Toronto: The Canadian government has announced that, beginning spring 2025, candidates for permanent residency (PR) through the Express Entry stream will no longer benefit from extra points gained by having an employment offer in hand.
Those points, at a minimum of 50, often made the difference between a candidate qualifying for PR or failing to do so. However, due to reports of fraud within the system, Ottawa has decided to withdraw that measure.
In a statement on Monday, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said, “This temporary measure will reduce fraud by removing the incentive to illegally buy or sell labour market impact assessments to improve a candidate’s chances of being selected to come to Canada as a permanent resident. This change will come into effect in spring 2025.”
Once they take effect, the changes in rules will impact candidates pursuing PR through the Express Entry system, including those currently working in Canada temporarily. They will not affect candidates who have already been invited to apply or who have an application in progress.
“We are taking important steps to reduce fraud while continuing to attract the skilled talent our economy needs,” Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Marc Miller said.
IRCC described Express Entry as the country’s “flagship application management system for those seeking to immigrate permanently through the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Federal Skilled Trades Program, the Canadian experience class and a portion of the Provincial Nominee Program”.
The move will impact Indian applicants the most, as they form the largest national cohort within the stream. Of the 85,760 candidates under the system in 2023, 40,775 were from India. This year, they made for 31,165 out of the total of 67,520 between January and October, according to IRCC data.
Those job offers made for this scheme fall under the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), a document prospective employers have to procure prior to hiring a foreign worker. LMIA fraud has been a topic of discussion in Canada over recent months as the government has sought to curb immigration and clean up the system. There have been multiple anecdotal reports of unscrupulous immigration agents working with employers to generate LMIAs, after prospective employees pay sums ranging from 10,000 Canadian dollars ($6,947) to nearly 75,000 Canadian dollars ($52,107). Some prospective immigrants have told the Hindustan Times of these demands for processing the LMIA.
Miller spoke of the proposed change on December 17, when he said, “This measure is expected to remove the incentive for candidates to purchase an LMIA resulting in increased fairness and integrity in the system.”
Naresh Chavda, president of Globayan Immigration Corporation felt the measure would “definitely help to reduce LMIA fraud and reduce direct immigration which is current government goal”.
He stressed there were thousands of genuine LMIA workers who were high skilled or with unique skillsets in demand in Canada and they and their employers could “suffer” due to this decision, with its ramifications for the country’s economy. “So, to prevent fraud, the Government of Canada needs to improve the screening process and other measures and not to cut the LMIA category for Express Entry fully,” he argued.