerned with the preparation of written and pictorial material for publication in newspapers, books, magazines, technical manuals, trade journals and other publications. Worker functions include: analyzing and synthesizing data to write material for publication, or to examine editorial copy for clarity, conciseness and adherence to publication policy; supervising the activities of staff; interviewing individuals to obtain information about, and to verify stories of newsworthy events, or to obtain comments and opinions. Work activities include: conducting research into subject matter; planning and writing material; selecting, editing and rewriting texts; participating in press conferences; and reporting on special events. |
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Writers and Editors of publications require: |
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- learning ability to understand and apply the principles and techniques of writing , editing, reporting and interviewing for publication purposes and ability to exercise sound judgment; |
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- verbal ability to understand words and to use them effectively, both orally and in writing; |
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- clerical perception to discern pertinent detail in narrative or tabular material as in proofreading. |
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TRAINING AND ENTRY REQUIREMENTS |
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Writers and Editors of publications normally require: |
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- secondary school graduation preferably at university entrance level; |
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- a two to four year university program in arts, journalism, literature or languages. Graduate degrees are generally required for more responsible positions; |
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| - a combination of on-the-job training and related experience varying from one to six years, depending on the occupation. |
[7] With respect to the training and entry requirements of the occupation of "Newspaper, Manager", the CCDO provides for the following:
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OTHER MANAGERS AND ADMINISTRATORS |
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- learning ability to understand administrative concepts and practices and to acquire the particular knowledge necessary to successfully conduct activities within a specialized organizational unit; |
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- verbal ability to deal effectively with people, and to communicate clearly with persons of different backgrounds and levels of comprehension; |
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- numerical ability to estimate financial, personnel and material requirements, and to review activities to ensure efficient use of resources; |
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- clerical perception to discern significant items in verbal or numerical material, and to detect errors in correspondence or reports. |
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TRAINING AND ENTRY REQUIREMENTS |
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Managers generally require either: |
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| - graduation from a university program, preferably with a post-graduate degree, for occupations in architecture, engineering, life sciences, physical sciences, social sciences, education and medicine and health; |
| - for most of these occupations, licensing or certification in accordance with provincial legislation; and |
| - ten years of experience in previous junior managerial or supervisory situations; |
OR
| - secondary school graduation; and |
- ten years of experience, supplemented by part-time or full-time courses in the speciality, for example, hotel management, real estate or warehousing management.
[8] The descriptions of "Editor, News" and "Newspaper, Manager" and the training and entry requirements contained in the CCDO, which were applied by the Visa Officer, stem from column II of schedule I of the Immigration Regulations 1978 , SOR/78-172, in regard to the factor of specific vocational preparation. Column II reads as follows:
| 2. To be measured by the amount of formal professional, vocational, apprenticeship, in-plant, or on-the-job training specified in the Canadian Classification and Dictionary of Occupations, printed under the authority of the Minister, as necessary to acquire the information, techniques and skills required for average performance in the occupation in which the application is assessed under item 4. Units of assessment shall be awarded as follows: [...] .
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2. Être mesurée suivant la période de formation professionnelle, d"apprentissage, de formation en usine ou en cours d"emploi précisée dans la Classification canadienne descriptive des professions, imprimée par l"autorisation du ministre, nécessaire pour acquérir les connaissances théoriques et les pratiques indispensables à l"exécution des tâches de l"emploi au regard duquel le requérant est apprécié d"après l"article 4. Les points d"appréciation sont attribués de la façon suivante: [...].
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[9] Thus, by reason of the specific wording of the text relating to the factor of specific vocational preparation, a Visa Officer is directed to refer to the CCDO so as to determine whether an applicant has or possesses the training and entry requirements for his intended occupation. This is precisely what the Visa Officer did in the present matter. He consulted the CCDO in respect of the description of the given occupation and in respect of the entry requirements for that occupation. As a result of this consultation, the Visa Officer concluded that the applicant did not possess the entry requirements for the occupation of "Editor, News". Specifically, as the applicant had not completed a two to four year university program in arts, journalism, literature or languages, he did not, in the opinion of the Visa Officer, meet the entry requirements. According to the Visa Officer"s view of the entry requirements, the applicant had to meet all of the requirements. On this view, job training and related experience was no substitute for the two to four year university program.
[10] The applicant submits that the view taken by the Visa Officer is wrong. The applicant submits that the Visa Officer ought to have considered his degree in economics and his work experience.
