New immigrant selection system helps skilled workers

Refined ranking process improves employment, earnings, review finds

A ranking system that Canada now uses to select skilled immigrants has been a resounding success, resulting in improvements to newcomers’ employment rates and earnings, an internal review has found.

Ninety-five per cent of the principal applicants admitted under the so-called Express Entry process were employed after one year, while 83 per cent of them reported doing so in their primary occupation, the review of the five-year-old program says.

These immigrants also earned 20 per cent more than their “non-Express Entry” peers who were admitted in the old system, with 43 per cent of them employed in occupations usually requiring university education for their first job, compared to just 25 per cent for the latter group.

“They are demonstrating high levels of labour market participation and solid results in terms of their employment income, as well as the type of occupation in which they are employed,” said the 85-page study, which was recently released.

“The EE system was designed to screen high human capital candidates who have the potential to achieve economic success in the Canadian labour market over the longer term. Nevertheless, the early results are encouraging.”

Skilled immigrants have always been assessed and awarded points based on their “human capital attributes” such as age, language proficiency, education and work experience, among other factors that are seen as crucial in terms of their potential to integrate into the Canadian job market.

In 2015, Ottawa began to rank all candidates in the pool and select only the top scorers whose skills were in demand by employers, a deviation from the old system, which admitted all candidates who reached the standard threshold score of 70 points.

The new centralized management system applies to the economic immigration programs for federal skilled workers, including those in skilled trades, as well as for candidates selected for their previous Canadian work experience and whose skills match specific provincial labour market needs.

“Express Entry is a giant fishbowl. Each fish is assigned points. The giant fish scoop pulls out the top scorers. That’s the design,” said Richard Kurland, an immigration policy analyst and lawyer.

“But, Express Entry has another function. It is possible to scoop ‘tailored fish.’ If a provincial government is looking for carpenters, the ‘giant fish scoop’ can be used to pull out carpenters. There is no limit on how fine-tuned the selection can be.”

Based on its own data sets, the immigration department tracked the performances of 200,868 Express Entry immigrants — both the principal applicants, spouses and dependants — who were admitted to Canada between 2015 and 2018. Among them, 57 per cent were principal applicants.

Online surveys were also administered to these applicants and Canadian employers registered in the job bank searching for job candidates.

The report found significant gaps between principal applicants admitted under the new system compared to the old:

95 per cent of them were working a year after their arrival versus just 87 per cent previously;

Their most common first jobs were software engineers and designers (eight per cent) and information systems analysts and consultants (five per cent) versus retail salespersons, transport truck drivers, food counter attendants, kitchen helpers and related occupations;

81 per cent of them reported their current job met or exceeded the expectations they had prior to becoming a permanent resident versus 74 per cent;

They take 1.4 months to secure their first job compared to three months for others; and á Express Entry applicants have an average income of $59,700, compared to $49,400 among their non-Express Entry counterparts.

Immigration policy analyst Kareem El-Assal said the current system allows Canada to pick the best of the best and the results are in line with recent studies by Statistics Canada on economic performances of the more recent immigrants.

Although the immigration department review was conducted in 2019 when Canada’s unemployment rate was below six per cent and before the economy was hit by COVID-19, ElAssal believes immigrants admitted under Express Entry will continue to perform well.

“They will take a hit in the short run, but in the medium to long term, there are more opportunities for these immigrants because of their education, language skills and other human capitals,” he said.

The report recommends officials continue to monitor the economic performances of the Express Entry immigrants and tweak the system, “revalidating and streamlining it” as needed to focus on key predictors of their economic success.

Ninety-five per cent of the principal applicants admitted under the so-called Express Entry process were employed after one year