Last week the Government of Canada released its 2021 – 2023 immigration levels plan. This is an important document that the government releases that describe its immigration targets for the next three years, both in terms of overall immigration numbers, and how many immigrants will be accepted through each of Canada’s immigration programs.

The new levels plan reconfirms Canada’s commitment to encouraging immigration. Canada’s previous levels plan indicated immigration levels increasing slightly each year, and in general remaining in the low 300 thousands per year. The recently announced levels plan anticipates total immigration levels over 400 thousand for each of 2021, 2022 and 2023. The government expects that approximately half those immigrating to Canada will do so under an economic program (including Express Entry and the Provincial Nominee Programs) the remainder will arrive as refugees, or as members of the family class.

Today the OINP announced it’s intention to enact regulatory amendments that will alter the application procedure to the Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker Stream, the Employer Job Offer: International Student Stream, the Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Skills Stream, the Master’s Graduate Stream, and the PhD Graduate Stream. The proposed change will introduce an Expression of Interest (EOI) system to these streams. Under the current system applicants apply on a first-come first-served basis to these streams. These programs are now so popular however that it is often very difficult for even well qualified applicants to get a slot to apply. In addition, because it is first-come, first-served a marginally qualified applicant who registers quickly, will be able to apply when a much better qualified, but slower to act applicant will be shut out.

Under the new proposal the OINP will establish a points system, and applicants will register and receive a score based on their qualifications and characteristics. The OINP would then be able to select the highest scoring applicants from all those who have registered and invite them to submit an application. The OINP has not yet released details of the scoring system it will use. This proposal represents a major change to the way the OINP works. The job-offer streams in particular were among the most attractive in Canada for less qualified applicants, since those streams did not compare applicants against each other at any point. This change, if enacted, will bring these streams more into line with programs offered by other provinces, and will change the competition for spaces from a test of speed, to a test of qualification.

As many people are aware there are currently a variety of restrictions in place t the Canadian border, limiting who may enter the country. Restrictions are in place for all types of travelers, how are international students restricted?

Which international students can currently travel to Canada:

Generally, there are now three categories of international students eligible to enter Canada:

• A student holding a valid study permit
• Students with a student visa issued prior to March 18, 2020
• Students from the U.S. with a student visa issued at any time

It is important to remember that there is a difference between a study permit and a student visa. A student is issued a study permit when they first travel to Canada to begin studying. A student holding a valid study permit is one who will likely already have been in Canada studying before the COVID-19 outbreak. Students who have been approved for study in Canada will be holders of a visa but not a permit. For these students either the visa must have been issued prior to March 18, 2020, or they must be from the U.S.

Which international students cannot currently travel to Canada:

Students who do not meet one of the criteria above will not be able to travel to Canada at this time. In addition, there are two more requirements for students traveling to Canada:

• Students must be able to complete a 14-day quarantine upon arrival
• Travel to Canada must be non-optional for the travelling student

A quarantine period is mandatory for all persons entering Canada at this time, and officers at the border will expect the traveler to have a plan for completing this quarantine – where they will stay, how they will meet their needs without exposing others, etc. If an officer determines that the traveler is not willing to quarantine or does not have the ability or resources to quarantine themselves they will not be permitted to enter Canada.

Even for those meeting the criteria for travel to Canada the travel must be non-discretionary. For a student, that means that they must need to be in Canada to continue their studies. If a student’s educational institution is not offering classes or is providing an option to continue classes online then the student would not need to be in Canada to study, and would not be permitted entry.

Today IRCC announced a change to its interpretation of the work ‘Parent’ as it is used in the Citizenship Act. The Citizenship Act provides that a person is entitled to Canadian citizenship, no matter where in the world they were born if they have a Canadian parent.

What does it mean to have a Canadian parent?

1. In the past IRCC understood a Canadian parent to be a biological parent of the child.
2. In other words, if one of the child’s biological parents was a Canadian citizen the child would be entitled to Canadian citizenship.
3. This entitlement would exist no matter where in the world the child was born and would exist for the child whether they ever actually claimed that citizenship or not.

What was the change?

1. IRCC will now interpret having a Canadian parent as having a legal parent at birth who is a Canadian citizen – even if the legal parent at birth is not biologically related to the child.
2. This means that Canadian legal parents will no longer need to sponsor children in this situation for Canadian Permanent Residence.

What is the difference between sponsoring your child, and the new rule?

Under the old system, non-biological parents would have needed to sponsor their child, rather than have them considered a citizen from birth.

1. Sponsorship is a lengthier process – the child may have to wait longer for status.
2. The sponsor must be present in Canada – if they are living outside of the country sponsorship would not be possible
3. A sponsor might be disqualified for some other reason (not having anything to do with the child)
4. Sponsorship results in the child obtaining permanent residency – they would need to apply for citizenship later

On June 3^rd, 2020 Ontario conducted a draw in its express entry linked Human Capital Priorities stream. In keeping with past practice, it has invited candidates with experience in certain occupations only. Unusually for the OINP they have issued invitations to two different groups of applicants in this draw – those with 1 year or more of Canadian work experience, and those with one year or more of foreign work experience.

Of interest are the different CRS score ranges for these two groups. 167 workers with experience in Canada were invited, and the lowest invited score was 358 – this is a very low score for success in the express entry system. 532 workers with only foreign experience were invited and the lowest invited score was 471 – this is a very high score to achieve.

These results clearly indicate the change in the Federal express entry pool since the outbreak of COVID-19. The Federal government has ceased conducting draws for those without Canadian experience or provincial nomination and has been making up its invitation target by accepting more – and therefore lower-scoring – candidates with Canadian experience. As a result, the CRS score required for those with Canadian experience is very low, and we can see that in the Ontario draw here. By contrast, the pool of high-scoring applicants without Canadian experience just keeps growing, since none of these candidates are being selected in federal draws – and even in a provincial nominee program draw like this one a very high score is needed for selection.

Here’s how it has been affecting EE process and more…

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused tremendous disruption in societies worldwide, and Canada is no exception. In the area of Canadian immigration, measures have been taken to deal with COVID-19, and this has caused real uncertainty for applicants and practitioners.

One area that may appear to have been less seriously affected by the pandemic, is the express entry system. In this category, immigration officials continue to hold draws and continue to process applications, so it might seem that not very much has changed. Is this still what we see when we take a more detailed look at the numbers?

Throughout 2019 and the early part of 2020 the express entry system was both stable and predictable. General draws were held regularly, and the points threshold required for selection stayed fairly stable, in the 460s – 470s. In spite of the predictability of these results they were not fully satisfying, because the points requirement was quite high – 460 CRS points is a difficult bar for many applicants to clear.

With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic this period of stability has ended. Draws are still being held regularly, but their structure has changed. More importantly, at least at first glance, the points requirement has started to go down.   Does this mean that fewer people are creating profiles in the system? Does this mean that this is the time for applicants who couldn’t qualify before to seize an opportunity? It’s not that simple, but to understand exactly what is happening requires a more detailed look at the structure of the draws and the numbers.