After a hiatus of over 18 months, the Canadian government has resumed immigration and Express Entry draws for all programs on July 6.

Express Entry draws for the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) and the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) were put on hold in December 2020 following the COVID-19 pandemic. The government had also put the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) draws on hold in September 2021.

What is Express Entry?

The Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) uses Express Entry, an application management system, to select candidates best suited to live and work in the country. Those who migrate through Express Entry are considered economic immigrants, who are in their core working age and will contribute to the labour force and economy of Canada. These applications receive faster processing than others.

Programs under Express Entry

Currently, there are three separate programs managed through Express Entry. These are:

Federal Skilled Worker Program

Federal Skilled Trades Program

Canadian Experience Class

How to apply

The first step of the Express Entry is to find out if the candidate is eligible for one of the above programs. The system sets a baseline of eligibility for each of these programs.

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After the assessment, if a candidate meets the eligibility criteria, they will need to upload a profile on the IRCC website.

On completion of the profile, the IRCC will issue the candidate a score and rank them in the Express Entry pool based on the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS). Points under the CRS are awarded based on factors like occupation, work experience, education, and language skills. Only those above the minimum points score will receive the next round of invitations.

Candidates with the highest scores are expected to receive an invitation to apply (ITA) first.

After receiving an invitation, a candidate has 60 days to submit their application for permanent residence.

According to Canada’s Immigration Levels Plan 2022-2024, more than 110,000 new Express Entry immigrants will be welcomed in the country and granted permanent residency status by 2024.

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(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)