Express Entry is the first step to immigrate to Canada, a selection system for Canadian immigration that was launched in January 2015, designed to select skilled workers for immigration to Canada. It is a completely electronic process involving the Federal Government, Provincial and Territorial Governments ,and Canadian employers. An immigration program to help those who are eligible through a more expedient immigration process towards Canadian permanent residence.
A Canadian Immigration Program that allows immigrants to live and work in Canada as skilled workers through Express Entry. The system allows Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to pro-actively assess and select immigrants who are skilled and/or possessed the relevant qualifications under federal economic immigration programs:
The program involves many improvements to Canadian immigration, including quicker processing times, greater accessibility to applicants from a wider variety of different fields, and a greater focus on the quality of applications.
The Express Entry program also allows individual provinces and territories to use the system in order to recruit suitable candidates as part of the Provincial Nominee Programs so that labour market demands are met.
The following programs are processed by Express Entry:
- Federal Skilled Workers Program
- Federal Skilled Trades Class
- Canadian Experience Class
- Provincial Nominee Programs
Not all Provincial Nominee Programs are processed by Express Entry. The detailed information may be obtained from the respective websites of these programs
Who Can Apply
Under the new Express Entry program, anyone will be able to apply. Instead of needing to have experience in an occupation on a list of eligible occupations as with many other immigration programs, Express Entry will have no occupation list and applicants can present their impressive credentials regardless of occupation or profession they are in.
How does the System work
After an application is received it will be entered into a pool or database of candidates for review or selection by an interested “selector.” The Express Entry Process can be divided into five steps:
- First, all potential candidates will create an Express Entry profile using an online platform that identifies their skills and qualifications, taking the form of an online resume. All Express Entry profiles will be ranked against the other applicants in the system based on a variety of factors, including their language proficiency in English and/or French, education, Canadian work experience (if applicable), and other factors that indicate the candidate will be successful in Canada.
- After each profile in the system has been assessed, the candidates who meet the criteria of a Federal Economic Programs namely Federal Skilled Workers Program (FSWP) , Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) and the Canadian Experience Class (CEC), will be placed in the pool of candidates for Express Entry.
- The successful candidate will then apply for permanent residence under the Federal Skilled Workers program (FSWP), the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FST), the Canadian Experience Class (CEC), or through a Provincial Nomination Program (PNP). After being offered an invitation to apply applicants will still be required to meet the criteria of the program. The entire process of applying for permanent residence will be online.
Focus On Quality, Not on Timing
Under the Express Entry system, an unlimited number of applicants can apply and quality, this system plays a significantly more important role than the previous minimum requirement, first come first served. Also, applications are selected as demand arises. This means that the first application submitted will not always have an advantage over a better application that is submitted months later. Under Express Entry System, the employers and provinces will be able to choose the best doctors, IT managers, etc. without penalizing them for not being amongst the first files submitted, in other words the Express Entry program will select the candidates who are most likely to succeed economically in Canada, rather than passively process all applicants in a queue
