Sean Fraser, Canada’s Immigration Minister, recently said that candidates who apply through the Express Entry method will be chosen based on their category.
The goal of this new method is to give more weight to people who speak French well and have work experience in certain areas that are in high demand across the country.
Under the new method, candidates with skills in healthcare, science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), trades like carpentry, plumbing, contracting, transportation, and agriculture and agri-food will be given more weight in the selection process.
These changes are meant to meet the urgent need for trained workers in many parts of Canada. They are expected to take effect later this summer.
Minister Fraser stressed that these changes to the Express Entry system are an important step toward helping employers all over the country deal with labor shortages. Canada wants to support its economic growth and improve the health of French-speaking areas outside of Quebec by letting in more skilled professionals from certain fields.
The immigration minister talked about how important it is for immigration to help with labor shortages and make the French language more important in minority groups.
He said, “Everywhere I go, businesses from all over the country tell me loud and clear that they can’t find enough workers. These changes to the Express Entry system will make sure that they have the skilled workers they need to grow and achieve. We can also grow our economy and help companies that are having trouble finding workers. We can also increase the number of candidates who are fluent in French to help keep French-speaking communities alive.
After changes to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act in June 2022, which gave the minister the power to choose immigrants based on certain traits that fit with Canada’s economic goals, category-based draws were put in place. The categories were set after a lot of public consultation with provinces, territories, industry representatives, unions, employers, worker support groups, settlement provider organizations, and immigration researchers and practitioners.
To keep things clear, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will send yearly reports to parliament with information about the categories chosen, why they were chosen, how each category should be set up, and how many invitations were sent for each category.
Express Entry is Canada’s system for handling Applications for Three Economic Immigration Programs:
These are the Federal Skilled Workers Program, the Federal Skilled Trades Program, and the Canadian Experience Class.
It started in 2015 and is used to manage applications for all three programs. Using the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS), candidates are judged on things like work experience, language skills, occupation, schooling, and more. The most likely applicants to get an Invitation to Apply for permanent residence are those with the highest CRS grades.
Canada’s decision to use targeted category-based draws for Express Entry candidates shows that it wants to deal with labor shortages, support economic growth, and help French-speaking areas all over the country. The goal of these changes is to make Canada’s immigration system more flexible and in line with its social and economic needs, while also attracting highly skilled people who can help build a bright future for the country.
