Important changes in Express Entry

The most popular immigration option, Express Entry, is undergoing significant changes. Express Entry candidate selections now will be conducted in a completely different way. For many, this is fascinating news because many professions will now have a chance to immigrate.

I founded the Immigrant.Today project, and we have been helping people move to Canada since 2015. Express Entry is the most popular way to relocate to Canada. This is a system to select candidates under three federal immigration programs: Federal Skilled Worker, Federal Skilled Trades, and Canadian Experience Class. The Federal Skilled Worker Program doesn't require you to have a job offer from Canada, so it is used most often by candidates with foreign work experience.

A new opportunity to immigrate

In recent years, Express Entry has been selecting only the most educated, experienced ones and those who know English better, or maybe also French. But soon, Canada will additionally invite candidates with work experience in in-demand occupations. This was announced on May 31st by Canadian Minister of Immigration Sean Fraser.  Now the government is happy to invite people in 6 new categories.

First, I'm going to tell you briefly about Express Entry, and then about candidates who are going to be a priority now. To create an Express Entry account, you must meet the requirements of one of the federal programs I mentioned earlier. Most often, the Federal Skilled Worker Program. It requires a year of skilled work experience, good English proficiency, at least a high school education, but better a post-secondary degree, and a certain amount of funds in your bank account. For a single individual, the required amount is approximately CAD 14,000. If you are immigrating as a family of four, the amount increases to more than CAD 25,000. There's another important point about scoring, but I won't go into detail because I've already detailed how points are calculated in the skilled trades program and in Express Entry and who can pass.

Additional draws

So, which candidates Canada wants to see among immigrants? Several categories will be invited in target Express Entry draws. Canada will also continue to hold regular selections under the previous rules.

The first category is candidates with good French proficiency. If you didn't know, this is the second official language in Canada, besides English, and the government protects it in all ways possible. So a perfect option to increase your chances to move to Canada is to learn French.

The second category is healthcare occupations. The list is quite impressive, for example, nutritionists, dentists, family doctors, massage therapists, nurses, and so on.

The third category is occupations in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. For example, programmers and web designers.

The next category is trades occupations like carpenters, plumbers, electricians, and so on.

Moving on to the fifth category. These are transport occupations. We have transport occupations, which include pilots, railway workers, transport managers, and also truck drivers who have recently become eligible to apply under the Express Entry system. As you see, immigration to Canada can change completely.

The last category is agriculture. These are mainly farm managers and various contractors. But butchers are also on the list.

Full list of occupations eligible for targeted Express Entry draws.

The first target Express Entry draw is expected to take place this summer. It's difficult to predict passing scores, I think it will be different for each category. Stay tuned to our website, we will post information as soon as it becomes available.

If you have a different occupation or if you don't know which immigration program is right for you, book a consultation with us. One of our immigration consultants will find a personalized option especially for you.

Ivanna Pavlenko, Canadian regulated immigration consultant