TheCable

The Canadian government says it will soon resume its Express Entry draws for immigrants.

In a statement issued on Friday, Sean Fraser, minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship, said invitations for candidates to apply for permanent residency will begin in early July.

The ‘Express Entry’ programme is a points-based system through which skilled workers in Canada and abroad are invited to apply for permanent residency if they meet certain thresholds in work experience, education and language skills.

Due to COVID-related restrictions and delays, Canada halted Express Entry draws — the procedure that chooses qualified applications from a pool of interested skilled workers.

According to Fraser, the vast majority of new applications will be handled within the six-month standard service.

“As Canada continues to recover from the pandemic, employers are actively looking to fill hundreds of thousands of vacant positions in all sectors across the country. Immigration is more important than ever to fuel Canada’s economy, as our strong economic growth is now outpacing our ability to find and keep workers. Canada is a top destination for global talent. We need to use this fact to ensure that businesses and employers have access to the skilled workers they need to grow and succeed,” the statement reads.

“Today, the Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, announced that Express Entry draws will soon resume and that invitations for candidates to apply for permanent residence will begin in early July.”

Fraser also announced a new temporary policy that will extend work permits for recent international graduates.

Graduates with post-graduation work permit expiring between January and December 2022 will qualify for an additional open work permit of up to 18 months. The process will start in the summer of 2022.

Taking effect this summer, the policy changes announced on Friday include:

• Applicants will no longer be required to remain in Canada while their application is being processed;
• Applicants who apply for an open work permit while waiting for their permanent residence application to be finalised will be able to get work permits valid until the end of 2024. This will ensure that all permanent residence applications will be finalized before applicants will need to apply to extend their temporary status again.
• To support family reunification, immediate family members who are outside Canada and who were included in a principal applicant’s permanent residence application will be eligible for their own open work permit.

According to the statement, “these measures support the government’s broader effort to ensure Canadian employers have the workers they need while addressing our labour shortage”.