Express Entry: What you need to know ahead of July 2022Find out why you should enter the Express Entry pool before all-program draws resume this summer.

Express Entry draws for Federal Skilled Worker Program and Canadian Experience Class candidates are set to resume in early July 2022.    

The announcement was made by Canadian Immigration Minister, Sean Fraser, on April 22.   

It represents a major change in the recent Canadian immigration landscape and comes as very positive news as Express Entry is the primary means by which the Canadian government manages skilled worker applications. 

The onset of the pandemic resulted in a significant decrease in Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada‘s (IRCC) application processing capacity and several policy shifts, among them a temporary pause in all-program Express Entry draws.  

Up until that point, the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) had been Canada’s flagship and most popular economic immigration program for well over 50 years.

Through the FSWP, Canada was admitting tens of thousands of professionals and skilled workers from around the world each year on the basis of the likelihood that they will be able to establish themselves successfully in the Canadian labour market. But since December 2020, in order to reduce the number of applications that were piling up in processing centers, Canada introduced a pause in invitation rounds under the program. 

Months later, the Canadian Experience Class (CEC), another major federal immigration program, faced the same fate and has now not seen a draw since September 2021. 

With Canada having the lowest unemployment rate and the highest number of job vacancies on record, an aging population, and a low birth rate, the importance of reopening the country to qualified skilled workers has now become an ever more pressing goal for the Canadian government.   

Discover if You Are Eligible for Canadian Immigration

“With the economy growing faster than employers can hire new workers, Canada needs to look at every option so that we have the skills and labour needed to fuel our growth,” said Canada’s Immigration Minister Sean Fraser. 

This is why, by July, Express Entry is poised to once again become Canada’s primary means of attracting international talent. In fact, the Canadian government will gradually increase its annual Express Entry admissions to more than 110,000 immigrants in 2024.