Immigration Canada aims to resume federal skilled worker and CEC draws this spring

Sean Fraser said one of his and his department's tasks was to create a pathway for international students and temporary foreign workers to gain permanent residency.

Immigration Canada (IRCC) has not held draws for federal skilled workers since December 2020. The lottery for the CEC category has also been suspended since September 2021. The suspension of the lottery also means that those eligible to immigrate through these programs will not be able to apply.

Related content: [2022 Canadian Immigration Digital Update] Canada plans to increase the number of immigrants year by year

Sean Fraser also acknowledged that people working in Canada hold a Post-graduation Work Permit (PGWP) , which may be about to expire. Without an Invitation to Apply (ITA), PGWP holders will not be able to apply for immigration, but will be eligible to apply for a Bridging Open Work Permit (BOWP) , which will allow them to apply for the duration of the PGWP continue to work legally in Canada. However, the PGWP itself cannot be updated or extended. This means that at the end of the validity period of the PGWP, PGWP holders need to obtain different kinds of work permits, visas, and even need to quit their jobs or leave Canada.

Sean Fraser said the agency is considering different options to ensure Canada does not lose talent, details of which will be released in the coming months.

Why has the Federal Skilled Worker Class (FSWP) lottery been suspended since 2020?

Because of the large number of Federal Skilled Worker applicants in the Express Entry pool, Federal Skilled Worker candidates have been invited to apply for permanent residence more often than any other Express Entry program, even before the pandemic. more.

The reason for the suspension of the federal skilled worker lottery can be traced back to March 2020, when the epidemic broke out around the world. Canada has closed customs for international travel. Although there are some exemptions, basically, from any country other than Canada and the United States, even if the immigration applicant is approved, they cannot successfully land in Canada and complete their permanent residency procedures and procedures. .

This situation has resulted in federal skilled worker applicants staying overseas for extended periods of time, and granting them permanent residency would prevent the applicants from completing their landing. The validity period of their Confirmation of Permanent Residence (COPR) will soon expire, and they will not be able to become permanent residents with legal documents. This measure therefore continues until June 2021.

To meet Canada's immigration goals amid these travel restrictions, Immigration Canada's immigration efforts are focused on admitting applicants already in Canada where possible. To this end, the department has held a large Express Entry invitation round for Canadian Experience Class (CEC) candidates and created a pathway from Temporary Residence (TR) to Permanent Residence (PR).

However, this policy has also led to a backlog of immigration applications. The number of Federal Skilled Worker and Canadian Experience applications in the USCIS inventory has grown too fast for the department to meet the six-month processing criteria. Processing times for the federal skilled worker class are expected to increase to 36 months in 2022, according to recent USCIS public records.

Why has the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) lottery been suspended since the fall?

Immigration Canada has invited a record-breaking number of Canadian Experience candidates in one go in 2021. In February 2021, USCIS invited a total of 27,332 applicants in Express Entry. The minimum score to be invited is 75. Over the next few months, an average of about 6,000 CEC candidates were invited about every two weeks.

Similar to the situation with FSWP candidates, the number of CEC candidates grew to the point where IRCC could not meet the processing criteria. Officials have therefore decided to suspend application processing for the program to give them time to process applications already in the queue. According to the government website, the processing time for CEC is about seven months.

Status of Express Entry

Canada holds an Express Entry draw for Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) candidates every two weeks. These candidates are eligible to participate in one of the federal high-skilled programs and then receive a provincial nomination. Once nominated, they are awarded an additional 600 points and the opportunity to be invited to an invitation round for the PNP.

The government said the invitations would continue while IRCC addresses the backlog of other projects.

Progress on the IRCC backlog

The latest IRCC figures show IRCC processed 4,000 FSWP applicants between February 28 and March 15, more than in the seven-month period in 2021. Canada will admit more FSWP immigrants in 2022 than all of last year's applications.

As of March 15, there were still 10,400 CEC applicants to process. In 42 days, IRCC was able to process 4,751 CEC applicants. At this pace, IRCC could reduce the current backlog this spring.

New release suggests FSWP will resume in 2022

In a new round of IRCC releases, they indicated that it is still unknown whether candidates in the pool, including those whose work permits are about to expire, will receive their invitations anytime soon. Once invitations to apply for rounds resume later in 2022, candidates can check their CRS scores against the minimum CRS score necessary to receive an invitation to apply for these rounds.

IRCC needs to resume FSWP and CEC draws this year to meet immigration goals

In order for IRCC to meet Canada's earlier immigration figures for 2023, IRCC needs to issue a certain number of ITAs in 2022. It takes about a year for Express Entry candidates to submit an application for permanent residence. After getting an ITA, they have 60 days to apply, and then it takes at least six months to apply. After approval, they also need a certain amount of time to log in.

Another reason IRCC may hold a FSWP or CEC draw in the coming months is the need to address the issue of workers losing their status in Canada. Sean Fraser said he didn't want to see people who had jobs, were contributing and wanted to stay, leave while Immigration was trying to address labour shortages by accepting immigrants.

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