This might piss people off but as a low-score CRS applicant I'm very happy that they are looking to target specific NOC codes.
A high CRS scoring applicant doesn't necessarily equate to high value for the Canadian economy and I personally got super jealous of seeing people get a free ride simply because they have a Master's degree in Arts. I meant get real. Arts? You can't be serious. Lots of these people end up working at Wal-Mart or driving taxis despite having ridiculous qualifications and 490 points.
Even though I have a CRS of 424 I outperform other immigrants I've worked with in the same NOC (1123) at my job despite not having a degree - two of my immigrant colleagues got fired despite gloating about getting into Canada in 3 months via CEC and how many degrees they hold, while I'm relying on turtle-speed PNP. These same people also usually complain about Canada being racist (funny, because India has Express Entry draws that gives Canadians PR, doesn't it?) and lament that their children can't get jobs despite having degrees and doctorates with zero work/life experience. I of course am generalizing, there are many amazing immigrants, but definitely the immigration system has flaws when you see quite a number of high human capital applicants working in an Amazon warehouse.
Canada can and will do whatever it takes to support the best interests of its economy and it now looks like it's rightly focussing on quality and targeting specific skills it needs. Even though it may upset some of you, you need to remember that the immigration system is primarily designed to benefit Canada's economy and support reunification of foreigners with ties to Canadian citizens/PR holders (spouses, families) and protect the world's most vulnerable.
The benefit to you in terms of how life would change with PR is secondary and you knew the risk going into this is that these programs and their rules can change at any time and that's just harsh reality.
But what if your NOC is not on the list? Also, not everyone complaining is from India (and not everyone is a person of colour). I do think that this system will ignore large numbers of immigrants, unless they truly make a very flexible system that combines NOC draws with language draws, general (CRS score only) draws, etc.
I get your thinking, and this is why I said that this new system is a good way to invite people who might not be able to be invited otherwise - there are different ways to have a high human capital or however they want to call it. But I do not agree with the idea that high-scoring applicants should not get a chance, because many people actively worked for that (learning French, gaining work experience, etc.) For years, this has been recognized as a human potential (high CRS score) so I don't think it should suddenly be ignored. Precisely because we don't know how effective NOC approach would be (would someone with foreign experience be successful with Canadian employers?) This is more about FSW and not CEC, but NOC approach was not really about CEC before (because CEC candidates have already demonstrated that they are able to find a skilled job in Canada).
Also, the reason people see arts as inferior brings numerous problems down the road, but that's another thing. Not to mention that ignoring "arts" (which can mean a lot of things, such as political science, media studies, economics, criminology - to name a few) means ignoring many very practical (and potentially in demand) occupations to be ignored. (Including NOC 1123).