How Quebec employers can hire foreign workers more quickly

Posted on February 3, 2023April 25, 2023 by madhokimmigration

The facilitated Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) helps Quebec employers efficiently address labor shortages in the province.

If a Canadian employer wants to hire a foreign national, they must usually receive approval from the Canadian government through a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA). The purpose of the LMIA is to ensure that the hiring of a foreign national will not negatively affect workers in Canada.

The government must conclude that hiring the foreign national will have positive or neutral effect on the Canadian labour market. In general, it should be clear that no Canadians were passed up for the job in favour of the foreign national and that they will receive salary and benefits that meet federal and provincial standards.

In Quebec, the facilitated process does not exempt employers from applying for an LMIA. However, there are various occupations that Quebec employers are not required to advertise the position for which they are hiring foreign workers.

Requirements for Quebec employers

The Quebec employer does not need to provide evidence of recruitment efforts for the position they are seeking to fill, but they should make best efforts to recruit Canadian citizens and permanent residents before hiring a foreign worker.

The employer must also show the following:

The foreign worker meets all educational and experience requirements of the job and the requirements of the National Occupation Classification;
That the hourly wage of the foreign work is consistent with that of Canadians and permanent residents working in the same occupation and geographical area;
A transition plan is required for all high wage LMIA applications. However, under the facilitated process in Quebec, a transition plan is only required for the second or subsequent application for an LMIA in the same occupation and location.

IRCC invites 893 PNP candidates in new Express Entry draw

Posted on February 3, 2023April 25, 2023 by madhokimmigration

Only PNP candidates were invited in the February 1, 2023 draw..

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) issued permanent resident invitations to 893 Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) candidates with a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 733.

This was the first program-specific Express Entry draw since July 2022. Between July until today, IRCC was holding all-program draws in which it was considering all eligible Express Entry candidates for invitations. In an all-program draw, Express Entry candidates may be invited, without a provincial nomination, from one of the three programs managed by the Express Entry application management system.

Express Entry candidates in this draw have already received provincial nomination. Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) allow Canadian provinces to nominate individuals who support their regional labour market and population objectives. Most Canadian provinces and territories have PNPs aligned with Express Entry, except for Quebec and Nunavut.

Receiving provincial nomination increases a candidate’s CRS score by 600 points. In this specific draw, Express Entry candidates needed a minimum CRS score of 133 before getting provincial nomination in order to be eligible.

Canada holds first Federal Skilled Workers-only draw in Express Entry history

Posted on February 3, 2023April 25, 2023 by madhokimmigration

IRCC has issued 3,300 invitations to candidates in the Federal Skilled Worker Program.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) issued invitations to 3,300 candidates with a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 489. The draw was only applicable to candidates in the Federal Skilled Worker Program for the first time since Express Entry began in 2015. This was the second program-specific draw of 2023 following the results on February 1 in which only candidates who had already received provincial nomination obtained an ITA.

Express Entry in 2023

Typically, Express Entry draws take place every two weeks on Wednesdays. However, draws in 2023 have deviated from the routine seen since Express Entry was established in 2015. The first draw this year, on January 11, occurred after an unexpected six-week pause following the draw on November 23. IRCC has implied in an email to CIC News that the pause was due to an IT system glitch caused by the implementation of NOC 2021.

There were 5,500 candidates invited on January 11 with minimum CRS scores of 507. It was the highest number of candidates, with the lowest CRS cut-off score, since all-program draws resumed after an 18-month pandemic hiatus between December 2020 and July 2022.

There was another draw the following week on January 18 that invited the same number of candidates but with a much lower minimum CRS score of 490. This draw came as a surprise as IRCC does not usually issue ITAs to candidates in consecutive weeks.