Express Entry: Canada invites skilled immigrants overseas for the first time since 2020

Canada’s Immigration Minister: “Today, I am pleased to announce that Express Entry draws have officially resumed and applications will be processed at our 6-month processing standard. I look forward to welcoming skilled workers who will be essential in addressing Canada’s labor shortages.” 

Canada has invited Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) candidates for the first time since December 2020. 

Canadian Experience Class (CEC) candidates were also included in today’s Express Entry draw. This marks the first time since September 2021 that CEC candidates have been included in an Express Entry draw. 

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) invited a total of 1,500 Express Entry candidates to apply for permanent residence. The Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) cut-off score was 557. 

Minister’s statement on today’s draw 

“Today, I am pleased to announce that Express Entry draws have officially resumed and applications will be processed at our 6 month processing standard. I want to thank the candidates from around the world for their patience, as we worked to reduce the backlog before resuming Express Entry draws. I look forward to welcoming skilled workers who will are essential in addressing Canada’s labour shortages.” 

Why today’s draw is big news 

The return of all-program draws is significant for several reasons. Since its launch in 1967 until 2020, the Federal Skilled Worker Program was the main way Canada welcomed skilled immigrants. Prior to the pandemic, the FSWP comprised about 45% of all those who received an Express Entry ITA. 

The return of all-program draws is also major news for CEC candidates. The CEC is the primary way for Canada’s large international student and foreign worker population to gain permanent residence. The CEC has increased in prominence in recent years as Canada has relied on this pool to achieve its immigration levels targets. Prior to the pandemic, the CEC comprised just 9% of all 341,000 immigrants welcomed under Canada’s economic, family, and humanitarian classes combined. Last year, the CEC comprised nearly one-third of the over 405,000 immigrants who landed in Canada. 

Two weeks ago, Canada’s Immigration Minister Sean Fraser told CIC News that IRCC was on track to achieve its goal of holding an all-program Express Entry draw on July 6. This was confirmed by him on Twitter on Monday. IRCC initially made this announcement in April. In addition, IRCC plans to return to processing most Express Entry applications within six months. 

All-program Express Entry draws occur when IRCC considers all candidates in the Express Entry pool and issues invitations to apply (ITA) for permanent residence only on the basis of their Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score. Between the launch of Express Entry in 2015 and December 2020, IRCC mostly held all-program draws. This meant that Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), Canadian Experience Class (CEC), and Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) candidates all had a shot at getting an ITA. 

Beginning in January 2021, IRCC focused on only inviting CEC candidates. IRCC did this because most of these candidates were in Canada and were less likely to face COVID-related challenges than immigration candidates overseas. However, IRCC paused CEC invitations in September 2021 in order to address its application backlogs. In the meantime, IRCC has continued to hold bi-weekly draws only inviting Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) candidates to help the provinces and territories address their labor market needs. 

How does Express Entry work? 

Express Entry is a two step process. 

In step one, candidates need to confirm they meet the criteria of at least one of the three Express Entry programs. 

If they meet the criteria, candidates can upload their Express Entry profile onto IRCC’s website. Candidates receive a Comprehensive Ranking System score based on their human capital characteristics such as age, education, language skills, and work experience. Approximately every two weeks, IRCC invites the highest-scoring candidates to apply for permanent residence. 

Those invited for permanent residence have 60 days to submit their applications to IRCC. IRCC aims to process most applications within 6 months or less. 

By 2024, Canada will welcome over 110,000 Express Entry immigrants per year.

Canada to increase the length of stay for Parents and Grandparents Super Visa to 5 years per entry

In addition, the Immigration Minister may designate international medical insurance companies to provide coverage to Super Visa applicants in the future.

IRCC has just announced major reforms to the Parents and Grandparents Super Visa.

Effective July 4, 2022:

• The length of stay for Super Visa holders will be increased to five years per entry into Canada.
• People who currently have a Super Visa also have the option to request to extend their stay by up to two years while in Canada. This means current Super Visa holders will now be able to stay in Canada for up to seven consecutive years.
• Canada’s Immigration Minister will have the authority to designate international medical insurance companies to provide coverage to Super Visa applicants in the future.

At present, Super Visa holders can stay in Canada for up to two years per entry. The Super Visa is a multi-entry visa that is valid for up to 10 years.

Currently, only Canadian insurance providers can provide the medical coverage that Super Visa applicants are required to have. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has stated it will announce further details at a later date.

