Canada’s immigration minister, Sean Fraser, announced that Express Entry invitations for Federal Skilled Worker (FSWP) and Canadian Experience Class (CEC) will restart by “early July.” The FSWP program has been paused since December 2020. At the same time, invitations for CEC candidates have been on pause since September 2021. These draws would remain paused until IRCC worked through half of its backlogged inventory of high-skilled applications in September 2021.

IRCC will resume FSWP and CEC invitations

Also, the immigration minister, Sean Fraser, also announced a new temporary policy that will allow international graduates with expiring PGWP to stay in Canada longer, get work experience and prepare their Express Entry profile. Then, international graduate students with a Post Graduation Work Permit expiring between January and December 2022 will qualify for an open work permit of 18 months. Some of the big announcements are:

FSWP, CEC, and FSTP invitations will come back in early July.
Most new Express Entry applications will be processed in six months.
PGWP holders with expiration dates between January and December 2022 can qualify for an open work permit for 18 months. About 50,000 PGWP holders can benefit from this new open work permit.

Moreover, new measures for applicants under the TR to PR program last year also are taking effect this summer:

Applicants won’t need to remain in Canada while processing their applications.
Candidates who apply for open work permit while waiting for their PR application can get work permits valid until 2024.
Immediate family members outside Canada and included in a principal applicant’s PR application will be eligible for their own open work permit. It aims to support family reunification.

These actions reinforce the government’s effort to ensure Canadian employers have the workers they need while addressing our labour shortage.

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