Since November 19, 2016 our offices have been receiving a lot of inquiries with regards to the recent amendments to the Ministerial Instructions regulating the Express Entry points and profiles. This article will attempt to highlight the recent changes that were brought to Canada’s Express Entry system.
The changes that were enacted in November 19, 2016 are very significant and they address a lot of the short comings of the old system.
Reduction of a qualifying job offer point
The old system favoured candidates who had a qualified offer of employment by conferring 600 point to the candidates who had a qualifying job supported by a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA). After November 19 2016, the government has lowered the points awarded to qualifying job offers as follows:
- 200 points will be awarded to those with an “eligible” offer in an executive or senior managerial position (NOC 00).
NOC 00 occupations include legislators, senior government managers and officials, senior manager of financial, communications and other business services, Senior managers of health, education, social and community services and membership organizations, senior managers of trade, broadcasting and other services not elsewhere classified on the NOC, senior managers of construction, transportation, production and utilities.
- 50 points will be awarded to those with an “eligible” offer in a NOC A or B position. Visit http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/noc.asp#find to determine what type of NOC your job offer is categorized as.
Qualifying Job offers no longer limited to LMIA-based Job Offers
Job offers are no longer limited to LMIA’s, candidates may be eligible if they have a treaty work permit, have a work permit under the Intra-Company transfers or Significant Benefit work permit or any work permit issued under the authority of subsections 204(a) or (c) or section 205 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations.
The candidate must however be working for the employer making the offer and must have been working for that employer for at least 12 months full-time prior to submitting the application. This extension of the eligible job offers does not include candidates who can work without a work permit or Post-Graduation work permit holders.
Canadian degrees get more points
Although the old system granted significant points to candidate’s who had a high level of education, the new scoring system grants the following points to candidate’s who have a Canadian degree:
- 15 points for a Canadian post-secondary degree of 1 or 2 years
- 30 points for a Canadian post-secondary that is either:
- 3 years or longer in duration
- A Master’s degree
- A PhD degree, OR
- An entry-to-practice professional degree for a NOC level A occupation for which licensing by a provincial regulatory body is required
These points are not cumulative. The extra points granted for a Canadian degree, combined with points awarded for a provincial nomination and for an arranged employment is capped at 600 points. This implies that a provincial nomination which grants a candidate 600 points will not allow the candidate to claim the extra Canadian education points.
Time Limit for Express Entry, Invitation to Apply
The Invitation to apply time limit to apply has been extended to 90 days instead of 60 days.
Conclusion
We have seen the most important amendments brought to the Express Entry System. These are:
- The reduction of a qualifying job offer from 600 points to 200 for skill type NOC 00 and 50 points for NOC jobs at the A and B level.
- Job offers are no longer limited to LMIA’s and may include any work permit issued under the authority of subsections 204(a) or (c) or section 205 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations.
- Candidate’s with a Canadian degree get 15 to 30 points more in some circumstances
- The time limit to apply for an invitation to apply has been extended to 90 days instead of 60 days.
To see the new updated Express Entry point system, click here.
To book a consultation to have a professional assess your eligibility for the Express Entry profile and / or advise you on any Immigration matters contact the Chaudhary Law Office today.
