As of July 2, the Canadian government has announced that they are placing a freeze on the application process for skilled visa applications.

Usually at this time of year, the flood gates are open and applications to the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) program are piling in. So why the change of plan?

Jason Kenney, Canada’s Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister has explained that the freeze has been placed as the most recent step in the re-design of Canada’s whole immigration system. Putting a pause on the application process will allow the CIC to make important changes to the system in a bid to make it faster and more flexible.

The freeze is the latest step in Canada’s Economic Action Plan which was launched in 2012. Although this means that for now no applications can be placed and no visas will be granted, in the long run the system is likely to become more efficient and save people time, money and worry. The freeze is in place until January 2012.

For details of properties for sale in Canada, visit the Canada listings on Rightmove Overseas. Preparation for anyone considering a move to Canada should include planning for the transfer of your pounds into Canadian dollars. For information on how to do this safely and save money when doing so – giving you more to spend on shopping – speak to currency exchange specialist Smart Currency Exchange.

To understand the full step-by-step process to buying a property in Canada, collect The Overseas Guides Company’s ‘Canada Property Buying Guide’