The Canadian Immigration Office has issued a new internal memorandum indicating that the selection process for Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) and Canadian Experience Class (CEC) will resume later in 2022.
The main points from the memorandum are as follows:
The selection process for the Canadian Express Entry will resume later in 2022.
Currently, Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) selections are proceeding as usual.
The suspension of selections is to allow the immigration office to address the current backlog of applications.
The immigration office will submit a plan regarding Express Entry selections in March to determine which aspects align with the 2022-2024 Immigration Levels Plan and processing time targets.
The immigration office acknowledges that applicants in the Express Entry pool, including those whose work permits are expiring soon, will continue to face uncertainty regarding selections in the short term.
The backlog in Express Entry processing has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and Canada's 2021 immigration targets, resulting in an average processing time of over 6 months. The immigration office needs to reduce the backlog by more than half to return to the standard of completing processing within 6 months.
The Express Entry system is a primary way for Canada to admit economic class immigrants. Prior to the pandemic, the Canadian Immigration Office typically conducted Express Entry selections every two weeks, inviting candidates with the highest scores to apply for Canadian permanent residency.
Most of the Express Entry allocations go to Federal Skilled Workers and Canadian Experience Class applicants, with only about 1% of allocations going to Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) applicants.
