Canada To Focus Immigration Draws On Candidates Already In Country

Immigration Minister Marc Miller says there will be more Express Entry draws in the coming year for foreign nationals already in Canada as temporary residents.

Both federal and provincial draws will be focused on candidates already here, Miller said.

“As part of our efforts for temporary residents to transition to permanent residency, we will have more domestic draws for us and ask provinces and territories taking part in the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) to do the same with their allocations,” said Miller.

“This will realign our efforts and provide a pathway for those who are in the country, who wish to stay and contribute to the country and to the economy.”

The move to conduct draws to help temporary residents gain their permanent residency comes as Ottawa is also planning to set temporary immigration targets starting in September and take further steps to limit temporary immigration.

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Miller has said he wants to reduce the number of temporary residents by five per cent over the coming three years and will be meeting with provincial and territorial immigration ministers in May to determine the specifics of these temporary immigration levels.

“Provinces and territories know their unique labour needs and capacity and need to assume responsibility for the people that they bring in as well,” said Miller.

Temporary residents, including international students and temporary foreign workers, have been hoping for more Canadian Experience Class (CEC) draws targeting them for a couple of years now.

When travel and public health restrictions imposed during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic prevented many foreign nationals from immigrating to Canada from foreign countries, Ottawa turned to immigration program draws targeting foreign nationals already in Canada.

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“In 2021, IRCC continued to target Invitations to Apply (ITA) at CEC and PNP-eligible candidates, who are more likely to be physically located in Canada and therefore less impacted by pandemic-related border restrictions,” noted the immigration department in its year-end report.

“This included one invitation round on Feb. 13, 2021, through which more than 27,000 ITAs were issued to all CEC-eligible candidates in the pool at that time, over 90 per cent of whom were already in Canada and employed. 

“No candidates were invited to apply to the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) or Federal Skilled Trades (FST) programs in 2021. Despite the impacts of COVID-19, 2021 saw more ITAs issued via Express Entry than in any previous year.”

Under the CEC immigration program, eligibility is assessed on a pass-fail basis where the primary criteria are the following:

• the candidate has acquired 12 months of full-time work experience in an occupation categorized as TEER categories 0, 1, 2 or 3 of the National Occupation Classification (NOC). Qualifying occupations are those of a managerial, professional, technical or skilled trade nature.
• the qualifying Canadian work experience was acquired within the 36 months immediately preceding the date of application;
• the candidate demonstrates sufficient proficiency in one of Canada’s official languages. The level of proficiency required is determined by the occupation in which the candidate gained qualifying Canadian work experience;
• the candidate is not inadmissible to Canada on medical, criminal or security grounds.

Qualifying work experience must be full-time and skilled.

CEC Immigration Applicants Must Demonstrate Language Skills

Full-time refers to 30 hours per week. Part-time work will be considered, but only on a pro-rata basis so six months in a part-time skilled position at 15 hours per week would count as three months towards the required 12. 

Multiple concurrent part-time jobs can also be used to meet the experience requirement.

Any work experience acquired in Canada without valid work authorization will not be considered. Nor will periods of self-employment or work experience gained while the candidate was enrolled in a program of full-time study.

Applicants must demonstrate a minimum proficiency in all four language abilities, reading, writing, speaking, and listening. 

Applicants whose qualifying work experience is in an occupation categorized as NOC TEER 0 and 1 must meet Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) level 7. Applicants whose qualifying work experience is in an occupation categorized as NOC TEER 2 and 3 must meet CLB level 5.

Equivalencies between the required level of proficiency in French or English and test results under the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and the Test d’évaluation de français (TEF) are: