Immigration will be at record levels in Canada as it works to recover from the effects of COVID. As part of its Immigration Levels Plan for 2021-2023, Canada will welcome approximately 400,000 newcomers per year.
About 60% of these newcomers will be skilled workers who will get employment in Canada. Canada’s primary method of processing skilled worker applications is known as Express Entry.
Immigration to Canada through Express Entry is often done through the Federal Skilled Worker Program under normal conditions.
There are just two steps to the Express Entry process. Candidates who qualify for Express Entry must first notify the Canadian government of their desire to become permanent residents of Canada. The Canadian government then extends an invitation to the top-scoring applicants to settle in Canada.
Before the coronavirus epidemic, almost half of all Express Entry immigrants were FSWP candidates. CEC (Canadian Experience Class), PNP (Provincial Nominee Program), and FSTP (Federal Skilled Trades Program) accounted for the other half of Express Entry arrival rates.
However, only CEC and PNP candidates have received invitations to apply through Express Entry so far in 2021. For this reason, most of the applicants are already in Canada, without travel delays from the pandemic. The disruption is less likely to prevent them from completing the permanent residency application.
Therefore, many FSWP applicants are now in the Express Entry pool, waiting for IRCC to send out Invitations to Apply (ITAs).
Although some prospective FSWP applicants may think waiting till such invites are extended again is a good idea, this would be a bad idea in the long run.
A thorough cost-benefit analysis reveals the benefits of entering into the pool right now.
If you join the pool now, your only real risk is that the official language requirement will expire after two years if you do not obtain an ITA. You may have to spend more time and money on the exam again if your luck isn’t good in the next two years.
