As a foreign national currently in Canada or wanting to move to Canada, you may be looking at the many different pathways to obtain permanent residence status. As some of them can take a long time to process, many foreign nationals have been interested in the Express Entry process. The Express Entry application process is for skilled immigrants who want to settle in Canada permanently, and it offers significantly faster processing times to become a permanent resident.
However, while Express Entry is significantly faster, it is also much more competitive to apply and receive an invitation. Currently, economic immigrant candidates are ranked based on factors like language, education, work experience, and connections to Canada. When draws are held, the top-ranking candidates are invited to apply for Express Entry to become a permanent resident of Canada.
What is changing in 2023?
On November 1, 2022, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, “IRCC” has announced that they are planning on doing targeted draws for skilled immigrants starting in 2023. This means that they will cherry pick applicants with the most in-demand skills for specific regions of the country that require those workers/skills.
The federal immigration minister, Sean Fraser, has stated that for Provinces that require health care assistance and are currently facing health care worker shortages, they would be able to target skilled workers with experience as doctors or nurses. This means that applicants that might not have the highest scores will still be selected to immigrate to Canada due to having the correct skillset or sector that is in demand.
By being able to select workers based on their skills and sector and connecting them to Provinces that are in demand, the Government hopes to assist with the current shortage of workers affecting many Provinces. While a complete list of what sectors and Provinces has not been provided yet, IRCC would be looking at sectors facing acute labour shortages such as health care, manufacturing, building trades, and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics).
If you are interested in learning more about the Express Entry process and immigrating to Canada, please give us a call at 204-944-8889 or email us at lawoffice@fridman.ca to book your consultation!