The federal immigration minister held an express entry draw recently which resulted in 920 ITA’s (or Invitations To Apply) through the provincial nominee program. This draw, held on July 2, required a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 739 points, which is 76 points higher than the preceding PNP draw on June 19, 2024. The previous draw required a minimum CRS score of 663 points and issued 1,499 ITAs.
As a review of past draws this year, please note the following have taken place:
- Nine all-program draws
- Four draws targeting French speakers
- One draw targeting transport sector jobs
- One draw focusing on agriculture and agri-food occupations
- One draw for healthcare occupations
- One draw targeting STEM occupations
- Three PNP draws
- One draw for the Canadian Experience Class (CEC)
IRCCissued 110,266 ITAs in 2023, after inviting 45,115 candidates in the whole of 2022. Canada had a record immigration target of 465,000 for 2023, which it plans to surpass by setting the target of 485,000 permanent residency invites in 2024.
Alberta provincial nominee program will be launching a new pathway for interested immigrants who are police officers. The interested applicants must have must have a job offer from an Alberta Association of Chiefs of Police member and meet all other Express Entry criteria.
The spousal sponsorship program has seen an increase in recent years. Based on the current rate of spousal sponsorship immigration, Canada could see 68,400 new permanent residents through this program by the end of this year, about 9.1 per cent fewer than the 75,260 spouses and common-law partners who became permanent residents through it last year.
The Globe and Mail has reported recently that there has been a growing need for more lodging space due to the influx of asylum seekers to Canada. It is suggested that the government may have to buy hotels in order to house the asylum seekers. This would certainly be a first for Canada to do something like this. The expense to undertake that will cost the tax payer a lot of money. One has to wonder if doing this is to gather votes for the liberals prior to the next federal election. The liberal party has historically been viewed as the political party that favours immigration. Considering the issues of criminality and protection of the public, the government may wish to implement stricter measures of security clearances prior to opening the doors too wide for newcomers.
It is worth noting that an application for an eTA is no longer something to overlook in the grand scheme of things. An eTA or electronic travel application is a document that all persons arriving from outside of Canada, except US citizens, must complete before boarding an airplane bound for Canada. The cost is about $7.00cad The application is completed by visiting the IRCC web site at www.cic.gc.ca/ The application asks for personal data as well as your intentions and work history and other related informaiton so that IRCC can assess risk of the person breaching conditions for their future stay in Canada as well as what their plans are after arrival. The government did change rules recently stating that a person does not need another visa stamp in their passport if they had a visa recently in the last couple of years. Only that they need to apply for a new eTA. The necessary step to complete a new eTA is actually very significant as it catches people who maybe worked without authorization in Canada before or who overstayed by several weeks or months. It is very wise for all applicants to think twice before completing their application and ensuring they comply with all questions asked.
David H. Davis is the founder and owner of Davis Immigration Law Office. He and his team can be reached by email at: david@daviddavislaw.com on the web at www.daviddavislaw.com or by phone at 204-956-2336 extension 208. David has over 34 years of legal experience in Canadian immigration legal matters.