Summary of Canadian Immigration Changes and Future Updates to Express Entry (Year End Recap)

Throughout 2022, we have observed another year filled with significant changes across multiple Canadian permanent residency programs, including Express Entry. This article will recap and summarize where the system is today and what we anticipate in 2023.

• New National Occupation Classification (NOC) system

As of November 16, 2022, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and its related programs, such as the Provincial Nominee Program and Temporary Foreign Worker Program with Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), switched to the new (2021) NOC system. All occupations must use the new codes consisting of 5 digits instead of the previous 4 digits. The new system is a 6-category system called TEER (Training, Education, Experience, Responsibilities) comprising of TEER 0 – 5. Occupations falling under TEER 0 – 3 are considered high skilled and foreign nationals with such experience are eligible to enter the Express Entry pool.

• New occupations now eligible to enter Express Entry, while others are no longer eligible

With the switch to the TEER system, there are 16 new occupations that are now considered high skilled for immigration purposes and thus eligible to apply for permanent residency under Express Entry. On the other hand, 3 occupations that were considered high skilled under the previous NOC system are now low/semi-skilled. They no longer qualify under Express Entry. These occupations are: Tailor; Other Performers; and Program Leaders in Recreation, Spots and Fitness.

• Technical glitches

At the time of writing this article and since the implementation of the new NOC system, the Express Entry portal has experienced technical challenges that IRCC has admitted to and are working on. These include but not limited to: applicants receiving points under the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) they are not entitled to; missing points under the CRS they are entitled to; being marked eligible for a program that they were not eligible for; and some profiles becoming ineligible to receive invitations when they should.

In recognizing these technical glitches, IRCC has paused invitations to apply under Express Entry since November 23, 2022. While IRCC has not formally confirmed that the pause in invitations is directly correlated to these glitches, it makes sense that they cease invitations temporarily until the issues are fixed given the system is currently unable to correctly separate those who are eligible from those who are ineligible, and assign correct points accordingly. There are no confirmed dates for the next invitation.

• Targeted-draws for in-demand occupations

Starting in 2023, IRCC will start issuing invitations to apply to specific in-demand occupations. This is a significant change given that since the launch of Express Entry, invitations have been to all occupations.  There is no published list of occupations yet, but IRCC will determine the occupations based on discussions with the provinces, business councils and other stakeholders.

The public will have to wait until 2023 to see how a targeted occupation list will impact the regular invitations to apply for Express Entry.

• Expected increase in number of invitations

IRCC has announced its immigration numbers for the next 3 years (2023-2025). We are looking at a significant increase from their previous plan. Back in 2021, Canada announced target numbers of 431,645 (2022), 447,055 (2023), 451,000 (2024). However, a few months ago, the government updated these targets to 465,000 (2023), 485,000 (2024), 500,000 (2025). This new plan also increases the number of applicants they anticipate to go through Express Entry. We are looking at an increase of around 26,000 from 2022 number to 2023, then an additional 37,000 in 2024, and finally the targeted number of invitations via Express Entry will reach 114,000 in 2025.

Based on these target numbers, we anticipate a more aggressive number of invitations issued through Express Entry in the New Year.