Critics call for fine-tuning of federal skilled immigration program (Express Entry)

Some initial comments and suggestions for improving Express Entry:

The decisive factor was securing a positive Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) by a prospective employer to prove a candidate possesses skills that are in high demand.

Successful candidates were those who scored at least 886 points out of a maximum of 1,200. Securing a positive LMIA automatically earned applicants 600 points, while personal attributes such as education, language skills and work experience made up the other 600 possible points.

However, in the aftermath of Ottawa’s temporary foreign worker program controversy, critics say it has become too difficult to acquire an LMIA as officials tighten the screening for assessing if a foreigner’s skills are in demand.

“It’s the first draw under the new Express Entry program and the numbers were quite low. The pass mark was 35 per cent lower than the max. The kick of it is to get a positive LMIA,” said Toronto immigration lawyer Sergio Karas.

“But LMIAs are incredibly difficult to get. It’s such a laborious, time-intensive and complicated process for employers. Service Canada now looks for things to refuse an application. Why would employers spend the time and money on these applications?”

Karas also said that the pool of applicants should be widened by exempting some people from obtaining LMIAs, since workers from countries that have trade agreements with Canada don’t require the documents.

“That includes those who have graduated in Canada and currently hold postgraduate work permits, and those who are here under exempt categories, such as NAFTA professionals and intracompany transferees,” said Karas.

It will be interesting to watch whether or not the cut-off to be selected remains stable at 74% of the maximum number of points or declines (the second draw cut-off was 68 percent, but we need 6 months to start to see a trend line).

Critics call for fine-tuning of federal skilled immigration program | Toronto Star.