Just before the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic, the Canadian government had announced its immigration plans for 2020-2022. It had announced that it will invite 341,000 immigrants in 2020, an additional 351,000 in 2021, and welcome another 361,000 immigrants in 2022. This incremental increase in immigration was to ensure that the country had one million immigrants by 2022.
Immediately after the announcement, the spread of COVID-19 in all countries of the world including Canada forced it to impose travel restrictions which had an impact on the Express Entry draws.
The draws which were usually held every two weeks, were affected due to travel restrictions. Till date Canada has held six draws including two draws and four Express Entry draws within one week.
Focus on Canadian Experience class (CEC):
An interesting aspect of these draws were the focus on immigration candidates who had provincial nominations and were eligible under the Canadian Experience class or the CEC.
According to IRCC these draws were held to help immigration candidates already in Canada to get a permanent resident visa.
In fact, the CEC specific draws issued 10,308 invitations to apply (ITAs) in three draws with the most recent one being the largest CEC specific draw after travel restrictions were introduced.
The focus on CEC candidates makes sense because these immigration candidates are already in Canada and will be less affected by the disruptions and restrictions due to COVID-19 than the Express Entry candidates living in other countries at present.
Apart from this issuing ITAs to immigration candidates inside the country will help the IRCC meet its immigration level targets to a certain extent.
Importance of CEC:
The CEC has grown in importance ever since its launch in 2008. The CEC was designed to help international students and temporary foreign workers gain a PR visa.
Since the introduction of the CEC, provinces have increased the number of streams dedicated to students and temporary foreign workers. The newer immigration services of IRCC such as the Atlantic Immigration Pilot and the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot have separate streams for those with Canadian experience.
Canadian work experience also gives more points for the CRS rankings.
The reason Canadian experience in federal and provincial immigration programs has become so relevant is that Canadian government research indicates that such experience is a good predictor that an immigration candidate can easily integrate into the Canadian labor market and perform well in the long term.
For a variety of reasons Canadian work experience is the key. It helps migrant applicants develop their language skills, which is a major component of the Comprehensive Ranking System. Additionally, applicants who obtain Canadian work experience or education can show Canadian employers that they have the expertise and knowledge that employers are searching for.
Even though Canadian work experience may not be superior to the work experience or education gained outside Canada, employers in Canada would prefer to hire someone with local experience.
Immigrants without Canadian work experience not to worry:
Immigration candidates without Canadian work experience need not worry about losing out to those with Canadian work experience. Research by the Canadian government proves that these candidates have as much ability to integrate with the Canadian labor market just like those with local experience. There are no grounds for their application to be rejected.