The first full picture of the Express Entry system implemented by Immigration Canada shows that only one in 10 applicants succeed.
More than 112,700 people applied for permanent residency in Canada under the highly touted new system Ottawa introduced in January 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, reported the Toronto Star.
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, reported the Toronto Star. The top five source countries included India, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, Ireland and China.
Express Entry Slows Down Access To Canada
“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, according to The Star,
“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?”
Here are some of the highlights of the Immigration Canada report on its new Express Entry System:
- CIC received profiles from 112,701 potential candidates between January 1 and July 6, 2015.
- A total of 48,723 were not eligible for the pool as they did not meet the minimum criteria for permanent residence based on the Federal Skilled Worker, Canadian Experience Class, Federal Skilled Trades or Provincial Nominee Program.
- Out of the 12,928 invitations issued for the period covered by the report, 70% had qualifying scores over 600 points – meaning those candidates had qualifying job offers supported by a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), Labour Market Opinion (LMO) or Provincial Nomination Program (PNP) Certificate.
- The vast majority of candidates (85%) invited to apply through Express Entry were already in Canada.
- Despite issuing 12,928 invitations, only 7,528 completed applications have been received. Of these completed applications, only 844 permanent resident visas have been issued, and fewer than half of these, 411, have landed in Canada as Permanent Residents.
- There were 41,218 candidates in the Express Entry pool as of July 6, 2015.
excerpt from Asian Pacific News
