Why is Canada decreasing the CRS score for immigrants?

Canada’s initiative to bring down the immigration score to allow more people to become permanent residents and improve immigration levels inCanada isgetting a positive reception from the Conference Board of Canada. According to Iain Reeve of the board “The long- and short-term benefits of maintaining high immigration levels are clear. In the long term it maintains immigration levels and fuels economic growth, improves our ratio of working-age Canadians to retirees, creates more tax revenue, and supplies skilled labor to key sectors.”

In February this year, the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) invited 27,332 Express Entry candidates to apply for permanent residence in the biggest Express Entry draw till date ever since the introduction of the Express Entry draw in 2015. The maximum invitations issued in Express Entry draws so far have not exceeded 5000. This draw is nearly six times bigger than the previous draws.

Another surprising fact in this draw was that candidates with a CRS score as low as 75 were invited to the draw. With such a low CRS score, this draw invited almost every candidate eligible for the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) program.

This draw indicates that Canada is keen to meet its immigration target for 2021 which is set at 401,000.

Immigration to rebuild the economy

The reason behind inviting only CEC candidates in this draw was that 90 percent of these candidates were residing in Canada and were more likely to complete the next steps after the ITA and obtain their permanent residency.

Earlier research by Statistics Canada and the IRCC reveal that the CEC candidates can be almost immediately employed and meet labor demands which is crucial to rebuild the economy. Besides they have one year of work experience in Canada and have contributed to the economy and have paid taxes.

In its immigration targets for 2021-23 Canada is planning to welcome more than 1.2 million newcomers. The yearly targets are:

Year	Immigrants
2021	401,000
2022	411,000
2023	421,000

Before the pandemic the immigration targets were 351,000 in 2021 and 361,000 in 2022. According to Canada's immigration minister, Marco Mendicino, the country accepted 26,600 immigrants in January, up 10% from the same time in 2020. He also mentioned that Canada is 40.5 percent ahead of schedule in terms of meeting its 2021 immigration goal.

The increase in immigration targets is explained by Canada’s immigration minister as,“Immigration is essential to getting us through the pandemic, but also to our short-term economic recovery and our long-term economic growth. Canadians have seen how newcomers are playing an outsized role in our hospitals and care homes, and helping us to keep food on the table.’’

Stressing on the importance of immigrants to the country’s economic recovery, he said. “As we look to recovery, newcomers create jobs not just by giving our businesses the skills they need to thrive, but also by starting businesses themselves. Our plan will help to address some of our most acute labor shortages and to grow our population to keep Canada competitive on the world stage.”

Canada wants to bring in more immigrants to help in its economic recovery once the pandemic is under control. If you wish to migrate to Canada, then this is your best chance.