IRCC will resume FSWP and CEC invitations in 2022 while continuing to evaluate Express Entry options

A new internal report indicates that the IRCC continues to evaluate its options and will present a new express entry plan to the Deputy Minister this month.

A recent internal report for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) states that the ministry has not decided on express entry plans for this year. Still, invitations to FSWP and CEC candidates will continue "later in 2022". Returning the Express Entry to the track is crucial for the recovery of the Canadian economy.

The communication was presented to the IRCC Deputy Minister on January 21, 2022. The Deputy Minister is the highest non-political official in every government department in Canada. Unlike the Minister, who is the elected official for the government's political agenda, the Deputy Minister is responsible for providing technocratic advice to the government.

Key components of the memo include:

• Invitation to apply rounds for Federal Skilled Worker Program, Canadian Experience Class, and Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP)candidates will restart later in 2022.
• IRCC will extend its temporary pause on invitations to FSWP, CEC, and FSTP candidates until March 31 while continuing Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)
• The sustained pause will allow IRCC to address its register backlogs. The total length of the hiatus will need to be determined by IRCC's evolving primacies.
• IRCC will return to the Deputy Minister in March with a strategy on the future of Express Entry invitations to regulate what timeline and volume will align with the Immigration Levels Plan 2022-2024 and processing time notions.
• IRCC recognizes candidates in the Express Entry pool, including those holding work permits due to expiration, will continue to face ambiguity in the short term.
• The pending backlog in express entry applications is due to the pandemic, and the IRCC focused on landing Canadian applicants to reach the target of 401,000 immigrants by 2021. Backlogs result in an average IRCC request processing time for which the six-month service standard is longer. Express entrance.
• The IRCC must reduce backlogs for Express Entry by more than half in order to reach the 6-month standard of service for new applicants.

It is important to note the IRCC website continues to tell applicants the processing standard for Express Entry is 6 months.

The IRCC says that when considering options for a 2022-2024 immigration levels plan, the adoption of express entry is likely "face a significant reduction to accommodate other ministerial and departmental priorities." Some interim scenarios during the memorandum indicate a reduction of more than 50% from the 110,500 allocated in the current plan to 2021-2023.

IRCC has processed 4,000 files in the FSWP backlog in the past 2 weeks, which roughly took 7 months in 2021

How we got here:

This year, express entry was the primary way to welcome economy-class immigrants to Canada. Before a pandemic, the IRCC usually holds an Express Entry draw every two weeks, which invites the highest-scoring candidates, despite their qualification program, to apply for permanent residence. Most invitations were addressed to FSWP and CEC candidates, while only about one percent were addressed to FSTP candidates. The IRCC intends to process applications for permanent residence within 6 months.

With the start of the pandemic in March 2020, the IRCC held a rally for the first time, inviting only CEC and PNP candidates. Due to the violation of COVID-19, including travel bans in Canada, the IRCC considers it reasonable to invite CEC candidates, as they can generally move to permanent residence, as this is normal. They live in Canada. PNP rallies were held to support the labour market needs of provinces and territories across the country. Later in the year, the IRCC also invited FSWP candidates to an express lottery.

The IRCC also introduced a temporary residency program ("TR2PR") between May and November last year to allow many international graduates and key workers resident in Canada to apply for permanent residence. This is intended as another way to support their target levels for 2021. 

CEC backlog could reach 0 by this spring

Meanwhile, there are just over 10,000 people left in the CEC backlog. IRCC processed 2,000 people in the CEC backlog over the past two weeks. IRCC could draw down the CEC backlog by the spring at its current rate.

With the focus on CEC applicants and the launch of the TR2PR program, IRCC's backlog has skyrocketed. The department has found it is not meeting service standards for processing Express Entry applications over six months. For this reason, IRCC has also suspended invitations to CEC candidates for September 2021.

Progress has been made in resolving the outstanding express input. Based on the new processing speed, the IRCC expects the number of pending express entries to halve this May. This does not guarantee that express invitations to the FSWP and CEC candidates will continue, but it will be necessary for IRCC to continue to be perceived as someone they want to reach out to consider more strongly. CEC invitations.