express entry: Planning to settle in Canada? Your eligibility under Express Entry system could be occupation-based – Times of India

MUMBAI: Canada’s flagship immigration program – the point-based Express Entry system that offers permanent residency to applicants that are selected in the draws – is likely to see a sea-change.
The amendments proposed in a bill will enable the Express Entry draws to target specific National Occupation Classification (NOC) codes. For instance, it could be aimed at those in the technology sector (occupation based) in a bid to further boost this growing sector.
Or the criteria could be based on specific educational credentials or even language skills – such as in English/French. The nitty-gritty and the timing of introduction of the revised methodology are yet to be announced.
Immigration minister Sean Fraser has recently in various discussions with stakeholders, or in public forums indicated that the Express Entry program as it stands today is being reviewed along these lines.
Immigration to Canada via Express Entry is at present classified into three classes – Canadian Experience Class (those having at least a year’s experience in Canada), Federal Skilled Workers (skilled workers having qualification and experience) and Federal Skilled Traders (those having work experience).
Currently, the Express Entry system in each draw ranks candidates from a general pool, against one another, using factors such as age, education, work experience, job offer, language skills (including in French). Those who meet the cut-off in the Comprehensive Ranking Score (CRS) are invited to apply for permanent residence in Canada.

TOI reported earlier that Canada is set to resume its Express Entry draws for all three classes in early July. Canada had halted Express Entry draws for the CEC category in the latter half of 2021 and draws for FSWP candidates were halted since December 2022.
Canada’s immigration unit – the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’ (IRCC) – had stated that when the program resumed again in July, the CRS cut-off would likely be very high – above 500 owing to the sheer number of applicants in the Express Entry pool.
Ken Nickel-Lane, founder of an immigration services firm based in Alberta, told TOI, “The proposed change will allow policy makers to very specifically target employer needs across the country. If managed properly, and with close consultation with a broad range of industry sectors, this should have a very notable positive effect on the Canadian economy in the near term once the program is in place.”
Nickel-Lane pointed to other benefits “By targeting NOC codes identified as critical needs by employers, the goal of reducing application backlog (inventory) is still achieved, as is retaining a broader potential diversity of new immigrants, who can then settle quickly into a new life with gainful employment.”
For the past several years, Indians have led the charts both in terms of the number of invites issued to become permanent residents and those admitted as permanent residents. To illustrate: In 2020, Indian citizens bagged 50,841 invites to apply for permanent residence in Canada, under the ‘Express Entry’ route. This was 47% of the total invites (1.07 lakh) which were issued by IRCC. Immigration experts believe that this will remain unchanged and India will retain its place as the top source country for skilled workers.

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