These reforms were proposed by Conservative Party of Canada Member of Parliament Kyle Seeback via Bill C-242. Today’s press release by IRCC is indication the ruling Liberal Party of Canada supports the reforms and will vote in favour of Bill C-242, which is currently making its way through Parliament.

According to IRCC, Canada issues approximately 17,000 Super Visas per year.

For over a decade, the Super Visa has been offered as an alternative to the Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP). The PGP offers permanent residence, but since it is very popular, demand to sponsor far exceeds the number of spots available. In a given year, IRCC receives interest from some 200,000 sponsors but offers some 20,000 immigration spots through the PGP. As a result, in recent years, IRCC has temporarily opened expression of interest windows for the PGP, and then held lotteries extending invitations to apply for permanent residence under the PGP. In an email to CIC News late last week, IRCC said it does not yet have an update on its plans for the PGP in 2022.

As such, the Super Visa is available to those who pass a medical examination and provide proof of private health insurance from an approved insurance provider. This is so holders can get emergency health care in Canada without the costs being paid for by Canadian taxpayers. In addition, host children or grandchildren must meet IRCC’s minimum income requirements.

“Families are at the heart of Canadian society. The enhancements to the super visa program allow family members to reunite for longer in Canada, which helps everyday Canadian citizens and permanent residents succeed and contribute to society, while affording their parents and grandparents invaluable opportunities to spend time with their family in Canada,” said Canada’s Immigration Minister Sean Fraser.

 

Express Entry draw sizes will resemble those from before the pandemic when all-program draws resume in July, according to IRCC memo.

When all-program Express Entry draws resume in July, the number of invitations could resemble pre-pandemic figures, according to an internal briefing memo obtained by CIC News through an access to information request.

Although the estimated number of invitations issued in each round was redacted, the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) memo said the draw size would be consistent with the average number of invitations issued pre-pandemic.

All-program draws in 2020 before March 18 ranged between 3,400 and 4,500. In 2019, all-program draws ranged from 3,200 to 3,900.

The memo, dated March 28, said maintaining the pause until the end of June will allow IRCC to process new applications in six months. The current inventory of Express Entry applications is enough for IRCC to meet admissions targets for 2022. However, in order to meet targets for 2023 invitation rounds will need to resume between July and September.

How the pandemic affected Express Entry

Before the pandemic, IRCC would invite Express Entry candidates from all programs to apply for permanent residence roughly every two weeks. Program-specific draws were held only occasionally.

The pandemic changed that. When the border closed in March 2020, IRCC shifted its strategy to hold program-specific draws. For the first few months of the pandemic, only Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) and Canadian Experience Class (CEC) candidates were invited to apply.

IRCC continued to hold draws for these candidates in an effort to meet its record-breaking immigration targets amid travel restrictions. CEC candidates, who are most often already in Canada, were less likely to be affected by travel restrictions, and so IRCC continued holding draws for them. PNP candidates were invited because of the federal government’s commitment to supporting provincial immigration goals. Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) candidates were left out because a large percentage of them are overseas, and were not able to land in Canada amid travel restrictions.

IRCC resumed all-program draws, which included FSWP candidates, in July 2020, but stopped after December 2020 and has not held a draw inviting FSWP candidates since.

In May 2021, the government launched the Temporary Residence to Permanent Residence (TR2PR) program in an effort to admit 90,000 new permanent residents who were already in Canada. This effort would cause IRCC resources to shift to the new priority, which ultimately assisted in exacerbating the backlog in immigration applications for Express Entry-managed programs.

Then in September 2021, IRCC stopped inviting CEC candidates because it could not commit to processing 80% of applicants in six months, which is the service standard for Express Entry-managed programs. Pausing Invitations to Apply (ITAs) allowed IRCC resources to focus on processing the existing backlog. According to the memo, IRCC reduced the Express Entry backlog by 50,000 between September and February.

In April, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser announced that Express Entry draws for FSWP and CEC candidates will resume in July. By this time, IRCC’s service standard for new Express Entry applicants is expected to resume to six months.

PNP draws continue as July resumption for FSWP and CEC candidates approaches.

Canada held a new round of invitations on May 25, inviting 589 Express Entry candidates to apply for permanent residence.

 

The minimum score required to be invited in this draw was 741. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) only invited candidates who had previously received a provincial nomination, which is why the cutoff score was so high. Express Entry candidates who hold a nomination from a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) automatically get 600 Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points added to their base score.

This draw was slightly larger and had a lower CRS cutoff than the last. In the previous Express Entry draw, IRCC invited 545 PNP candidates with scores of at least 753.

