In January 2015, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) launched a new electronic system called Express Entry to manage applications for permanent residence under certain economic immigration programs. Express Entry system will be the first step to immigrate to Canada under these programs. Potential candidates will be able to complete an Express Entry profile. Note that there will be no deadline
to complete a profile and there will be no caps on the number of candidates that will be accepted to the pool. Anyone who is accepted into the Express Entry pool could get an Invitation to Apply for permanent residence. Draws to invite candidates to apply are expected to take place at regular intervals over the course of each year. If you have been invited to apply, you will have 60 days to submit a complete Application for Permanent Residence online. Potential candidates will complete an online Express Entry profile. This is a secure form that they will use to provide information about their:
skills,
work experience
language ability
education and
other details that will help to assess
Anyone who does not already have a job offer supported by a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) (if you need one), or a nomination from a province or territory, must register with Employment and Social Development Canada’s (ESDC) Job Bank. Job Bank will help connect Express Entry candidates with eligible employers in Canada.Candidates are also encouraged to promote themselves to employers in other ways, such as using job boards, recruiters etc. In most cases when there is a job being offered to a candidate, employers will need an LMIA from ESDC. The LMIA process ensures employers have made an effort to hire Canadians for available jobs. There will be no LMIA fee for permanent resident applications. Candidates will be ranked against others in the pool using a point-based system called the Comprehensive Ranking System. Candidates with the highest scores in the pool will be issued an Invitation to Apply. Candidates will be awarded points for:
a job offer, and/or
a nomination from a province or territory, and/or
skills and experience factors
A candidate can get additional points for:
a job offer supported by a Labour Market Impact Assessment, or
a nomination by a province or territory
These additional points will make a candidate rank high enough to be invited to apply at the next eligible draw of candidates. If someone is invited to apply, they will have 60 days to submit an online application for permanent residence.Citizenship and Immigration Canada will process the majority of complete applications (meaning those with all the necessary supporting documents) in six months or less. Candidates can stay in the pool for up to 12 months. If they do not get an Invitation to Apply for permanent residence within 12 months of submitting an Express Entry profile, they may submit a new profile. If they still meet the criteria, they can re-enter the pool. This will prevent backlogs and ensure quick processing times.