Canada's Main Immigration Pathway (Express Entry) Is Only A Month Away From Opening Again!

The Honorable Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, announced recently that Express Entry draws will soon resume and that invitations for candidates to apply for permanent residence will begin in early July.

Due to COVID-related restrictions and delays, Canada has halted its Express Entry draws.

Canada had halted Express Entry draws for the CEC category in the latter half of 2021, and draws for FSWP candidates were halted from December 2022.

Before the COVID pandemic, the Canadian government processed most Express Entry immigration applications within six months, and the process came at a slow pace in the last couple of years.

A recent statement from immigration Minister Sean Fraser states:

As Canada continues to recover from the pandemic, employers are looking to fill hundreds of thousands of vacant positions in all sectors across the country. Immigration is more important than ever to fuel Canada's economy, as our strong economic growth is now outpacing our ability to find and keep workers.

In addition, Canada is a top destination for global talent. We need to use this fact to ensure that businesses and employers have access to the skilled workers they need to grow and succeed.

What is Express Entry ?

Express Entry is Canada's flagship application management system. Applicants can seek permanent immigration through

• Federal Skilled Worker Program
• Federal Skilled Trades Program
• Canadian experience class
• A portion of the Provincial Nominee Program.

Through Express Entry, candidates submit their applications, and the applicants with the highest rank are invited for a PR(Permanent Residence).

Canada is set to resume its Express Entry draws for all three classes in early July and expects the wait time for new applications to be 6 months - as was pre-pandemic.

Express Entry chooses qualified applications from a pool of interested skilled workers and processes their applications for entry into Canada. It is a points-based system through which skilled workers in Canada and abroad are invited to apply for permanent residency if they meet the requirements of work experience, education, and language skills.

The candidates who meet the Comprehensive Ranking Score (CRS) cut-off are invited to apply for permanent residence in Canada.

A major Overhaul

Canada is planning major changes to its Express Entry system.

Currently, the Express Entry system ranks candidates from a general pool, grading factors like age, education, work experience, job offer, and language skills (including French).

According to the proposed bill, a new version of the Express Entry system will allow invitations based on criteria like specific academic credentials and industry-based occupations. According to Sean Fraser, Immigration minister.

The normalization of Express Entry is a celebratory announcement for several groups of immigrants and workers.

Express Entry is the main gateway for IRCC (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada) skilled workers into the land of Canada.

Permanent residence invitations to FSWP (Federal Skilled Worker Program) candidates have been temporarily paused since December 2020, while CEC (Canadian experience class) candidates have not received invitations since September 2021

Resuming invitations through Express Entry will provide hundreds of thousands of workers/applicants with job opportunities.

Case of India

In 2020, Indian citizens bagged 50,841 invites to apply for permanent residence in Canada under the 'Express Entry' route. In 2021, nearly 100,000 Indians became permanent residents of Canada as the country admitted 405,000 new immigrants in its history.

There are over 622,000 international students in Canada, including 217,410 Indians, as of December 31, 2021.

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