Canada’s express entry system isn’t a new idea
The government has made waiting times shorter for highly skilled immigrants who want to work in Canada.
The express entry system has been around for one month now, inviting many highly skilled workers to Canada. Although the system is new, the concept of letting people into Canada who have skills the country needs is not.
According to the Citizenship and Immigration Canada website (CIC) the express entry system ranks applicants and invites the top candidates to apply for permanent residency in Canada.
Assistant Program Head of Justice Studies at Guelph-Humber Glenn Hanna said the country has always been letting in people with skills that were in demand. As an immigrant from Northern Ireland his family moved to Canada to seek better job opportunities.
“My father worked in the ship yards and every time a ship was launched before the next one would come in people got laid off,” said Hanna.
In the 1960s much like today Canada was looking for people to fill gaps in certain sectors. Hanna’s father answered an ad to fill jobs in Canada.
“My dad had a skilled trade he answered the ad[…]the Canadian government lent him the money to come,” he said.
As stated in the CIC website, the express entry has incorporated three federal economic immigration programs. The Federal Skills Trade Program, the Federal Skilled Worker Program and the Canadian Experience Class.
“I think people are looking at the emphasis currently at the government bringing in skilled trade as something new… it’s not,” said Hanna, “my family came here under a similar visa.”
Agnieszka Dratwa the image technologist at Guelph-Humber, said the express entry system will make the process simpler for her. Dratwa, who came to Canada from Poland on a student visa in 2011 said the new system is very effective and that she is considering applying.
“It can only speed up the process of me becoming a permanent resident,” she said.
The old application process took longer because applicants were picked based on when they applied for a visa. The old system did not filter out applicants who did not meet the requirements, thus increasing wait times for people who meet the requirements to get a visa.
The express entry system allows CIC to select people who are likely to succeed in Canada.
Assistant Vice-Provost at Guelph-Humber George Bragues, who emigrated with his parents from Portugal in the mid 1960s, said that bringing people into Canada who are able to find a job is beneficial for everyone.
“If I have to choose a world between people being allowed in (Canada) and then they come here and are driving taxi cabs even though they have medical or law degrees or a situation where their coming in is contingent on having a job or being in job category that is definitely in high demand […] I think it’s just better for them,” said Bragues.
Senior Coordinator of Policy and Communications for the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI) Amy Casipullai said many immigrants offer something beyond the quantitative.
“The role that people play in building communities and contributing to the communities they live in[…] they contribute to the arts, culture to our laws, policies, our values and so on,” said Casipulliai.
She said there is a range of things that people can provide to a country even if they aren’t highly skilled.
“People contribute more than just a job or their income[…]whether it’s through the labour market or not[… ]they do other things like they build families, they build communities, they are part of our political social economic system,” she said.
There were 779 invitations sent during the first two rounds for the express entry system. The invitations took place on January 31 and February 7, 2015. According to the CIC the invitations rounds are expected to take place 15 to 25 times throughout the year.
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