From now on, Express Entry Draws will mainly target candidates based on their occupation, temporary resident status, the sector, and proficiency in French.
Recently, Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) had important meetings with the public and the stakeholders to get well-adapted to the application management system of Express Entry Draws. These consultations were done to meet Canada’s financial requirements and curb labour shortages. The immigration department aims to implement this by focusing more on the candidate’s occupation, academic credentials, proficiency in French, and overall work experience instead of just focusing on a high Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score.
Online Canadian Immigration Assessment FormIRCC is now aiming to invite candidates for Express Entry Draws by giving importance to their occupational backgrounds, analyzing if they have lived in Canada as temporary foreign workers or as international students and their language proficiency in French.
Skilled workers can use the Express Entry system to apply for their Permanent Residence (PR) status. There are three main immigration pathways under the Express Entry system to do so. Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), Canadian Experience Class (CEC) program and the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP).
Immigrate To CanadaThe eligible candidate with the highest CRS will get the Invitation To Apply (ITA) while applying for a PR in Canada. The recent consultations held by the IRCC were grounded on the same success method formulated to create the yearly Immigration Levels Plan. It is the annual Immigration Levels Plan that sets Canada’s immigration targets for over three years.
The consultation’s proceedings and results are not yet published. It is because the process for the consultation ended only recently, on January 8, 2023. Still, IRCC has announced that by the spring of 2023, the targeted draws will likely get started. However, once the minister confirms the Express Entry Draw categories, results will be published, and invitations will be issued.
Selection of candidates for a specific sector or occupation based on their work experience.
IRCC intends to create a category that includes a candidate’s work experience in a specific sector or occupation witnessing critical labour shortages. IRCC wanted the respondents in the consultation to highlight the current labour market sections undergoing long-term and critical labour shortages. IRCC was also open to valuable suggestions to know how good immigration can uplift the current workforce of Canada.
The main occupations for candidates between 2019 and 2021 who received invitations to apply for a PR through Express Entry are as the following-
According to IRCC, Express Entry has a new potential selection category focusing on international graduates. Because of this, international graduates can respond quickly and more directly to grave labour shortages.
The new category catered to international students can quickly take them from designated learning institutions to fill the in-demand job fields. IRCC also says that international graduates have the advantage of obtaining permanent economic immigration since they have Canadian academic qualifications and work experience and are fluent in English or French. International students will also be able to contribute more to the Canadian economy as they are in their prime working age, which means they will be able to work for many years to come.
It was estimated that in 2021, more than 88,000 international graduates got their PR through Express Entry, a tremendous growth of 80% since 2017. However, it should also be noted that it would be time-consuming for a person to obtain PR who has their Canadian Post Graduation Work Permit (PGWP).
As in the case of international graduates, IRCC is now also eyeing to create an immigration category for providing PR for many temporary foreign workers through Express Entry. During the consultation conducted by IRCC, stakeholders pointed out that the existing PR immigration pathways are inadequate to bring in more temporary foreign workers to address the Canadian labour market requirements in the long run. IRCC wants to increase the number of temporary foreign worker immigration programs that could absorb more global talent. This will undoubtedly promote the growth of the Canadian economy since more urgent job positions will be filled very soon. It is noted that immigrants with their former temporary work experience from Canada stand a better chance of getting integrated into the Canadian labour market. It is because they are well equipped to transfer their job skills anytime when it is required.
IRCC aims to invite more candidates due to their proficiency in English and French. It was in 2019 when Canada initiated the Francophone Immigration Strategy. 4.4% of new immigrants who belonged out of Quebec were expected to be able to speak French by the end of 2023. Between 2017 and 2021, only about 30,000 immigrants opted to settle outside Quebec, while a whopping number of 110,000 and more economic-class francophone immigrants opted to settle in Canada. The Canadian government aims to invite more francophone immigrants via Express Entry Draws. This is to fill the job vacancies in communities where it is mandatory to speak French for an occupation.
The lowest global birth rate, with 1.43 babies per woman and a large aging population, is one of the fundamental reasons Canada is implementing more changes to the Express Entry Draw programs. There is an amplified demand for various social systems, services and a lessening tax base. The only solution is to increase the immigration of skilled workers. More skilled immigrant workers are now required in Canada to support the social systems, mainly healthcare, or it could be challenging to support the population.
As the global economy is shifting towards a much greener, digital and automated phase, the labour shortage can be crucial mainly in the fields of scientific, healthcare, professional, construction and technical services. The labour shortage can also be attributed to skill gaps and rapidly increasing job vacancies in these key sectors. All these vital job sectors require lengthy and comprehensive training.
The latest minister’s mandate letter, which is an important document that emphasizes all the government’s priorities and policies, the Immigration minister for Canada must address the following objectives, including others-
On June 23, Bill C-19 received royal assent for meeting these goals. With the help of this bill, the Canadian immigration minister can now invite eligible candidates via Express Entry Draws who can provide support on an economic priority. However, this does not mean that IRCC will not use CRS for Express Entry. CRS scores are mandatory for candidates that meet all the criteria for a specific category. Only candidates who obtain the most scores will get an invitation from IRCC to apply.
Category-based selection is meant only for the candidates who get qualified for the different immigration programs that Express Entry manages.
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