Express Entry draws for FSWP and CEC candidates to resume in July

Express Entry invitations for Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) and Canadian Experience Class (CEC) candidates will resume by early July, according to Canada’s Immigration Minister Sean Fraser. The minister also announced that the majority of new Express Entry applications will once again be processed within the six-month service standard.

Express Entry draws for FSWP candidates have been paused since December 2020, and draws for CEC candidates have been on hold since September 2021. The processing times for these programs are currently well above IRCC’s six-month target. IRCC temporarily paused draws for these candidates in order to allocate resources to reduce the Express Entry backlog, which was exacerbated by the pandemic.

According to IRCC figures from the April 22 media briefing, IRCC made 156,000 permanent residence decisions between January 1 and March 31, 2022, which is double compared to the same period in 2021.

Although the number of newcomers poised to immigrate through the Express Entry system has been reduced in 2022 and 2023, IRCC aims to welcome more than 110,000 immigrants through Express Entry by 2024.

Who was invited?

The following is a hypothetical example of someone who may have been invited in the new Express Entry draw.

Virat is 34 with a Master’s degree and has been working as a database analyst for 10 years. He wrote the IELTS and scored a 7.5 in listening and a 6.5 in every other category. He has never worked or studied in Canada. Virat entered the Express Entry pool and also submitted a profile to the Canadian province of Saskatchewan through the International Skilled Worker: Saskatchewan Express Entry stream. He entered the Express Entry pool with a CRS score of 360. Shortly after submitting a profile to Saskatchewan, Virat was invited to apply for a provincial nomination. After being nominated, his CRS score increased to 960 and Virat received an Invitation to Apply for permanent residence in the new Express Entry draw.

Canada’s immigration department has confirmed most new Express Entry applications will be processed in 6 months.

Prior to the pandemic, the Canadian government aimed to process most Express Entry immigration applications within six months.

Due to the pandemic, however, applicants have had to wait much longer.

Non-Canadian Experience Class (CEC) Express Entry applicants are waiting well over 20 months on average for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to finalize their permanent residence applications.

Fortunately, IRCC has recently confirmed it will soon be processing most new Express Entry applications within six months. This will take effect once IRCC resumes Express Entry invitations to Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), CEC, and Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) candidates in early July.

The normalization of Express Entry in early July is major news for several reasons. First, Express Entry is the main way IRCC welcomes skilled workers to Canada. Permanent residence invitations to FSWP candidates have been temporarily paused since December 2020 while CEC candidates have not received invitations since September 2021, but this will no longer be the case come July. The FSWP was the main way Canada welcomed skilled immigrants between 1967 and the start of the pandemic, while the CEC accounted for one-third of the record-breaking 405,000 immigrants Canada landed in 2021. Resuming invitations for these two programs will provide hundreds of thousands of candidates with the opportunity to achieve their goal of gaining Canadian permanent residence.

The resumption of draws is also welcome news for Canadian employers. Statistics Canada reports Canada has over 800,000 job vacancies and its lowest unemployment rate on record. Employers need more immigrant talent to help address their worker shortages. That Express Entry is returning to normal and most new applications will be processed within six months means that employers will have access to more talent in the near future, which will be crucial to supporting Canada’s post-pandemic economic recovery.

Getting processing times back to six months is also notable for immigration candidates since Express Entry will once again become the quickest way for skilled workers to get Canadian permanent residence. Processing times for the over 100 other economic class immigration pathways offered by Canada exceed six months.

As such, it is in your interests to prepare your Express Entry profile in time for the return of all-program draws come early July. You should be mindful however that it takes time to prepare and upload your profile onto IRCC’s website so you should consider beginning the process now. You may need time to book and complete your language test. In addition, you may need additional time to get an Educational Credential Assessment (if required), and gather other necessary documents. Time is of the essence, so it is best to be proactive to avoid delays.

There are still some major advantages even if you enter the Express Entry pool before July. For one, IRCC continues to hold bi-weekly Express Entry draws to invite Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) candidates. Being in the pool now gives you the chance to be invited by a province or territory to apply to their enhanced PNP. If you are nominated, you are virtually guaranteed to get a permanent residence invitation from IRCC. The second major advantage is you may get an edge in case IRCC needs to use its tie-breaker rule. When multiple candidates have the same minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) that IRCC requires to get invited for permanent residence, IRCC will give preference to the candidates that uploaded their profile at an earlier date.

