As we are approaching the end of the first month of 2022 many are wondering what is in store for Canadian Immigration in the following months.
First two Express Entry draws happened in January and both targeted only PNP (Provincial Nominee Program) candidates. This did not come as a surprise as we know the government is trying to reduce application backlogs and has paused all CEC (Canadian Experience Class) draws since September 2021. FSWP (Federal Skilled Worker Program) candidates haven’t been invited since December 2020. The current backlog which is said to be as high as 1.8 million pending applications has significantly slowed down the processing time. FSWP processing times are expected to rise to 36 months in 2022.
How is IRCC going to tackle this issue while trying to reach the targeted immigration level for 2022, which is 411,000 immigrants?
We know that Canada’s economy heavily depends on immigrants and there’s no doubt that immigration numbers will go up. However, there hasn’t been any clear indication from IRCC how these will be addressed. There are hints that new immigration streams will be introduced, and current streams will be improved. Will there be a new similar program to the famous TR to PR pathway? Possible. It isn’t likely for FSWP draws to resume in 2022. We know the government is currently focused on PNPs and that will be the focus in the coming months. However, we don’t know if CEC draws will resume and when. If they will, what will be the score? Some are suggesting the CRS score will go up before it goes down again, but we are yet to see what happens. As per the IRCC internal memo, it seems that FSW and CEC draws may be paused for another 6 months. Therefore if you plan to immigrate to Canada under CEC or FSWP, then you should have a contingency plan, such as the provincial nominee program.
We are expecting to hear from the new immigration minister Sean Fraser in early February and hope to have more clarity then. The Immigrations Levels Plan 2022-2024 is due to be announced by February 11, 2022, at the latest.
More info @National Post
