Canada’s Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander yesterday announced that the first round of top-ranked candidates from the country’s new Express Entry immigration system is already helping to fill demonstrated and verifiable gaps in Canada’s labour market.
On Saturday, 31st January, 779 skilled workers, including professionals in natural and applied sciences, and industrial, electrical and construction trades, were invited to apply for permanent residency in Canada. Each of these candidates declared that they already have a valid job offer or provincial nomination.
“Express Entry is already getting impressive results in its first month,” enthused Alexander. “The fact that everyone who was invited to apply for permanent residence in this round of invitations already has a valid job offer or provincial nomination shows that Express Entry is working to fill Canada’s existing labour market gaps.”
Under Express Entry, skilled workers who want to apply to Canada’s key economic immigration programmes are able to create an online profile and express their interest in coming to Canada permanently.
Candidates who are accepted into the pool are ranked according to various factors, including language proficiency, education and work experience. Each is a leading indicator of one’s likelihood of integrating fully and quickly into Canadian society and making an optimal contribution to the economy.
Canada will regularly invite the highest-ranking candidates from the pool to apply to immigrate. With most applications being processed in six months or less, candidates will be able to contribute to Canada’s economy and job market more quickly than ever before.
Once candidates have been invited to apply for permanent residence, they will need to submit a complete application and will have to meet eligibility and admissibility requirements such as health and security checks. Candidates will have up to 60 days to submit their application online.