Sean Fraser (Canada’s immigration minister) has announced that invitations to FSWP and CEC applicants will begin in “early July.”
Sean Fraser also made many other significant announcements, including that IRCC would allow PGWP holders an open work permit renewal of above 18 months.
Essential Announcements For July 2022
- Candidates will no longer be needed to reside in Canada for the whole processing of their application.
- Express Entry invites to FSWP, CEC, and FSTP applicants will resume in early July.
- Individuals having an expired PGWP around January and December 2022 will be eligible for an extra 18-month open work permit starting this summer.
- Applicants who simultaneously enroll for an open work permit will be eligible to obtain work permits valid until 2024. It will ensure that all permanent residency applications are completed before applicants are needed to seek temporary status renewals again.
- IRCC is working on streamlining the procedure and will give further details “in the coming weeks.” According to IRCC, around 95,000 PGWPs will expire in 2022, and up to 50,000 PGWP holders may benefit from this current open work permit.
- Most new Express Entry applicants will be processed in the service standard of six months. According to IRCC, the current processing durations for Express Entry vary from seven to more than 20 months.
- To facilitate a family reunion, immediate family members living outside of Canada involved in a primary applicant’s permanent residence candidate will be eligible for their open work visa.
Why has FSWP draws been paused?
Before the pandemic, FSWP applicants were asked to apply for permanent residence at a higher rate than candidates from any other Express Entry-managed system.
The reason for the stoppage in FSWP draws in March 2020, when the global epidemic began. Canada, with certain exceptions, closed its borders to international travel. Candidates qualified from countries other than Canada and the United States who were not otherwise exempt were not permitted to complete their permanent residency registration.
Why has CEC draws been paused?
In 2021, IRCC invited a record number of CEC applicants. IRCC invited every CEC applicant in the Express Entry pool during February, totaling 27,332 invites.
The applicant invited with the lowest score had a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 75. Over 6,000 CEC applicants were invited almost every two weeks in the months that followed.
As was the case with FSWP applicants, the inventory of CEC candidates expanded to the point that IRCC could not satisfy the threshold for processing. Officials opted to pause application processing for the program to give officers time to process those currently in the inventory.
Express Entry Draw During The Epidemic
Express Entry is a system for managing applications for the Canadian Experience Class (CEC), the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), and the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP). Additionally, it is responsible for a part of the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP).
It is a point-based method in which qualified candidates are assigned a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score based on human capital variables like age, education, language abilities, and job experience.
Before the epidemic, IRCC would invite the individuals with the best scores to apply for immigration. Typically, these draws did not choose candidates based on their eligibility for the program.
Earlier in the epidemic, IRCC concentrated on inviting CEC applicants to meet its aim of admitting a record-breaking number of immigrants in a single year while enforcing travel restrictions.
Because CEC candidates are frequently already in Canada, they were not subject to the travel limitations imposed by Canada between 2020 and 2021. This commitment enabled Canada to welcome almost 405,000 permanent residents last year, the biggest number in the country’s history.
IRCC has also prioritized inviting PNP applicants throughout the epidemic to assist provinces in achieving their immigration targets.
The lack of FSWP and CEC invites comes as Canada grapples with unprecedented labor shortages. Unemployment is at an all-time low, and job openings are approaching record levels.
IRCC targets 55,000 permanent residents through Express Entry in 2022, around half of its aim for 2021. Express Entry objectives will be temporarily reduced to allow for the Temporary to Permanent Residence (TR2PR) program’s winding down and other priorities.
Between May and November 2021, IRCC accepted applications for permanent residency from up to 90,000 overseas graduates and critical employees under the TR2PR program.
Express Entry landings are expected to expand over the next two years, with IRCC aiming to welcome more than 110,000 arrivals through Express Entry by 2024.
According to IRCC, the Express Entry backlog has reduced by more than half, from almost 112,000 individuals in September 2021 to 48,000 in March 2022.
Additionally, it increased the number of permanent resident choices made in the first quarter of 2022 by more than double the amount made in 2021.
From January 1 and March 31, 2022, the IRCC finalized 156,000 permanent residency applications. Additionally, in the first quarter of 2022, IRCC handled over 100,000 work permit applications, up from 58,000 in the same previous year.
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