One in 10 succeed in ‘express entry’ system
Only 411 people arrived in Canada since January launch of immigration program
More than 112,700 people applied for permanent residency in Canada under a highly touted new system Ottawa introduced in January — but only one in 10 succeeded in getting an actual invitation to come.
Despite a promise that Express Entry would allow expeditious processing within six months, only 844 permanent resident visas were issued, including both the principal applicant and family members, and 411 people had arrived in Canada as of July 6, according to the program’s six-month review.
More than 85 per cent of the 12,017 candidates selected from the pool were already in Canada on temporary permits at the time of the application. The top five source countries included India, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, Ireland as well as China.
“It is remarkable that only 844 visas have been issued for a program which has invited over 12,000 people to apply. Within the 844, only 411 have actually used their visas and been admitted to Canada as permanent residents,” said Toronto immigration lawyer Shoshana Green.
“Is 844 visas considered a successful program? With over 85 per cent of the invitations being made for applicants currently residing in Canada, is the world really interested in Canada anymore?”
Under Ottawa’s two-step skilled immigrant selection system, all applicants are screened to enter the pool and then ranked against each other to be invited to apply for permanent residency.
The new system allows employers to be matched with qualified candidates in the pool through the federal government’s job bank and bring in the selected individuals with an approved Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) — a certification to prove that the position can’t be filled by a Canadian. An applicant may earn a maximum of 1,200 points. An LMIA automatically earns applicants 600 points. The other 600 points are awarded for personal attributes such as education, language skills and work experience.
“Only the highest ranking candidates are invited to complete an application for permanent residence,” said the report, adding that Express Entry “increases the labour market responsiveness of the immigration system.”
In the first six months of the program, 11 rounds of invitations were held, with the cutoff scores ranging from a low of 453 to a high of 886. Some 70 per cent of people receiving an invitation had a score above 600 points, meaning the majority would be coming with an approved job offer.
Critics have argued that meeting the selection cutoff score and being invited does not necessarily mean the best candidates are chosen, as the new system favours those who have obtained the LMIA.
For instance, someone with a total score of 649 can actually be a weaker candidate than someone with 599 points who earned the score strictly from his or her personal attributes — rather than with the boost of 600 bonus points that comes from an approved job opportunity.
According to Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s six-month review, 112,701 candidate profiles were created as of July 6. Some 48,723 were deemed ineligible and 6,441 were withdrawn.
Among the 41,218 active candidates remaining in the pool, more than half, or 27,000 people, had a score between 300 and 399. Only 355 had a score over 600; 51 had a score above 1,000.