What is express entry Canada?
Do you wonder what is express entry Canada? The answer is Express Entry is not an immigration programme in and of itself, but rather a mechanism for managing applications for the three Federal High Skilled programmes: the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Canadian Experience Class, and the Federal Skilled Trades Program.
How does Express Entry work?
Skilled employees must be qualified for one of these services in order to be considered for the Express Entry pool of candidates. If this is the circumstance, you will be assigned a score based on the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS), which gives points based on a candidate’s age, education, job experience, language proficiency in English or French and other variables.
The highest-scoring candidates are then welcomed to apply for Canadian permanent residence by IRCC.
5,000 CEC candidates invited
On March 18, Canada welcomed 5,000 Express Entry Canada candidates to apply for permanent residence.
In order to obtain an Invitation to Apply, applicants had to be qualified for the Canadian Experience Class and have a score of a minimum of 449. Among other qualifications, one year of full-time professional job experience in Canada and intermediate official language skills are basic eligibility requirements for the CEC.
According to the tie-break rule, candidates with a minimum score of 449 were only considered if they submitted their Express Entry profile before February 19, 2021, UTC.
Although travel restrictions remain in force, this latest CEC-only draw demonstrates that Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is continuing to prioritise in-Canada immigration applicants. According to IRCC data from March 8, approximately 77% of Express Entry candidates in Canada qualify for the CEC.
“While travel restrictions are in place, the federal government has chosen to concentrate on Express Entry candidates who are in Canada already in order to meet its immigration targets for 2021,” said Campbell Cohen Senior Partner Attorney David Cohen. “IRCC has done so by keeping PNP and CEC-specific draws.”
The earlier Express Entry draw, held on March 17, focused on Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) candidates, another group with close links to Canada. Candidates who have only applied for the PNP have shown to the province that nominated them that they have the necessary expertise to serve the regional labour market. Since gaining a PNP automatically gives Express Entry candidates an extra 600 points, these candidates have higher CRS ratings.
This is the first CEC-only draw since February 13, when IRCC welcomed every single CEC-qualified candidate from the Express Entry pool, making a total of 27,332 immigration candidates.
As a consequence of this new record-breaking draw, the amount of ITAs released in 2021 has already reached 43,840. Last year around this time, the IRCC had issued 19,368 permits.
In order to balance a shortage of new permanent residents accepted in 2020, Canada has dedicated to accepting 401,000 new immigrants in 2021. 108,500 Of those will be admitted into Express Entry-managed programmes.