Canada is developing a new accelerated immigration program

The Minister of Immigration of Canada has announced that he is working on a new accelerated immigration program, and this program will not be temporary, but permanent, and will allow you to live in any region of the country. All the details will appear in early September. There is also news on Express Entry.

New immigration programs regularly appear in Canada. Several have been launched since the beginning of this year, but all of them allow you to move to certain Canadian provinces. Now, the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) says it is preparing a new program that will allow you to settle anywhere except the province of Quebec.

Express Entry draws

But first I want to talk a little bit about the federal immigration programs that work through the Express Entry system. The Minister of Immigration reiterated the information that the draws will resume as early as July of this year, very soon. They were paused a long time ago, the Federal Skilled Worker draws have not been held since December 2020, and the Canadian Experience Class draws – since September 2021.

Also, Canada is still going to change the system and will not invite everyone who scores more points, as it used to do. Now the Senate is considering a bill that would give the IRCC the right to select candidates based on the country's economic goals. That is, to invite people with certain occupations, a certain education, or those who know French.

New immigration program

Now let's move on to the new immigration program. Last year Canada already launched six immigration streams, but there was a limit on the number of applications: when it reached 90,000, they closed the enrollment immediately. There were different categories of applicants: specialists in about 135 occupations, graduates of Canadian universities, as well as French-speaking professionals and graduates.

Under those streams, 90,000 applications came in just the first few days. And the IRCC decided to launch a similar program, but a permanent one. It is not stated yet what occupations will be eligible, whether there will be a list of occupations, what language level will be required, and so on. The only thing, the Minister of Immigration promised that the requirements would not be copied from previous streams, something will change. He promises to give all the information by September 8.

Something is already known. The program will be for temporary residents of Canada who either work in the country or graduated from university here. Yes, once again, those who have found a Canadian employer or graduated from a college or university are lucky. Such applicants are still a priority for Canada, as stated in the immigration plan for this year.

Accelerated immigration

One benefit of the new program is that it will grant permanent residency faster. If you follow Canadian news, you know that now there are huge delays in processing applications through the Express Entry system. The IRCC is constantly trying to shorten the time, but it only gets worse. Recently the queue reached almost 2.5 million people.

The Federal Skilled Worker Program does not require you to have a job offer, Canadian work experience, or graduation from a Canadian university, but how long will you wait? Even if you are invited when the draws resume, your immigration may be delayed for two, maybe three years or more because the IRCC does not have time to process the applications. During that time, candidates who have applied under the new program will get permanent residency simply because they are a priority.

When my family immigrated to Canada, we waited for more than 5 years. During that time, we had moved to Poland, were going to stay there, and were no longer thinking about moving to Canada when we were suddenly invited. Although, of course, I do not regret immigrating to Canada, now there are ways to move much faster.

So once again, probably for the thousandth time, I recommend that anyone who wants to immigrate to Canada either search for a job or enter a college. In the last couple of years, these have been the most reliable ways to immigrate.

Immigration through employment

Immigration through work allows you to come to Canada with minimal money savings because your employer pays for the paperwork and you will already be employed after arrival and will quickly begin to get an income. For many immigration programs, it is sufficient that you have a job offer or six months to a year of work experience. And while your application for permanent residency is processed, you will not wait in your home country, but work in Canada. Plus, if you have a job, the immigration programs do not require you to show money in your bank account.

But instead of spending money, it will take a lot of effort to write your CV according to Canadian standards and send it out every day for job openings. You may have to send out hundreds of responses, maybe thousands, before someone invites you. I do not want to scare you too much, I have some interviews with immigrants who managed to get jobs in Canada and subsequently got permanent residency.

Immigration through education

Immigration through education, on the contrary, is easier but requires a lot of finances. Entering a Canadian college is not that difficult. Even if your English is bad, it is not a problem. For example, if you apply through us to Georgian College in Toronto, you will get 12 free weeks of English at a Canadian online school. And as for finances, education in Canada costs an average of $15,000 CAD for one year, plus you have to bring with you for living expenses at least $10,000 CAD.

You can make up for part of that. Georgian College offers a $5,000 CAD scholarship bonus per year, and you can legally work up to 20 hours a week and up to 40 hours a week during holidays. But you still have to pay the tuition upfront and show the money in your account when you apply for a visa, which means you have to have a total of more than $20,000 CAD already at the time of admission, or preferably $30,000 CAD.

The advantage of Canadian education is that it gives you the right to work in Canada after graduating. In one or two years of studying and living in the country, you will improve your language and maybe make some acquaintances or connections that will help you. And as for the immigration programs for graduates, some of them require you just to get an education in Canada, and some also require a job offer. Or you can take advantage of a new program when it is launched.

Recently I published an interview with a guy who is on his way to immigrate to Canada through education. The interview was a year ago, when he was enrolled in college, and now he has graduated and found a full-time job.

If you want to repeat this path, book a consultation with our company. If you want to search for a job in Canada, we can only help you with writing a CV, but you have to search for a job and send out applications yourself.

Alex Pavlenko, founder of Immigrant.Today