IRCC expects to implement express Entry reforms within the first quarter of next year.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is going to begin holding express Entry draws for candidates based on labour market goals within the first quarter of 2023, a representative says.
“The Department is going to consult a good range of stakeholders to inform new categories in express Entry, as needed by the legislation, and is getting ready for technical implementation within the first quarter of 2023,” IRCC said in an email to Media Source.
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The recently passed Bill C-19 permits the immigration minister to invite express Entry candidates based on criteria that support regional economic desires. It permits IRCC to carry express Entry invitation rounds supported a candidate’s occupation, language, or academic attainment, for example, rather than their Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score.
The new legislation additionally states the minister should interact in a public consultation process and report the draw details, together with the economic goals, to parliament annually.
Why change express Entry?
Immigration Minister Sean Fraser explained in an exceedingly recent CIC News interview that the express Entry system, without the amendments, doesn’t yield IRCC to tailor invitations to apply (ITAs) to meet in-demand skills or qualifications.
“If you’re in a circumstance where you have an abundance of applications that are all in one particular sector, and that sector doesn’t have high needs in Canada the Express Entry system as it exists today, is likely to bring in people that might not be perfectly matched to the needs of the Canadian economy,” Fraser said.
IRCC demonstrated throughout the pandemic that it will invite as several candidates as it desires in any program it wants, as we saw throughout the pandemic. One outstanding example took place on February 13, 2021, once Canada invited each Canadian experience class (CEC) candidate within the pool, representing quite 27,000 invitations.
With the legislation at the time, IRCC was ready to change its strategy amid COVID-19 travel restrictions to ask express Entry candidates based on which program they were eligible for. Initially, this was done to focus on express Entry candidates who were eligible for either of 2 programs: the CEC as a result of these candidates were most likely already in Canada and thus not subject to travel restrictions, or people who had a nomination from a Provincial nominee Program (PNP).
However, before Bill C-19 received royal assent, IRCC wasn’t ready to target express Entry candidates within the pool based on a candidate’s occupation, language ability, or education document. though PNPs have additional specific criteria that permit them to ask eligible express Entry candidates, the system itself doesn’t have such a mechanism in situ. so as to induce a PNP, and thus support a regional want, PNP candidates have to be compelled to complete a separate application method with a provincial or territorial authority.
Fraser previously told News Agency the goal is to set newcomers up for success in the communities where they’re going to reside
“I expect we’re going to see a potential increase of retention rates have opened up because people are coming in where they know they have opportunities because that was the basis of their invitation to apply,” Fraser said.
The minister additionally acknowledged the requirement for a clear choice method. one amongst the first criticisms of the bill was that it might permit special interest groups to lobby the government to ask an exact kind of express Entry candidate. This is why an amendment was introduced to require the minister to have a public consultation process with stakeholders to get information on how the draws can be held to support an economic goal.
The actual wording in the bill reads as follows:
…the Minister must engage in a public consultation process with stakeholders, including provinces and territories, industry, unions, employers, workers, worker advocacy groups, settlement provider organizations and immigration researchers and practitioners, to obtain information, advice and recommendations in respect of the labour market conditions, including occupations expected to face shortage conditions, as well as on how categories can be formed to meet economic goals.
“If I sit at my office in Ottawa and start making decisions about what regions and what sectors should benefit from this new policy I would be going down a very dangerous path,” Fraser said. “I need to engage with people at a local community level. I need to engage with my provincial and territorial counterparts. I need to engage with business councils and sectors that have high needs so we can understand what their needs are.”
All-program draws continue in the meantime
On July 6, IRCC held its initial all-program draw since December 2020, which implies candidates were invited despite which express Entry-managed program they were eligible for.
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A total of 1,500 candidates were invited, and the minimum CRS score was 557.
The next express Entry draw is expected to take place on July 20.