CIC Releases Mid-Year Express Entry Report

Pool will become main source of Canadian economic immigration applications in the near future.

July also sees landmark Express Entry draw with lowest CRS requirement ever.

In a wide-ranging and informative report, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has provided valuable insights on the Express Entry selection system for immigration to Canada, which came into operation on January 1, 2015.

This detailed report —a snapshot of the system for the initial six months of implementation, based on a data extract as of July 6, 2015 — provides solid grounds for optimism for individuals who are either in the pool today or thinking of creating a profile in the near future. Among a host of important statements, CIC disclosed that ‘Future rounds from the Express Entry pool will become the main source of applications to meet annual Canadian immigration levels targets for certain economic immigration programs under the Express Entry system as the older inventories are reduced.’

(‘Older inventories’ refers to applications submitted before January 1, 2015 that have not yet been processed to completion.)

This news has been warmly welcomed by candidates in the pool, as it reveals a commitment on CIC’s part to increase the number of invitations to apply issued in the not too distant future.

Through the report, we also learned the following:

• The pool is growing by about 1,500 persons/profiles per week.

• The number of profiles completed was 112,701, with 48,723 of these not being eligible. The size of the pool is expected to remain large.

• A large number of foreign nationals already working in Canada have received invitations to apply because they have job offers supported by a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA). This was especially the case during the earlier draws, and has resulted in Canada being the dominant country of residence for invited candidates (85.5% of all invited candidates).

• The most dominant countries of citizenship of invited candidates are India and the Philippines, each of which supplied around one-fifth of those invited to apply.

• Through the first 11 draws, 29.4% of those invited to apply did not have a qualifying job offer or enhanced provincial nomination certificate.

• 65% had a qualifying job offer.

• 5.4% had an enhanced provincial nomination certificate.

• Discounting the first four draws, however — in which only applicants with a CRS score above 600 were invited to apply — 41% of those invited to apply did not have a qualifying job offer or an enhanced provincial nomination certificate.

• A majority of candidates selected in the sixth (March 27), eighth (April 17) and eleventh (June 27) draws had neither a qualifying job offer nor a provincial nomination certificate.

• A majority (65.78%) of candidates in the pool had between 300 and 400 Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points.

• A total of 5,534 of the overall 12,928 invitations to apply issued had been to candidates under the Canadian Experience Class (CEC), with Federal Skilled Workers (FSW, 4,809), Federal Skilled Trades (FST, 1,887) and Provincial Nominees (PN, 698) following. Though provincial nominees have provided the fewest invitees so far, the number of candidates being invited to apply having obtained an enhanced provincial nomination certificate has increased over the most recent draws. This is likely because certain provinces have had the time to assess applications submitted earlier this year.

Further positive news: The July 10 and July 17 Draws

Though CIC released this report as we enter August, the data used to compile the results is from July 6. Since that date, CIC has performed two further draws from the pool, on July 10 and July 17, both of which saw the CRS points requirement decrease. The thirteenth, and most recent, Express Entry draw selected candidates with 451 or more CRS points. This draw represents a milestone in the short history of Express Entry as the CRS points requirement has decreased to its lowest cut-off point yet.

Other recent Express Entry trends have been viewed positively by candidates for Canadian immigration:

• This is the fourth draw in succession in which the number of CRS points required has decreased.
• It is also the fourth draw in a row in which candidates without a qualifying job offer from a Canadian employer or an enhanced provincial nomination certificate have been invited to apply.
• In addition, it is the fourth draw in succession in which more than 1,500 invitations to apply were issued.
• The latest draws have allowed certain candidates who may not have been awarded a large number of points for age — or who may not have extensive post-secondary education or highly advanced language proficiency in English or French — to receive an invitation to apply.

A number of candidates issued invitations to apply in this draw had been in the pool for some time; these candidates made efforts to increase their CRS score and ranking by, for example, re-taking language tests and achieving better scores, or gaining additional work experience. The thirteenth draw may also be seen as a positive development for candidates in the pool who did not receive an invitation to apply this time around, as the number of CRS points required has been decreasing across the most recent four draws.

With an increasing number of Canadian provinces having introduced Express Entry streams as part of their Provincial Nominee Programs, candidates in the Express Entry pool are seeing an increasing number of options and opportunities for obtaining the all-important invitation to apply. The provinces of Ontario and Saskatchewan, as well as the Maritime provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, have all introduced such streams in recent weeks. These enhanced Provincial Nominee Program immigration streams have all been covered in-depth by CICnews.com in recent weeks:

• Ontario Core Human Capital Priorites and French-Speaking Skilled Worker streams
• Saskatchewan Express Entry
• New Brunswick Express Entry Labour Market Stream and Nova Scotia Experience: Express Entry

Mid-year analysis

“Knowledge is power, and over recent weeks CIC has given people a highly valuable insight into Express Entry — its past, its present and its future,” says Attorney David Cohen.

“When looking at the past, what we’re seeing is that the number of candidates with job offers being invited to apply has decreased over time. That being said, obtaining a qualifying job offer from a Canadian employer remains as beneficial to a candidate’s chances today as it ever has.

“The present scene is one that is welcome to all candidates. CRS score requirements have been steadily decreasing, the number of candidates being invited to apply has been increasing, provinces are beginning to issue enhanced nomination certificates, an increasing number of candidates without job offers or provincial nominations have received invitations to apply, and CIC has been as good as its word when it comes to processing times. This is all very positive.

“The jewel of this report, however, is where it concerns the future. In stating that ‘future rounds from the Express Entry pool will become the main source of applications to meet annual immigration levels targets for certain economic immigration programs,’ CIC has published in black and white what many people have been hoping all year. I would therefore encourage anybody interested in immigrating to Canada to begin the process immediately. CIC has said that it will be increasingly looking to the pool to meet immigration targets that are tied to Canada’s labour market needs — and unless you’re in the pool, you are invisible to the government of Canada.”

To find out if you are eligible for any of over 60 Canadian immigration programs, including the federal economic programs that are processed under Express Entry, please fill out a free online assessment today.

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Express Entry

Eligible candidates may submit a profile into the Express Entry pool, where they are ranked according to the CRS. The government of Canada selects the top-ranked candidates on a priority basis when it performs one of its frequent draws from the pool. Candidates who are issued an invitation to apply for permanent residence then have 60 days to submit a complete e-application, from which point the government of Canada aims to process the application within six months. A number of early applicants have had their applications processed in under half that time.

Click here for more information on draws from the Express Entry pool that have taken place so far.

Click here to read the full report.

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