On January 1, 2015 Citizenship and Immigration Canada launched Express Entry – a new application management system designed to get people with the skills to succeed in Canada’s economy here faster.
Starting January 1st, skilled workers who want to apply to Canada’s worker economic immigration programs are able to create an online profile and express their interest in coming to Canada permanently.
Candidates who meet the minimum criteria will be accepted into the pool and will be ranked according to various factors. These include language proficiency, education and work experience. Each is a leading indicator of one’s likelihood of integrating fully and quickly into Canada’s economy and Canadian society.
The highest ranking skilled workers will be invited to apply for permanent residence. The first invitations to apply will be issued during February.
Express Entry marks progress for skilled foreign nationals and employers alike. Express Entry will allow Citizenship and Immigration Canada to identify those who are most likely to succeed economically in Canada, instead of simply processing applications on a first-come, first-served basis. This may result in faster processing and may allow the Government of Canada to be more flexible and respond better to Canada’s changing labour market needs.
Express Entry will manage applications for three federal economic immigration programs: the Federal Skilled Worker Program, Federal Skilled Trades Program and the Canadian Experience Class.
Provinces and Territories will be able to use the Express Entry system to select a portion of candidates for their Provincial Nominee Programs.
Once candidates have been invited to apply for permanent residence they will need to complete the immigration process, which includes health and security checks. Complete applications may be processed in six months or less.
Canada has admitted more than 1.6 million new permanent residents since 2006, and will admit between 260,000 and 285,000 in 2015.