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CANADA EXPRESS ENTRY SELECTION PROCESS: CATEGORY-BASED INVITATIONS
In category-based rounds of invitations, Immigration, Refugees, Citizenship and Canada (IRCC) invites candidates in the Express Entry pool who are qualified on specific category well-known by the Minister to meet an identified economic goal. Immigration department invites candidates to apply for permanent residence based on criteria such as:
• ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE IN A SPECIFIC OFFICIAL LANGUAGE
• WORK EXPERIENCE IN A SPECIFIC OCCUPATION
• EDUCATION
Category-based rounds add to general and program-specific rounds by inviting top-ranking candidates who can assist in meeting IRCC’s specific economic goals. IRCC announced the chosen categories in advance.
CANDIDATES WITH A PROVINCIAL OR TERRITORIAL NOMINATION: Immigration, Refugees, Citizenship and Canada (IRCC) continues to invite candidates with a provincial or territorial nomination through general and Provincial Nominee Program-specific rounds. These candidates have established they have the skills, education and work experience to contribute to the province or territory’s economy towards having their application selected through Express Entry pool.
IMMIGRATION, REFUGEES, CITIZENSHIP AND CANADA (IRCC) SELECTION OF CATEGORIES: IRCC chooses categories based on the following two criteria, which are labour market information and projections and input from provinces, territories, and other stakeholders across the country.
Each year, IRCC report to Parliament on the following:
• The Categories IRCC Chose The Previous Year
• The choice of Why And How IRCC Chose Them
• The Instructions To Establish A Category
• The Number Of Invitations IRCC Issued For Each Category
IRCC also includes material about category-based selection in the Express Entry Year-End Report & monitors and assesses categories on a regular basis.
CATEGORIES CHOSEN FOR 2023: The following are the six categories chosen for the year 2023.
1. French-language proficiency
2. Healthcare occupations
3. Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) occupations
4. Trade occupations
5. Transport occupations
6. Agriculture and agri-food occupations
ELIGIBLE CANDIDATES: To be eligible for an invitation through a category-based round, an applicant must meet the minimum criteria for Express Entry, including being eligible for 1 of the 3 immigration programs it covers and meet all of the requirements in the instructions for that round.
When IRCC holds category-based round of invitations, they will rank candidates in the pool who meet the category requirements and invite top-ranking candidates to apply for permanent residence:
NEW STREAM: The Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot, for which two new streams were announced a few weeks ago, creates opportunities for skilled refugees and other displaced individuals to use their education, training and experience to continue their careers in Canada. To date, this pilot has seen the greatest uptake in the health care sector with over 50% of the applications received being for candidates working as nurses’ aides, orderlies, and patient service associates.
APRIL: The changes were made in April, to Express Entry to facilitate the issuance of permanent resident visas for physicians providing publicly funded medical services in Canada.
DECEMBER: The Government of Canada in December announced $90 million will be invested in projects to help remove barriers preventing qualified and skilled newcomers from gaining work experience in their own profession or field of study.
NEW ARRIVALS: Between 2017 and 2022, 21,656 skilled newcomers arrived in Canada to work in health occupations.
HEALTH WORKERS: The recent announcement advances Canada’s efforts to retain and recruit health workers to address the health workforce crisis. Supporting a sustainable health workforce is one of the shared health priorities agreed to by the Government of Canada and provinces and territories, outlined in the Working Together to Improve Health Care for Canadians Plan.
BUDGET: This plan is reinforced through a Budget 2023 commitment of close to $200 billion over 10 years, including $46.2 billion in new funding to provinces and territories, to improve health care services for Canadians.
PROVINCES: As part of these arrangements, provinces and territories are also being asked to streamline foreign credential recognition for internationally educated health professionals, and to advance labour mobility, starting with multi-jurisdictional credential recognition for key health professionals.
HEALTHCARE OCCUPATIONS: According to IRCC landing data, skilled newcomers who arrived in Canada between 2017 and 2022 intended to work in the following health occupations (please note these are preliminary estimates and subject to change):
• 10,051 nurses (including registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and registered psychiatric nurses)
• 4,449 doctors (including 2,013 specialist physicians)
• 2,552 dentists
• 2,054 pharmacists
• 910 physiotherapists (798) and occupational therapists (112)
• 156 optometrists
• 218 dietitians and nutritionists
• 13 chiropractors
• 410 medical laboratory technologists
• 222 medical radiation technologists
• 151 audiologists and speech-language pathologists
• 171 allied primary health practitioners
• 56 paramedical occupations
• 88 respiratory therapists, clinical perfusionists and cardiopulmonary technologists
• 155 dental hygienists and dental therapists
“In no sector is the labour shortage more prominent than in the health care sector. The recent announcement will facilitate, fast track and streamline permanent residency applications and help improve health workforce recruitment efforts by bringing more qualified health professionals into Canada. In return, it will help patients get the timely quality care they need and deserve. We will also continue working with provinces, territories and stakeholders to address the health workers crisis by improving workforce planning, retention, and the streamlining of foreign credential recognition so that new health professionals arriving in Canada can apply their skills and expertise faster.” – The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Health
• On May 31, 2023, Minister Fraser announced the first-ever launch of category-based selection, a new process to welcome skilled newcomers with work experience in priority jobs as permanent residents.
• The categories were determined following extensive consultations with provincial and territorial partners, stakeholders and the public, as well as a review of labour market needs. A complete list of eligible jobs for the new categories is available on our website.
• Immigration accounts for almost 100% of Canada’s labour force growth, helping to addresses labour shortages in key sectors.
• Under the Canada–Québec Accord, Quebec establishes its own immigration levels. From 2018 to 2022, admissions under the Federal High-Skilled program accounted for between 34% and 40% of overall French-speaking admissions outside Quebec.
Bilimoria & Associate is a leading immigration visa service provider in Chennai and has seamlessly helped thousands of people migrate to different countries. Whether you are looking to build your future in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the USA, the UK, or Portugal, we will guide you and do the needful in fulfilling your dream to live and work in these countries.
Meanwhile, if you have any queries related to immigration, the visa process or the latest updates, you can call our office on +91 44 2823 9229 / +91 44 2822 7127 / +91 444 350 8191 (or) mail us at neville@bilimoriaassociate.com