“This game-changing new process will help tackle labor shortage& boost our economy” says the Canada’s Immigration Minister, Sean Fraser while announcing the launch of category-based selection draws for Express Entry candidates.

Recently immigration refugees and citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced new selection categories for express entry candidates who will focus on candidates who have strong French language proficiency or work experience in the following fields:

• Healthcare
• Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (stem) professions
• Trades, such as carpenters, plumbers and contractors
• Transport
• Agriculture and Agri-food

When will category-based rounds of invitations start

This summer, category-based drawings are anticipated to start. In the coming weeks, further details should become accessible.

How can i apply with new change in Express Entry?

Express entry was introduced in Jan 2015 with aim of managing the Canadian Immigration applications for certain economic programs. Starting from finding your eligibility, express entry streams are helping a lot of people to make Canada their forever home. 

Applying to Express Entry is a two-step procedure. These procedures use the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) to assign a score to candidates. The candidates with the highest overall CRS score were the most likely to receive an invitation to apply for permanent residence.

First, you need to submit your profile with required documents usually consisting of your work experience, language ability, occupation, education and more.

Afterwards, you can submit your whole application with required supporting documents for the IRCC to review after being invited to apply for Canadian permanent residency.

We, at Vashist Immigration, have all the experience and expertise to ensure that you fulfill all the requirements, and you get selected for an express entry.

B.C. invited 74 tech workers to apply for a provincial nomination on September 21. B.C. has now issued over 8,661 invitations to apply for a provincial nomination since the start of 2021. The BC PNP Tech is a stream under the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP), through which the invitations were issued. Candidates invited through B.C’s Tech draws have to meet certain criteria of one of British Columbia’s Express Entry BC and Skills immigration categories, which are managed by the Skills and Immigration Registration System (SIRS).

Candidates who received invitations in this draw were from the Skilled Worker and International Graduate subcategories and needed a minimum provincial score of 80. Invited candidates now have 30 calendar days to apply for the nomination. In 2021 so far, British Columbia has issued over 8,661 invitations to apply for provincial nomination. To know more about the PNP draw and other immigration pathways contact us at Vashist Immigration, our licensed consultants will help you with the procedures.

BC PNP Tech program

The BC PNP Tech was launched in May 2017 as a pilot project following a labor market study that found the biggest issue facing B.C.’s technology sector was access to talent. B.C made it a permanent program after the success of the project. The program is built to enable employers in British Columbia’s technology sector to continue to attract and select international talent when there is a dearth of qualified workers locally. The BC PNP Tech is a fast-track immigration pathway for in-demand tech workers and international students. Candidates need to be registered in one of B.C.’s existing provincial immigration streams and have a valid job offer of at least 12 months in one of 29 eligible occupations to qualify for the stream.

Unlike other BC PNP streams, job offers under the BC PNP Tech must be for a minimum of one year, with at least 120 days remaining at the time of application to the BC PNP. It must also be full-time and from an eligible employer in the province. Invitations through the province’s tech program are sent out weekly to the candidates who are top scorers and who meet the eligibility requirements.

Candidates who are invited to apply for a provincial nomination will need to submit a complete application. Once this is done, most tech applications will be processed within two to three months. If they are approved, candidates will receive a nomination confirmation that can be used to apply for permanent residence from Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) under the Provincial Nominee Program Class.PNP candidates earn 600 points for their score in the Comprehensive Ranking System and thus have a very good chance of obtaining an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for permanent residence via Express Entry.

B.C. invites skilled workers and entrepreneurs in PNP draws

 The province of British Columbia invited over 435 immigration candidates through four Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) draws that were held on August 17, 2021. The province has been conducting two separate rounds of invitations for its PNP program since February each month. The province holds a general draw and a second draw targeting retail and wholesale-retail managers as well as restaurant and foodservice managers. The second draw is due to a high number of people registered in the BC PNP Skills Immigration Registration System (SIRS) with these two occupations, the province as per a news release issued by the province. The aim of the province by holding these additional draws is to balance the needs in all sectors of the provincial labor market. The invitations were issued to specifically those from the Skilled Worker, International Graduate, and Entry Level and Semi-Skilled sub-categories of SI and EEBC streams. The minimum scores for that draw ranged between 73 and 91 points. A total of 363 candidates were invited.

There were separate draws that were also conducted under SI and EEBC categories and targeted candidates whose occupation falls under NOC 0621 or NOC 0631. The draw resulted in 64 invitations with scores of 106.B.C. also issued eight invitations through its Entrepreneur Immigration Base Category and less than five invitations through the Entrepreneur Immigration Regional Pilot category.

The objective of BC PNP is to attract foreign workers who are in high demand in the province and who wish to become permanent residents of Canada.

The BC PNP has two immigration streams, Skills Immigration and Express Entry, both of which are divided into sub-categories. These streams are managed under B.C.’s Skills Immigration Registration System (SIRS). To apply through the SIRS, you are first required to register an account. Once this is done, you will be assigned a score based on factors such as education, work experience, and language skills. The highest-scoring candidates from each sub-category are then invited to apply for a provincial nomination to apply for permanent residency when British Columbia conducts one of its regular draws.