Looking ahead, Express Entry is going to continue to play a prominent role in Canada’s immigration system and economy. Beginning in 2024, IRCC is looking to welcome over 110,000 Express Entry immigrants to Canada per year. You can be among the many immigrants who benefit from Express Entry including its quicker processing times by starting the process as soon as possible.

Some people may think they have Canadian citizenship when in fact they do not.

The province is looking to help employers meet their workforce needs.

Effective May 1st, Alberta is lifting restrictions on the hiring of new temporary foreign workers.

 

All pending applications, including those submitted prior to May 1, are subject to this change.

Prior to the change, the Alberta government had a “refusal to process” list containing occupations for which employers could not submit applications to the Canadian government to hire temporary foreign workers in the province.

The Canadian government operates the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) and was refusing to process TFWP applications for these occupations on the advice of the Alberta government. These were occupations that, according to the Alberta government, had labour surpluses. Alberta was seeking to encourage employers to hire unemployed Albertans for these occupations instead.

Alberta has justified the loosening of its TFWP restrictions on the grounds it will support sectors of the provincial economy that are grappling with labour shortages and are struggling to find Canadian workers.

According to Statistics Canada, the province has about 88,000 job vacancies.

Alberta says it will monitor impacts of this change and make adjustments as necessary to ensure the TFWP continues to benefit its economy.

The purpose of the TFWP is to enable employers in Canada to hire foreign workers to fill job vacancies when they can not find a Canadian citizen or permanent resident to do the job. An employer typically needs to submit a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) application to the Canadian government.

The Canadian government will then evaluate whether the hiring of the foreign worker may have a positive or neutral impact on the Canadian labour market. Evidence must usually be provided that there are no qualified workers in Canada available to do the job. If a positive or neutral LMIA is granted, the foreign worker can then go ahead and submit a work permit application to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

Nationally, Canada is experiencing labour shortages across the country with over 800,000 job vacancies. This is resulting in federal and provincial governments easing their regulations to enable employers to recruit more foreign talent to supplement the Canadian labour market. In early April, the Canadian government relaxed its TFWP rules in response to the country’s historically low unemployment rate and historically high job vacancy rate.

Canada’s unemployment rate stands at 5.3 per cent, the lowest on record.

Build your confidence and familiarity with IELTS to maximize your scores.

IELTS is the world’s most popular high stakes English language test.

Many take IELTS to realize their academic and professional ambitions. There are some key areas of IELTS that you should cover in the time leading up to the test to ensure you get the best IELTS band score possible. In this article we will look at the most important points you need to know to build your confidence and familiarity with IELTS to maximize your scores on your test day. Understanding what is required and how the test is marked while ensuring practice of relevant skills and strategies can make a big difference.

Making sure you know what is expected of you in the IELTS test is absolutely vital to allow yourself to take your best shot at IELTS. To begin with, you need to be clear about which IELTS you need, Academic or General Training, and by when you need your results. IELTS scores are set by the receiving organizations such as universities and immigration authorities, and are usually listed on university and government websites under language requirements.

You can choose whether to take IELTS on paper or IELTS on computer, where both are available. This is a personal choice – the content of the tests and the value of the scores are identical. If choosing IELTS on computer, you need to have done some IELTS on computer practice tests and be familiar with the system functionality and keyboard shortcuts (e.g., CTRL+ C). IELTS has several videos you can review to familiarize yourself with the computer test.

You should also know where you are starting from (your current language level) and be realistic about the study time needed to improve your language skills to get the score you need.

Being familiar with the format of IELTS is an essential first step, including knowing the timing, the number of parts and the types of questions and task types, as it builds your confidence. Ensure you have done some IELTS practice tests before your actual test. These are available on IELTS.org. Remember to use the resources there. Doing practice tests allows you to identify the skills you need to improve to get the score you need.

In the IELTS Listening test, time is given to preview the questions before the audio starts. You need to use this time wisely to look for clues to work out who the speakers are and the context. This will help you know what to expect and give you time to use your knowledge of the world to predict the type of information you will hear.  It’s also useful to underline key words in the questions and look at the gaps to predict the type of information or the type of words needed. This keeps you focused and can help reduce exam nerves.

You need relevant listening practice. Useful sources include radio and television discussion programmes, podcasts, and Ted Talks. As IELTS is a test of international English, you need to be familiar with a variety of accents including British, American, Australian and Canadian.

