EXPRESS ENTRY A NEW IMMIGRATION SYSTEM FOR CANADA. BY: HERMAN VAN REEKUM January 29, 2015

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1 EXPRESS ENTRY A NEW IMMIGRATION SYSTEM FOR CANADA BY: HERMAN VAN REEKUM January 29, 2015

2 Introduction: Express Entry System Was Introduced in January 2015 Goals: 1. Modernize Canada s immigration system and make it more responsive to our economic and labour market needs; 2. To select immigrants who are most likely to succeed in Canada instead of passively processing all applications that are filed; 3. To facilitate matching new immigrants with employers who cannot find Canadians and permanent residents and who want to recruit internationally; 4. To process selected applicants within 6 months in 80% of all cases; 5. To minimize employers use of the TFW program

3 Background to Express Entry Problems with Canada s immigration programs include: 1. Serious mismatch between new immigrants and the labour market. New immigrants struggle to find meaningful employment in Canada; 2. Passive immigration programs allowed anyone who met minimum requirements to apply for immigration. This created massive backlogs that have been cleaned up in the past two years; 3. Dramatic increase in the use of the TFW program. TFW s have been beneficial to employers who face skill or labour shortages. However, the program created a backlash amongst Canadians.

4 Express Entry combines four types of economic immigration programs: 1. Federal Skilled Worker Program based on certain skilled occupations that are open to qualified applicants. Limited number of applications allowed in each occupations; 2. Canada Experience Class open to skilled foreign workers who have worked in Canada for a minimum of twelve months; 3. Federal Skilled Trades Program open to people who have at least two years working experience in a skilled trade; 4. Provincial and Territorial Nominee Programs can be customized by the provincial and territorial governments to meet specific immigration objectives. Alberta has the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program and does allow certain types of low skilled TFW s to apply.

5 Express Entry: How It Will Work THE NEW TWO STEP APPLICATION PROCESS *Source cic.gc.ca

6 How Express Entry Will Work

7 Comprehensive Ranking System Four Categories of points Core Human Capital Factors Age, Level of Education, Official Language Proficiency, Canadian Work Experience Spouse or Common Law Partner Factors Skill Transferability Factors Maximum Points for = 600 Arranged Employment or Provincial Nomination 600 Points Maximum of 1200 Points

8 Employers and Express Entry CIC has a lot at stake in introducing this program. Will employers use the program? Express Entry offers three benefits: 1. Employers can recruit talent internationally and bring the new employee to Canada as immigrants within a reasonable period of time; 2. Reduced administrative time and expense for employers compared to the TFW program which is increasingly complex and requires employers to maintain work permit validity and comply with many administrative requirements associated with the TFW program; 3. Employers will have access to the Express Entry pool which is expected to contain many applications from motivated prospective immigrants who have demonstrated their language competency and who have had their credentials assessed.

9 Risks to Employers are: 1. That CIC will not be able to maintain its commitment to process applications quickly. Employers will need to develop contingency plans if the program is seriously backlogged. Is a work permit still an option? 2. Will the credential recognition process produce valid outcomes? How will candidates complete further requirements to meet provincial standards? 3. Will selected candidates stay with an employer who has brought them to Canada on the basis of a permanent job offer?

10 Conclusion and Next Steps: CIC Minister Chris Alexander is determined to have the program succeed. The plan is fewer TFWs and more immigrants First phase of Express Entry will began in January. The second phase is to have employers use the system through the LMIA process. Expect this phase will be introduced in May Questions?