Canada’s immigration department is resuming draws today for all Express Entry programs — a system used to select so-called economic immigrants — after temporarily shutting down due to the pandemic and the travel restrictions that came with it.
While that would be good news for many stuck in the long backlog of applicants seeking permanent residency, those who spoke to CTVNews.ca say the long pause and wait times have led to uncertainty and suffering in their lives.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has announced that it is resuming Express Entry (EE) draws for qualified applicants starting July 6.
Canadian Experience Class (CEC) withdrawals have been suspended since last September. Meanwhile, the Federal Skilled Workers Program (FSWP) and the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) have been on hiatus since December 2020, more than 18 months ago.
Canada’s Immigration Minister Sean Fraser tweeted: “Newcomers continue to play a critical role in the success of Canada’s economy and we look forward to restarting this important program.”
The decision comes at a time when current immigration to Canada is 2.4 million people and the country is facing a labor shortage.
“I think people have been waiting a long time, so the renewal of these withdrawals is welcome – especially for federal skilled workers and in particular the Canadian skilled class,” Rick Lamanna, a director at Fragomen Canada, an immigration services provider, told CTV News in a Zoom interview.
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Many employers in Canada rely on Express Entry, which was introduced in 2015 and designed to attract highly skilled foreign workers through its programs that lead to permanent residence (PR).
EE programs include: the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP), the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) and part of the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP).
Of all the economic immigration programs, employers rely the most on the Global Talent Stream, FSWP and CEC, according to a recent survey of major employers by the Business Council of Canada.
But with the hiatus of Express Entry programs like FSWP and CEC, many employers have struggled to fill vacancies.
Four out of five survey respondents said they experience labor shortages, and processing delays remain the main barrier for two-thirds of Canadian employers looking to hire newcomers.
A HISTORIC REMY WEEKEND AND A SUDDEN BREAK
Prior to the program hiatus, IRCC invited over 27,000 economic immigrants to apply under the CEC on February 13, 2021, the weekend (Saturday) in its largest draw in the history of the Express Entry system.
Invitations to Apply (ITAs) were issued to those who had a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of up to 75 – the lowest accepted score. The CRS is a points-based system where eligible applicants receive a score based on factors such as age, education level, language skills and work experience.
A few months later, in September 2021, the CEC and FSWP draws were suspended and the PNP would become the primary focus for all future draws, leaving other applicants under the Express Entry programs in limbo.
In an emailed statement sent to CTVNews.ca, IRCC media relations adviser Rémi Larivière said travel restrictions in 2020 and 2021 have slowed the processing of overseas applications, causing the processing inventory to grow .
“To manage this inventory, there was a temporary hiatus in September 2021 in the ITA under the federal highly skilled streams, while I continued to run PNP invitation rounds. This pause was temporary,” Lariviere said.
In Express Entry, one must first be selected and invited, and only then can one apply.
But the hiatus meant that IRCC stopped selecting people from certain programs for a while. So people in Canada were invited through the PNP as those applicants were residing in the country.
Part of the Express Entry system is designed to reduce or pause ITAs to manage growing backlogs, IRCC said. As ITAs are resuming now, the Department expects the processing inventory to be reduced enough to process the new applications within the six-month service standard.
When looking at the backlog, one of the issues is that the longer it takes someone to get a PR, the more applications they have to make to stay in status, Lamana said.
An example is students on the Post Graduate Work Permit Program (PGWP), which is expiring. In order to maintain their current status in Canada, they will need to extend it, not just have their PR applications resolved.
“So it becomes more important that these withdrawals are resumed,” Lamana said. “It’s a good sign that the government has committed to doing that this summer.”
LIVES AFFECTED BY THE UNEXPECTED PAUSE
The hiatus from September 2021 affected those who planned their lives within certain time frames. As of January 8, 2020, PNP accounted for 52 percent of total Express Entry withdrawals and CEC accounted for only 29 percent of total withdrawals.
