Kareem El-Assal - 18 October, 2020
Each year, over 10,000 people in the United States immigrate to Canada and obtain permanent residence.
The most common way to immigrate to Canada is as a skilled worker. Economic class immigrants comprise nearly 60 per cent of the over 340,000 immigrants Canada seeks to welcome each year.
Express Entry is the main way Canada welcomes economic class immigrants. In 2019 and 2018, Canada issued some 20,000 permanent residence invitations combined to U.S. citizens and residents through Express Entry.
Data by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) suggests that 85 per cent of these U.S. candidates are in fact non-U.S. citizens currently residing in the U.S., likely as foreign workers.
Complete our FREE Express Entry form to see if you are eligible to immigrate to Canada!
Canada offers over 100 different immigration streams. The reason for this is immigration is defined under Canada's constitution as a matter of shared federal-provincial jurisdiction. The federal government operates many programs which are complemented by dozens of programs run by Canada's provinces and territories.
Express Entry is the system that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) uses to manage skilled worker applications for three programs:
U.S. and other candidates are assessed on their age, education, language skills, work experience, and Canadian ties (e.g., if they have a sibling in Canada, a job offer in Canada, or have worked or studied in Canada). They then receive a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score.
Every two weeks, the highest ranking candidates receive permanent residence invitations. Despite the coronavirus pandemic, Canada has held these draws every two weeks and just had its largest Express Entry draw ever.
In addition, Canada's provinces use Express Entry to identify candidates who can meet their labour market needs. Provinces often review Express Entry candidates, and then invite them to apply for a provincial nomination through through the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP).
Obtaining a provincial nomination is a major ticket towards permanent residence. Candidates with a nomination receive an extra 600 CRS points which essentially guarantees they will get invited in the next Express Entry draw.
Even if you do not qualify under Express Entry, you can still apply directly to a Provincial Nominee Program, or the multitude of other federal and provincial immigration programs available to those in the U.S.
While COVID-19 is creating disturbances in Canada and abroad, all signs point to Canada maintaining high levels of immigration after the pandemic is over.
Complete our FREE Express Entry form to see if you are eligible to immigrate to Canada!
