Canadian Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander recently announced that the China Transit Program would expand to include locations in Japan and the Republic of Korea.
Canadian Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander recently announced that the China Transit Program would expand to include locations in Japan and the Republic of Korea.
Minister Alexander made the announcement on May 19, 2015, in Vancouver International Airport (YVR) that the program would be expanding to include Tokyo (both Narita and Haneda airports) and Seoul (Incheon airport).
The China Transit Program allows Chinese nationals to fly and transit through Canada when they are travelling to and from the United States. Currently the approved Canadian airports are Vancouver International (YVR) and Toronto Pearson (YYZ-Terminal 1 only). The Chinese cities currently approved are Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Manila, and Taipei. This list will now also include Tokyo and Seoul.
This program will help increase traffic and flights through YVR and YYZ and will also give Chinese travellers more choices when it comes to their air travel. According to the Vancouver Airport Authority, this development will help create 2,800 more jobs and will add $167.5 million to the British Columbia Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over the next five years.
Craig Richmond, President and CEO of the Vancouver Airport Authority, said yesterday in a press release: “This is huge step in the right direction for YVR, British Columbia and Canada. The expansion of the China Transit Program will make YVR more attractive to transiting travellers and ultimately increase YVR’s air service and passenger growth.” He further said, “YVR’s goal is to connect B.C. proudly to the world by becoming a world-class sustainable connecting hub. We will continue to work closely with Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Canadian Border Services Agency and our other industry partners to progressively expand visa-free transit to the U.S. and eventually between Asia and Latin America.”
Minister Alexander also voiced his support stating, “Our government is pleased to expand the China Transit Program in order to encourage more Chinese passengers who meet eligibility requirements to transit through Vancouver International and Toronto Pearson Airports. The expansion of this program means more traffic through these two major airports, more revenue for both our national and local economies and potential growth in new destination routes, jobs and business and tourism connections. We deeply value our people-to-people and economic ties with China and the expansion of the CTP is yet another example of Canada’s commitment to this partnership.”
Chinese citizens are currently the largest national group to immigrate to Canada. China is also a major source of student and travel visas and in 2014 alone, a record number of 360,923 Canadian visas were issued to Chinese nationals.
For info on whether or not this may affect your ability to travel or whether we can assist you, please fill out our free online assessment form here.
FWCanada is a Montreal-based immigration law firm that provides professional legal services on Canadian immigration. For more tips and updates on Canadian immigration follow FWCanada on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.
