A new report shows that over 31,000 people were invited to apply for residency through Canada’s Express Entry system during the programme’s inaugural year.
The first report giving full details of the Express Entry programmes first year of operation shows that as of 3rd January 2016, a total of 191,279 Express Entry profiles had been submitted to Immigration, Citizenship and Refugees Canada (IRCC, formerly known as CIC) by foreign nationals.
Of these, 88,048 were found not eligible because they did not meet the criteria of at least one of the three programs managed by the system; 1,303 were pending due to Job Bank registration or verification of their Provincial Nomination by a Province or Territory; 63,937 were in the pool as active candidates or with an outstanding invitation to apply; and, the remaining 37,991 profiles had left the pool.
Over 31,000 invitations to apply to permanent residence have been issued to a diverse range of highly skilled immigrants and almost 10,000 individuals (principal applicants and their family) have already landed in Canada as permanent residents. Some 1,644 of the invited immigrants were British citizens, making UK the fourth most popular source country through Express Entry, behind India (6,348), Philippines (3,574) and China (1.678).
Ireland was the fifth most popular source country with 1,210 applicants invited to apply for residency.
Food service supervisor was revealed to be the most common type of occupation of applicants invited to apply, with 2,356 invitees having skills and qualifications in this field. Cooks was the second most in-demand occupation (2,295), with Information Systems Analysts and Consultants third (1,255).
The majority of Express Entry candidates who submitted a permanent residence application to IRCC chose Alberta, Ontario or British Columbia as province of destination. This aligns with destination provinces prior to Express Entry and has been explained by a combination of community connections, services, infrastructure and most importantly, jobs.
Top ten invited candidates by occupation 2015
Food service supervisors (2,356)
Cooks (2,295)
Information Systems Analysts and Consultants (1,255)
Software engineers (940)
Computer programmers and interactive media developers (935)
University professors and lecturers (745)
Retail sales supervisors (669)
Graphic designers and illustrators (550)
Financial auditors and accountants (494)
Financial and investment analysts (446)
Article by David Fuller