“Should I enter Canada’s Express Entry pool now?”
You may be asking yourself this valid and excellent question. If this is the case, you are not alone.
To support its post-COVID economic recovery, Canada intends to welcome the highest levels of immigration in its history. Canada plans to welcome over 400,000 new immigrants per year under its Immigration Levels Plan 2021-2023.
Almost 60% of these newcomers will come to Canada as skilled workers of which the Express Entry system being the primary method. In most cases, those who successfully immigrate to Canada through Express Entry do so through the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP).
Throughout the year 2021, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) have so far only issued Express Entry invitations to CEC and PNP candidates. The reasoning is that the majority of these candidates are already in Canada, thus they are less likely to face pandemic-related disruptions (e.g., travel delays) that would impede their ability to complete the permanent residence process. As a result, many FSWP candidates are currently awaiting Invitations to Apply (ITA) from IRCC in the Express Entry pool.
Prospective FSWP candidates may believe that it is better to wait for such invitations to resume before entering the pool, but this is a mistake. A careful cost-benefit analysis reveals the benefits of going ahead and joining the pool now.
The only real risk of entering the pool now is that your official language test will expire if you do not receive an ITA within two years of passing it. That is, if fortune does not favour you over the next two years, you may need to spend some extra time and money retaking the language test.
This cost is insignificant in comparison to the far greater benefit of obtaining Canadian permanent residence. Simply put, if you are not in the Express Entry pool, your chances of receiving an ITA for permanent residence are nil. You, on the other hand, have a chance of receiving an ITA simply by entering the pool.
Speak with a New World Immigration consultant today to see if you qualify to be Canada's next best newcomer.