In the IELTS Reading test you need to deal with around 2,700 words and answer 40 questions in one hour. You should adhere to the timing, 20 minutes for each passage. It is important that you only read the parts of the texts you need to answer the questions, so reading skills, like skimming and scanning, which allow you to quickly locate the parts of the texts you actually need to read, are essential. You need to learn different strategies for different question types, and build your vocabulary.

For IELTS Academic writing, you will need to know the format for your responses and the specific language to describe changes in graphs. A standard essay format will include a clear introduction, body paragraphs with topic sentences and a short conclusion.

For IELTS Speaking, ensure familiarity with the format and types of tasks. You need practice of all 3 parts of the Speaking test, particularly in building up gradually to the 2 minutes monologue in part 2, and working on increasing fluency and confidence. Make sure you also download the sample Speaking tasks on the site and record yourself and listen back, identifying where you need to improve.

Parents and grandparents of Canadians can get multiple entries over a 10 year period to stay in Canada for up to two years at a time.

Canada’s Super Visa is a temporary visa that may be an attractive option for Canadians who wish to bring their foreign parents and grandparents to Canada.

In contrast to the Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP), which is a permanent residency pathway, the Super Visa is a multi-entry visitor visa that is valid for up to 10 years. Holders may enter Canada for up to two years at a time without needing to renew their visa.

The number of people interested in the PGP demonstrates there is a large demand to bring parents and grandparents to Canada. For 2020 and 2021, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) received about 200,000 interest to sponsor forms for the PGP. These are not applications for the program, rather they represent families who want the opportunity to apply for the PGP. Currently, there are some 35,000 applications for the PGP in the IRCC inventory, a fraction of the total who want to apply.

In recent years, IRCC has held a lottery to decide who gets to apply for the PGP. Critics say the lottery system is unfair, as those who have just entered the pool of candidates may be picked over those who have been waiting for years. However, in defense of the lottery system, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser has said it puts everyone an equal footing even if it does not benefit everyone. Other methods of intake, namely first come-first served, favored PGP applicants with faster internet connections or who live closer to processing centers. In 2019, the number of spots available for PGP applicants filled up in less than 11 minutes after the online application portal was opened.

There is no lottery to get a Super Visa, and therefore it offers greater certainty to families. Super Visas allow for parents and grandparents to have more time in Canada compared to regular visitor visas.

With visitor visas, you may get single entry visas that allow you to stay for up to six months. If you wish to stay longer, you need to re-apply. There are multiple entry visitor visas, which are valid for up to 10 years and allow you to enter Canada for up to six months at a time. You do not need to re-apply for a visitor visa until the validity period has passed.

Super Visas are multiple entry visas. They are valid for 10 years and allow you to stay in Canada for up to two years at a time without needing renewal.

It takes less time to get a Super Visa compared to a PGP. Super Visa processing can take months whereas PGP processing can take years. IRCC currently has a backlog in applications. The government’s website is saying PGP application can take 32 months to process. Super Visa applications are being processed at different rates depending on where the applicant is applying from, but applications from many countries are reportedly taking about 100 days.

Not to mention, if you apply for a Super Visa, it can allow you to stay in Canada while you undertake the PGP application process. A lawyer can help you with both applications.

Eligible Post-Graduation Work Permit holders will be able to get an additional open work permit that can be valid for up to 18 months.

On April 22, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser announced a new temporary policy to allow international graduates to stay in Canada longer.

Canada is offering an open work permit to PGWP holders, starting this summer, international student graduates who have a Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) that is expiring between January and December 2022 and who are in Canada will qualify for an additional open work permit for up to 18 months. Under normal circumstances, the PGWP is not extendable or renewable.

More details on the process will be made available in the coming weeks.

This announcement comes as part of an effort to allow PGWP holders to stay in Canada longer, gain work experience, and have a better chance at permanent residency. Given that Express Entry draws for Canadian Experience Class (CEC) candidates have been paused since September, a number of PGWP holders whose permits are expiring are being forced to either apply for a new work permit, quit their jobs, or leave the country.

According to  Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), about 95,000 PGWPs will expire in 2022, and an estimated 50,000 people may benefit from this measure.

The announcement comes at the same time as Fraser revealed a slew of measures in support of economic-class immigrants. Namely, Express Entry draws for skilled workers, such as CEC and Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) candidates, will also resume in July.

IRCC has ramped up processing in recent months. In the first quarter of 2022, Canada has processed more than 100,000 work permit applications, doubling the number processed over the same period last year.

Last year, more than 157,000 former students became permanent residents, with more than 88,000 of them transitioning directly from a PGWP to permanent residency.