Dear xxx:
Thank you for your correspondence of August 24, 2021, addressed to the Honourable Marco E.L. Mendicino, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, regarding the Express Entry program and the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) draws. I have been asked to respond to your concerns.
I appreciate you sharing the circumstances which prompted you to write. Immigration will continue to be critical to Canada’s success as we work to recover from the economic headwinds we are facing due to the coronavirus. The Department continues to accept and process applications despite the current travel restrictions.
The Government of Canada will remain focused on welcoming highly skilled applicants who can help build a stronger country and ensure Canada lives up to its international and humanitarian obligations. The Department continues to assess the impacts of the current situation on those who use Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s (IRCC’s) services and our operations, and to make adjustments as needed.
IRCC’s electronic system,
Express Entry (EE)
, manages applications for permanent residence in certain economic programs. Express Entry allows IRCC to actively recruit, assess, and select skilled immigrants based on their flexible skills and their ability to contribute to Canada’s economic development as skilled workers, business people, and provincial nominees.
The EE system is designed to assess prospective candidates against a number of criteria that evidence has shown play a role in economic success for immigrants once in Canada. Based on the information provided in their EE profile, prospective candidates receive a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score. The CRS score is an assessment of how an individual’s overall skills, experience, education, and other attributes measure against all of the factors that—in combination—are the best predictors of long-term economic success.
IRCC identifies the top-ranked candidates in the pool on a regular basis and issues these candidates an Invitation to Apply (ITA) under one of the three federal economic immigration programs or, if they have a
provincial/territorial nomination, under the Provincial Nominee Program. Information about the
breakdown of the CRS, as well as information on how candidates can
increase their CRS score, can be found on IRCC’s website.
While the CRS formula rewards individuals who have Canadian and/or foreign skilled work experience, the scoring system does favour younger candidates with post-secondary education and a high level of proficiency in one or both of Canada’s official languages. This weighting in favour of age, education, and language factors allows Canada to consistently invite those candidates who score highest against proven indicators of economic success to apply for permanent residence.
IRCC encourages all persons wishing to immigrate to Canada to submit an Express Entry profile, to keep their language results valid, and their contact information current. Please note that the classes for draws under Express Entry are not pre-published, and that profiles expire after 12 months. While I am unable to provide you with a timeframe for the next draw at this time, I encourage you to keep
checking the IRCC Website for future rounds of invitations.
Thank you for taking the time to write. I trust that this information is helpful to you.
Sincerely,
P. Rivard
Ministerial Enquiries Division
This electronic address is not available for reply.