The temporary hiatus has left many struggling to maintain their legal status in the country, with some losing their jobs and struggling to extend their temporary work permits.
As the draw resumes, some remain uncertain about what it means in terms of securing a future in a country they have grown to love. Others believe that they may not be able to reach the cutoff score, which they rate as very high.
“TRADE SLOWDOWN MADE ME QUIT MY JOB”
Mikita Arlous came to Canada from Belarus in 2019 and graduated from Humber College during the pandemic in 2020. With a one-year PGWP – an open work permit that allows international graduates to work in Canada – his path to PR seemed clear and manageable time.
But today, out of work, Arlus is relying on his savings and has yet to hear back on his application to extend his work permit.
His 90-day interim period expires in mid-July and allows him to restore his status in Canada. If he fails to restore his status within those 90 days, it would mean he cannot reside or work in the country and may have to return to Belarus – a choice he said he does not want to make .
With no job, Arlus also has no access to healthcare. As a cancer survivor, he needs annual checkups, which he can’t do now.
“I’ve been waiting for the work permit extension that was promised by Immigration Minister Sean Fraser two months ago, but there hasn’t been a single update on how or when to apply,” he told CTVNews.ca in a Zoom call.
Mikita Arlows came to Canada in 2019, and after months of waiting, he still hasn’t heard about his work permit extension application. Fraser said the immigration department would extend the work permits of people affected by the CEC, but applications for the extensions were never opened.
It wasn’t until June 24 that Fraser tweeted about PGWP application extensions for those whose work permits have expired or will expire between September 20, 2021 and December 31, 2022.
But for Arlu, these deadlines are tight and news comes late.
“I’m currently in limbo, without a job. I spend days in bed doing nothing and pondering the future,” he said.
“THE LAST EIGHT MONTHS HAVE BEEN HELL”
Like Arlu, Joshua Addis has also put his life on hold since the September break.
He first came to Canada from the UK in February 2020 after securing a 2-year Open Work Permit under International Experience Canada (IEC) – a pathway leading to CEC and eventually PR.
But the sudden suspension of Express Entry derailed Addis’ plans to secure a future in Canada.
“Immigrating to Canada was the most stressful experience I’ve ever had, so much so that I sought professional help,” Addis told CTVNews.ca in a Zoom conversation.
Joshua Addis with his partner Rosie. Addis said he applied for a work permit extension in January this year to maintain his employment status, but it took IRCC five months to deny it.
He said he invested time and effort to obtain a professional license and gained experience, paid taxes and contributed to the local economy and rooted himself in the community and culture.
Addis said he applied for a work permit extension in January this year to maintain his employment status, but it took IRCC five months to deny it.
Now, without a job extension, he is currently unemployed – with no income, insurance or benefits.
With a visitor visa, he is not allowed to work or study on it. While the announcement of resuming Express Entry draws brought some relief, Addis still doubts whether he will meet the CRS cutoff.
“It’s hard to deal with the uncertainty,” Addis said. “It was hard not being able to sleep and not knowing where I was going to be for the next few months.”
But with the uncertainty, he does not rule out other options, such as common law sponsorship.
“I wouldn’t get a PR for another year and I wouldn’t be able to work in Canada while I waited,” he said. “At least with family sponsorship I might be able to get an open work permit in 4-5 months.”
“I really don’t want to leave my partner, my job and my home, but this situation has deprived us of our human rights,” he said.
“THIS WHOLE SITUATION IS DISRESPECTFUL TO US”
Pedro Carvalho came to Canada from Brazil with his wife in 2017. After graduating in 2019, the couple lives and works in Toronto.
“Our life has stopped. We cannot plan for the future. Immigration was just a nightmare,” Carvalho told CTVNews.ca on Zoom.
The couple applied for the Express Entry program and received an ITA on July 22, 2021.
But the application never arrived on time due to technical issues in the online portal.
After multiple failed attempts, filling out web forms and getting no useful help, he canceled his application near…
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