Analyzing IRCC’s snapshot of the Express Entry pool indicates that the majority of applicants are qualified to apply for FSWP. CEC candidates are also growing due to the pause in draws.
The amount of Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) and Canadian Experience Class (CEC) applicants who are in the Express Entry pool has increased due to the absence of draws aimed at these applicants.
Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) offered the immigration professional the following breakdown of the candidates in an Express Entry draw on the 4th of January. The figures are from the day before the initial Express Entry draw of the year, when IRCC called provincial Nominee program (PNP) applicants only.
Of the nearly 194,000 applicants More than 154,000 of them were FSWP candidates. Approximately 38,000 of them were CEC candidates, and 577 were Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) candidates, and the remaining 344 PNP candidates were invited to apply for permanent residency the next day.
The number of candidates who are in the Express Entry Pool as of January 4, 2022 by Immigration Category (in Persons)
| Immigration Category | Number of Candidates |
|---|---|
| Canadian Experience Class Candidates | 38,223 |
| Provincial/Territorial Nominee Candidates | 344 |
| Federal Skilled Worker Program Candidates | 154,421 |
| Federal Skilled Trades Program Candidates | 577 |
| Grand Total | 193,565 |
IRCC has not requested FSWP applicants to submit applications for permanent residency following the last all-program draw held in December 2020. In the end, around 80percent of Express Entry candidates in the pool are eligible to apply for the FSWP. In the year 2019, FSWP candidates received about 45 percent of all invitations. After the pandemic struck in March 2020 Canada limited invitations to CEC and PNP applicants for couple of months and then resumed all-program draw during the summer.
In 2021, Canada was only inviting CEC and PNP Candidates. The reason why Canada invited large amounts of CEC candidates was that it was the government’s policy to admit newcomers. made a promise to allow 401,000 newcomers to the country this in the previous year and this strategy is to concentrate on candidates already living within Canada. The majority of CEC candidates are from Canada. In the beginning of the one-half of 2018, the travel restrictions in Canada prohibited non-exempt permanent residents who were granted approval from outside Canada following March 2020 were not allowed to enter the country. The more people they invite outside of Canada, the more they’d remain in immigration limbo and unable to finish the process of landing and be able to become permanent residents.
Even after the restrictions were lifted, PNP and CEC draw continued. In September, IRCC did not hold draws for CEC applicants, and instead, only invite PNP applicants every 2 weeks. An internal memo from that same month indicates that IRCC put off CEC draws to aid in reducing the backlog of applications and improve Express Entry processing back down to six months. In 2020 the processing average was nine months or more.
In the wake of the interruption during CEC draw, the pool of CEC-qualified candidates has increased to almost 20 percent from the total pool.
Compare that with June, where CEC candidates comprised 6percent in the draw. In the year before, IRCC had been holding CEC and PNP draws regularly. In fact, during that month, they were drawing more than 6,000 CEC candidates at once. This would have been an all-time record but for the draw on February 13, that saw IRCC eliminated their pool CEC candidates.
The number of candidates who are in the Express Entry Pool as of June 29, 2021, by immigration Category (in the number of persons)
| Immigration Category | Number of Candidates |
| Canadian Experience Class Candidates | 10,529 |
| Provincial/Territorial Nominee Program Candidates | 366 |
| Federal Skilled Worker Program Candidates | 153,062 |
| Federal Skilled Trades Candidates | 644 |
| Grand Total | 164,601 |
In just six years, there has been a pool that increased to include candidates for both CEC and FSWP Candidates. The lower number of FSTP applicants could result from a range of reasons. IRCC offers a hierarchy of inviting applicants who qualify to apply for multiple programs. The order of invitation is CEC, FSWP, and after that FSTP. Therefore, if you’re qualified to apply for CEC and FSTP, IRCC will ask you to apply for the position of an CEC Candidate, to take an instance. FSTP candidates may also have been granted the provincial nomination and transferred into in the PNP class.
Furthermore, Express Entry profiles are valid for a year in the pool. If applicants haven’t been invited during that time, they are not considered within the pool. Candidates who’s Express Entry profiles have expired may resubmit to attempt again. Since it was anything but a FSTP draw or FSWP attract 2021 certain competitors who presented their profiles in 2020 might have seen that their records lapse.
PNP applicants are generally assured of being eligible to apply since they are awarded 600 points to nominate. IRCC has conducted PNP-specific draws throughout the entire pandemic, even though those who are eligible for the draw may not be from Canada. The PNP is created by provinces and territories to help them achieve their immigration goals, however the federal government has the final decision on the eligibility criteria for becoming permanent residents. This is why the provinces and territories must ask the federal government’s help to select PNP candidates to attain the regional economy and target for growth in population.
What can we expect to see in 2022 ?
We expect Canada to expand its immigration and targets. In the prior Immigration Levels Plan, Canada was expected to accept 411,000 new immigrants by 2022. The Immigration Minister Sean Fraser has to announce the new goals by the 10th of February.
When he announced his announcement that it was likely that Atlantic Immigration Pilot would become permanent in 2022 Fraser declared that Canada would be able to accept the majority of immigrants both Canada and overseas.
