Sean Fraser, Canada’s Immigration Minister, has introduced new category-based selection criteria for Express Entry candidates. The Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will now prioritize candidates who are proficient in French or have work experience in specific sectors:
Healthcare
STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics)
Trades like carpentry, plumbing, and contracting
Transport
Agriculture and agri-food
The Minister believes that these changes will allow IRCC to invite more skilled workers in these targeted professions, supporting Canada’s commitment to welcoming in-demand professionals into communities across the country.
A full list of eligible occupations under the new categories is available here.
The new categories are expected to start later this summer.
Why the New Express Entry Categories?
Introducing these new categories is a strategic move to fill job vacancies across Canada. Immigration is considered a crucial solution to alleviate the labour shortage and enhance the French language’s presence in French-speaking communities outside Quebec.
Fraser says, “These changes to the Express Entry system will ensure that they have the skilled workers they need to grow and succeed. We can also grow our economy and help businesses with labour shortages while also increasing the number of French-proficient candidates to help ensure the vitality of French-speaking communities.”
How Were the Categories Chosen?
The selection of these categories was a collaborative effort involving public consultation with provinces and territories, industry representatives, unions, employers, workers, advocacy groups, settlement providers, and immigration researchers and practitioners.
Each year, IRCC will report to Parliament on
the categories chosen the previous year
why and how they were chosen
the instructions to establish a category
the number of invitations issued for each category
What is Express Entry?
Established in 2015, Express Entry is designed to adapt to Canada’s evolving economic and labour market needs.
It manages three economic immigration programs: the Federal Skilled Workers Program, the Federal Skilled Trades Program, and the Canadian Experience Class.
These programs use the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) to assign a score to candidates based on human capital factors such as work experience, language ability, occupation, education and more.
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