Canada to boost immigration points for high

Canada will provide extra immigration points in its Express Entry program to candidates with high-wage occupations, such as engineers and electricians, in an effort to drive economic growth, the federal government said Friday.

The boost, which starts in November, aims to attract and retain skilled workers and better align the immigration system with Canada’s economic and labour market needs, Ottawa said in a statement.

“Canada is competing globally for people with the skills we need to build a prosperous economy and stronger public services,” immigration minister Lena Metlege Diab Metlege said.

“These changes will help us identify, attract, and retain the skilled newcomers who are best positioned to succeed in Canada, while making the Express Entry system more targeted and responsive.”

The Express Entry system is one of the more popular ways of immigrating to Canada. The system provides prospective immigrants with points for their education levels, work experience, English and French language proficiency, age and other factors.

The higher applicants score, the higher the chance they have of becoming permanent residents, which eventually leads to citizenship. The system is designed to attract young, skilled people who are more likely to earn more money and contribute positively to the Canadian economy.

For Express Entry, a high-wage occupation is one whose median wage is at least 1.3 times the median wage of the overall Canadian workforce, the statement said. Canada’s median wage is about $57,000 per year, before taxes.

Eligible high-wage occupations include jobs in health care, skilled trades, engineering, technology and education.

Candidates can qualify for these new points by either receiving a job offer or by working for a year at a high-wage occupation in Canada.

In general, foreigners who tend to get job offers may either already be in Canada — e.g. international students who graduate and get a work permit — or they may be hired from abroad.

Companies who want to hire foreigners from abroad generally need to receive a positive Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) from the government, which essentially shows that there is a genuine need for a foreign worker to fill the job.

But the IRCC said on Friday that companies won’t require LMIAs to bring in workers for high-wage occupations. The move was announced to cut red tape and make it easier for companies to bring in well-paid experts into Canada, it said.

The decision to eliminate the use of LMIAs may prove controversial. Until two years ago, Canada provided additional immigration points to applicants with LMIA-approved jobs. That changed in December 2024 after reports that fake jobs were being sold to desperate newcomers looking to score points and improve their chances of becoming permanent residents.

“Job offer fraud will be top of mind for IRCC given their challenges with it before,” immigration lawyer Zeynab Ziaie Moayyed said. IRCC, though in a statement, said that job offers in high-wage occupations often required specific skills, education and experience, helping reduce the risk of fradulent activity.

“By awarding points only for qualifying job offers in high-wage occupations, while strengthening how we assess and verify job offers, we are improving efforts to manage integrity risks,” it said.

Eliminating the LMIA requirement for qualifying job offers will ease the administrative burden on employers across the country, help clear the backlog, and increase predictability for businesses and skilled workers who are keen to contribute to the Canadian economy, Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s director of government relations Adam Hajji said in a statement.

Bank of Nova Scotia economist Rebekah Young said Friday’s move is designed to keep highly productive workers already in the country and very likely currently in jobs.

But she also said that the federal government will also need to think about how to attract new talent to the country as it looks to boost the economy and reduce reliance on the Untied States in the coming years.

“There have been many ‘bold’ policy shifts since the Carney government took office. Immigration hasn’t yet been one of them,” she said.

• Email: nkarim@postmedia.com