With the new change, a Canadian with a Canadian legal parent at birth would be entitled to citizenship.

1. No sponsorship is necessary
2. The child is a citizen no matter where they or their parents are living
3. The child does not require a sponsoring parent, so the parent’s situation cannot affect the child’s status
4. The entitlement to citizenship is life long, a child must be sponsored as a dependant, but a citizen can claim their citizenship as an adult – even if they never have before
5. The child is a citizen, there is no period of permanent residency involved and no second application.

Who will be most affected by this change?

This change will be most significant for people who are considered to be the parents of their children at the time the child is born, but who are not biologically related to them.

This change will not affect adoptive parents since children are adopted after they are born, and it will not affect biological parents since they were already considered parents under the Citizenship Act.

The most common circumstances in which a non-biological parent would be legally a parent when the child is born is in situations of surrogacy, or other assisted reproductive techniques.

1. Same-sex parents and their children will benefit from this change since only one (at most) of the two parents can be biologically related to the child. Under the new policy, both of the parents will be considered parents for the purpose of determining the child’s citizenship.
2. Couples who have used a surrogate or other form of assisted reproduction in which one or both of the parents are not biologically related to the child will also benefit, as they will now be considered a parent for the purpose of determining the child’s citizenship.

The QIIP is the exception to this:

1. The investment is made into a fund operated by the Quebec government;
2. The applicant is not expected to do anything besides providing those funds;
3. The investment amounts required under this program are substantial in comparison with other Canadian programs.
4. The investor must have a legitimately acquired net-worth of at least $2 million Canadian;
5. The investor must invest $1.2 million; and
6. The actual investment is often accomplished through a financing arrangement.

The net result is a 5-year interest-free loan for the province of Quebec, and the investor ultimately paying only the cost of borrowing.

The program has always been a controversial one. There was previously a federal investment pathway that closed in 2014, largely because of the controversy. The program has been criticized as:

1. ‘Buying status in Canada’; and
2. As financially benefiting the province of Quebec, despite the fact that immigrants under this program will frequently relocate to Ontario or B.C.

The first, and most confusing change that has occurred is the change from ‘general; draws to program-specific draws. There is three official, and one unofficial Express Entry stream, the official streams are Federal Skilled Worker, Canadian Experience Class, and Federal Skilled Trades. Federal Skilled Trades is a smaller program that has historically had a specific draw for applicants twice a year. The two largest and most important streams are a skilled workers and Canadian experience. The eligibility requirements for these streams are different, but eligible candidates are scored using the CRS system and have been treated interchangeably in draws – there has not been a separate quota for each stream. The unofficial pathway is the Provincial nomination process. Applicants have to meet the minimum qualifications for one of the official streams, but once they do, if they apply and are selected by a province, they receive a substantial number of points in the scoring system. Historically provincially nominated candidates have also been treated interchangeably with the two major streams – they have no separate quota. That being said, the provincial nomination confers so many additional points that it is essentially a guarantee of being chosen.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the immigration authorities have stopped conducting ‘general’ draws, instead, when draws are held they are specific to one of the official or unofficial pathways. The total number of invitations that are issued however has not decreased. Before the outbreak, a general draw was typically held every two weeks, and often 3,900 invitations would be issued. Since the outbreak, there are still about 3,900 invitations being issued every two weeks, through a combination of single pathway draws.

This is not a situation, however, where fewer people are applying because of the pandemic, and the same number of an invitation being issued are driving the score down, it’s more complicated than that. Before the pandemic, the ‘general’ draws that were held were open to applicants in every stream. Since the pandemic though immigration officials have been holding program-specific draws, and they have not held a draw for one of the two major streams, the Foreign Skilled Worker stream. There have similarly been no opportunities for Foreign Skilled Trades. There are only two pathways that have received invitations since the outbreak, the Canadian Experience Class, and the provincial nominees.

With this understanding, it becomes more clear what the score threshold is declining, and how different groups of applicants are affected differently by the situation. Let’s look at them in turn.

Foreign Skilled Trades:

Applicants in this category are on hold. This is a low volume pathway under normal circumstances. Applicants have been eligible for ‘general’ draw, and that benefitted from twice-yearly program-specific draws. ‘General’ draws are no longer taking place, and the next program-specific draw is now overdue.

Provincial Nominees:

Applicants who have obtained provincial nomination have always been virtually assured of selection. This is still the case; officials are now conducting program-specific draws for these applicants. With the 600 points awarded to applicants just on the basis of provincial nomination these applicants are still virtually assured of selection and are still regularly receiving invitations.

Federal Skilled Worker:

This is a major category, and it is the category likely to experience the greatest negative consequences from the new selection practices. Applicants in this category were previously selected in ‘general’ draws. These draws have now stopped, and officials have not yet conducted a program-specific draw for this stream. The result is that no applicants in this stream are currently being selected. This also means that applicant profiles will remain in the pool, and new profiles are constantly being added. When selection in this category does resume there will likely be a substantial number of high scoring candidates in the pool, and the points required for selection are likely to be high.

Canadian Experience Class:

This class of applicants are currently at an advantage, but there is no way to determine how long this will last. This class is currently being heavily selected from program-specific draws. Applicants from this class are now filling both their own numbers and those that would previously have been chosen from the skilled worker class. This has resulted in a lower point cut off, and because this is occurring in program-specific draws, the lower cut off only benefits Canadian Experience Class applicants. These applicants will have an easier time being selected until the Foreign Skilled Worker Class returns – once this occurs however the backlog of high -scoring applicants in that class will likely drive up the point threshold for Canadian Experience Class applicants as well. Canadian Experience Class applicants are at an advantage now, but this is likely a temporary situation.

Summary:

The COVID-19 outbreak has changed the Canadian express entry system. Provincial nominees have seen the least change, they are still virtually assured of selection.   Applicants in the skilled worker and skilled trades classes are now excluded from the system – likely because immigration officials are looking to minimize applicants from outside of Canada. Canadian Experience Class applicants are now at an advantage, more of these candidates are being chosen, and the points threshold is coming down. If and when normal conditions return the point total will likely come back up sharply, as there will be a backlog of high scoring applicants in classes that are currently not being selected from.

Process analysis:

One real benefit of this program is a simple application procedure. It is a one step application, an applicant who meets the requirements can apply directly for PR, they do not have to be selected from a pool of applicants, nor do they undergo a multi-stage application procedure. During the processing of the application, the applicant will receive instructions to provide biometrics and to undergo a medical exam. The authorities have not yet published estimated processing time for this application pathway, as it is brand new.

The program does not, however, offer an independent pathway through which prospective applicants can find a job with an available LMIA, in order to gain the required work experience. Employers will need to obtain LMIAs in the usual way, and prospective applicants will need to find those employers, obtain a work permit, and accumulate experience as a temporary foreign worker before they can apply to this program

A brief comparison with the caregiver program:

This program could be compared with the caregiver pilots – really the only other industry-specific federal permanent residence program. Besides the fact that they are in different industries, there is one key difference between the programs, under the caregiver programs applicants can apply after they have a job offer, but before they get their work experience. Their potential employer is able to employ them without obtaining an LMIA and they are issued a work permit under the caregiver program. After working for two years on this occupation-specific work permit, they can apply for permanent residence using a similar process to the Agri-Food pilot. The difference is the Agri-Food pilot does not include a mechanism to bring workers to Canada to get the experience they need – they must do that independently using the existing temporary foreign worker system.