Canada begins sending invitations to the Federal Skilled Workers Program candidates from July 6, 2022. The FSWP draws had paused since December 2020. Yesterday’s Express Entry draw includes the Canadian Experience Class (CEC). CEC draws had stopped since September 2021, and this is the first time they are beginning to resume the draws. IRCC sent invitations to 1,500 Express Entry candidates to apply for PR. The standard cut-off was 557 under the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS).
Fraser’s announcement on July 6 draw
Fraser announced that Express Entry draws had officially resumed, and applications would be processed within six months. He even showed his gratitude toward the candidates for keeping patience while they worked hard to reduce the backlog before returning to the Express Entry draws. He even stated that he seeks more skilled immigrants to come to Canada to meet the Canadian labor shortages.
Why is the latest draw such big news?
All-program draws returned significantly due to many reasons. The Federal Skilled Worker Program was launched in 1967. It was the most significant way to welcome skilled immigrants to Canada. Before the emergence of the pandemic, 45 percent of the candidates receiving the Express Entry invites were from the Federal Skilled Worker Program. Candidates belonging to the Canadian Experience Class category are hopeful because the draws resumed today. CEC is the main way for Canada’s international students and foreign workers to obtain permanent residence. CEC mostly depends on the Express Entry pool to meet the immigration levels target and, therefore, has increased its popularity.
The pre-pandemic phase observed that CEC was just 9 percent of the 341,000 immigrants who immigrated to Canada under the combined form of economic, family, and humanitarian classes.
Only one-third of CEC candidates were a part of the 405,000 immigrants who moved to Canada. Sean Fraser had reportedly claimed two weeks ago that IRCC would resume the draws on July 6. As mentioned, the draws resumed on July 6. Additionally, Fraser even reassured us the application process will begin again as per the standard processing time of six months.
All-program draws imply that IRCC will accept applications from all the streams or programs under the Express Entry system, and will also issue ITA’s for permanent residency based on the CRS scores.
IRCC mostly held the all-program draws between Express Entry’s launch in 2015 and December 2020. Candidates under all the three programs: FSTP, FSWP, and CEC could try their luck to receive an ITA.
CEC candidates remained the focus of IRCC from January 2021 because they didn’t have to face any travel restrictions due to covid unlike the other immigration candidates overseas. Due to the excessive backlog, IRCC decided to pause the CEC applications in September 2021. After waiting for the CEC draws as well, IRCC only conducted the biweekly PNP draws to meet the labor market needs.
Express Entry: Summarizing its working process
Express Entry functions primarily with just two steps. The candidates need to first of all figure out whether they fit the eligibility criteria of any one of the Express Entry programs.
Factors including human capital characteristics, age, language, work experience, and education determine the Comprehensive Ranking Score. Every two weeks, Express Entry sends invitations to candidates scoring the highest points to apply for a status of permanent residency.
After receiving an invitation, you have 60 days to submit your PR application to IRCC. IRCC tries its best to process the desired applications within six months duration. Over 110,000 new immigrants are likely to be welcomed under the Express Entry each year.