[11] In Cai v. M.E.I., (17 January 1997) Ottawa, IMM-883-97, Mr. Justice Pinard was faced with an issue similar to the one before me. In Cai, the applicant had applied for consideration under the occupation of Executive Secretary but the Visa Officer had refused to assess her under that occupation because she did not meet the training and entry requirements for that occupation. As a result, the Visa Officer assessed the applicant under the occupation of Administrative Clerk. At pages 2 and 3 of his reasons, Mr. Justice Pinard writes:
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The key issue raised on this judicial review application concerns not the actual assessment done by the visa officer in the category of administrative clerk, but rather the refusal by the visa officer to assess the applicant in the category of "executive secretary". The question is whether the visa officer erred by coming to the preliminary conclusion that the applicant did not satisfy the training requirements for an executive secretary, as required by factor 2 of Schedule I of the Regulations , i.e. Specific Vocational Preparation. |
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Visa officers are expressly mandated to refer to the Canadian Classification and Dictionary of Occupations (CCDO) by the wording of factor 2, Schedule I of the Regulations, which provides for the allocation of units of assessment for Specific Vocational Preparation. Therefore, it is important to bear in mind the precise wording of the criteria that an applicant for permanent residence must satisfy in order to earn units of assessment for Specific Vocational Preparation. Schedule I of the Regulations indicates that Specific Vocational Preparation is: |
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To be measured by the amount of formal professional, vocational, apprenticeship, in-plant, or on-the-job training specified in the Canadian Classification and Dictionary of Occupations, printed under the authority of the Minister, as necessary to acquire the formation, techniques and skills required for average performance in the occupation in which the applicant is assessed under item 4. |
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The description in the CCDO of those occupations falling under the general heading of 4111-Secretaries and Stenographers which include the occupation of secretary (#4111-110) and the occupation of executive secretary (#4111-111) includes the following requirements under the heading of Training and Entry Requirements: |
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TRAINING AND ENTRY REQUIREMENTS |
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| Secretaries and Stenographers normally require:
- ten to twelve years of general education; and
- three to six months of training in a business college, or one year in a special commercial course at a high school;
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- graduation from a secondary commercial school,
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Secretaries also require from three months to one year of stenographic experience to become proficient especially when a knowledge of the terminology of a particular field, such as medicine, law or engineering is required.
Court Reporters also require speed training in shorthand, or other methods of speedwriting and the use of shorthand machines and dictaphones.
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These are precisely the training requirements that the visa officer indicated to the applicant when she informed her that Canadian guidelines required her to have at least three to six months of full-time specific secretarial training, sometimes even up to one year, and that she therefore did not have the basic training required for consideration as an executive secretary.
[12] Further on, at page 3, the learned judge states:
[...] In making his or her assessment, the visa officer is not only called upon to compare the applicant's experience and qualifications with those set out in Schedule I of the Regulations, but is also obliged to consider the applicant under every occupation he or she designates in his or her application, and is also vested with the "clear responsibility.... to assess alternate occupations inherent in the applicant's work experience". If, however, the visa officer ascertains that an applicant does not meet the criteria for the occupation under which he or she seeks to be assessed (in this case the formal training requirements for the occupation of executive secretary) as stipulated by the definition in the CCDO, it is not unreasonable, in my opinion, for the visa officer to hold that the applicant cannot be further assessed in that occupational category (see Prasad v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) , IMM-3373-94, April 2, 1996 (F.C.T.D.)).
[13] As I indicated earlier, the issue before me is whether the Visa Officer"s view of the training and entry requirements of the applicant"s intended occupation is sound. In my view, it is. If one compares the training and entry requirements for the occupation of "Editor, News" with those for the occupation of "Newspaper, Manager", one can easily conclude that in the case of the occupation of "Newspaper, Manager", a university degree is not mandatory since the requirements clearly indicate that a high school degree with ten years of experience supplemented by part-time or full-time courses in the specialty constitutes acceptable training and entry requirements for the occupation.
[14] However, the training and entry requirements for the occupation of "Editor, News" do not allow for substitution. In my view, the requirements for this occupation do require a high school certificate, two to four years in a university program in arts, journalism, literature or languages and on-the-job training and related experience of one to six years.
[15] In the Cai matter before Mr. Justice Pinard, the training and entry requirements for the occupation of Executive Secretary also allowed for substitution. It seems to me that when the drafter of the CCDO intended to allow substitution, he made it quite clear by using the word "or".
[16] Consequently, I see no error in the Visa Officer"s finding that the applicant did not meet the training and entry requirements for his intended occupation. As a result, the Visa Officer could not assess the applicant in the occupation of "Editor, News". Since the applicant does not challenge the Visa Officer"s conclusion regarding the occupation of "Newspaper, Manager", this judicial review application must be dismissed.
Ottawa, Ontario "MARC NADON"
November 11, 1998 JUDGE
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