Catherine Demers and Steven Owen June 20, 2017

Global Skills Strategy and Express Entry Update Canadian Employee Relocation Council Symposium

Outline of Presentation:

1. Economic immigration context

2. Express Entry Overview and Reforms

3. Overview of Temporary Foreign Workers

4. Global Skills Strategy

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Context: Canada’s Economic Immigration Programs

Canada’s immigration system leverages both temporary and permanent resident programs as a way to enable the entry of foreign workers. A temporary Work Permit (WP) offers employers a way to fill urgent, immediate or temporary labour shortages, either through the: Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) or International Mobility Program (IMP). While a Permanent Resident (PR) application provides immigrants with a way to settle permanently in Canada. Express Entry (EE) is an electronic system designed to manage applications for permanent residence under the: Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP), Canadian Experience Class (CEC) and A portion of the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP).

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Express Entry: Overview

Express Entry Pool

2. COMPREHENSIVE RANKING SYSTEM

1. MINIMUM ENTRY CRITERIA

3. INVITATION TO APPLY

Expression of Interest

Application Processing

• With Express Entry, Canada’s economic immigration system moved from a first-in-first-out process to a system that actively and purposefully issues invitations only to the candidates who are best positioned for economic success in Canada.

• As a result, Express Entry eliminates the possibility of backlogs and enables:

– Much faster processing (6 months* or less instead of 12-14 months);

– Strong immigrant economic outcomes; and,

– A greater role for employers and provinces and territories.

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Express Entry: Key Trends Prior to Reforms

0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000

550 - 599

500 - 549

450 - 499

400 - 449

350 - 399

300 - 349

250 - 299

200 - 249

150 - 199

100 -149

<100

Active CandidatesInvited Candidates without a job offer or provincial nominationInvited Candidates with a job offer or provincial nomination

Core human capital scores of Express Entry candidates by job offer/nomination status

Note 1: Core human capital score is defined as Comprehensive Ranking System score less points awarded for an offer of arranged employment or provincial/territorial nomination Note 2: Some candidates with offers of arranged employment underreport their human capital as some factors are not required for all immigration programs (e.g. Education Credential Assessment not required for Canadian Experience Class or Federal Skilled Trades Program)

• In the first year of Express Entry, the core human capital scores of candidates with job offers or provincial nominations were, on average, lower than invited candidates without a job offer or nomination.

• About two-thirds (66%) of candidates with offers of arranged employment claimed core scores of 300 or less, meaning a majority of job offer candidates had core human capital scores that placed them in the bottom 7% of the distribution

• ‘Fast food supervisors’, and ‘cooks’

collectively accounted for about one in six invitations in 2015.

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In November 2016, several Express Entry reforms were introduced, including: A reduction of points for job offers

– To strike a better balance between labour market responsiveness and immigrant outcomes

Introduction of points for Canadian study – To ensure more former international students are invited to apply

More facilitative job offer requirements – To better reflect current labour market realities, including easing the job offer

requirements

More time to complete an application – Candidates now have 90 days to gather their supporting documents and submit an

application for permanent residence after receiving an invitation to apply

Express Entry: Reforms implemented November 2016

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Points for French-speaking candidates: – To support the vitality of Francophone Minority Communities by attracting more

French-speaking candidates to the Express Entry pool and increasing the likelihood that these candidates will receive an invitation to apply

Points for candidates with siblings in Canada – Having a sibling in Canada has been shown to improve health and social outcomes

by accelerating a newcomer’s integration into their new life in Canada

Job Bank Registration becomes voluntary – Registration for Job Bank is no longer a requirement to enter the Express Entry

pool

Ranking candidates – The Express Entry system continues to rank candidates by their Comprehensive

Ranking System score, but where a tie exists, all tied candidates will be ranked based on the date and time they submitted their profile

Further changes for consistency and clarity

Express Entry: Additional Reforms Implemented on June 6, 2017

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Context: Canada’s Economic Immigration Programs (Part 2)

While processing times for bringing in economic immigrants on a permanent basis have improved significantly with the introduction of Express Entry, some employers still find than a commitment of “80% of applications processed within 6 months” does not satisfy immediate job pressures within highly competitive industries trying to draw on top global talent. As a result, the use of Work Permits (WP) under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) and Immigrant Mobility Program (IMP) continues to represent a great portion of all economic immigrants coming to Canada. In that context, the Government of Canada launched on June 12, 2017 the new Global Skills Strategy (GSS) – a suite of facilitative measures aimed at providing faster and more predictable access to top global talent through the TFWP and IMP: Two-week processing (IRCC) Work permit exemptions (IRCC) Dedicated Service Channel (IRCC) Global Talent Stream (ESDC)

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Temporary foreign workers are a solution for employers with urgent, immediate or temporary labour shortages.

Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) Employer-specific work permit, with requirement for Labour Market Impact

Assessment (LMIA)

To apply for an LMIA*, among other things, you will need to: • demonstrate the efforts you have made to recruit or train Canadians;

• offer salaries and work conditions that meet the standards;

• pay the $1,000 fee.

*Apply to Employment and Social Development Canada / Service Canada

International Mobility Program (IMP) Work permits that are exempt from LMIA based on reciprocal benefits and

competitive advantages for Canadians

There are several streams, including: • Employer-specific work permits: Intra-company transferees (C12), Mobilité francophone

(C16), NAFTA professionals (T23), Provincial Nominees (T13) • Open work permits: Post-graduation employment (C41), Spouses of international students

and of highly-qualified foreign workers (C42), International Experience Canada (C21)

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Temporary Foreign Workers: Overview

• Canadian firms need to be able to access the skills and expertise of talented workers from around the world to succeed in the global marketplace.

• Although the Canadian labour market is a source of strength, our core working population is small relative to our competitors, meaning that employers are not always able to source experienced, skilled workers from within Canada.

• As a recognized leader in economic immigration, Canada’s immigration programs need to adapt to accommodate the emphasis on speed, predictability and responsiveness that increasingly drive investment decisions.

• The Minister of Finance announced the Global Skills Strategy as part of the Fall Economic Statement. Co-led by the departments of IRCC and ESDC, the strategy had the explicit objective of facilitating employer access to highly-skilled foreign workers.

• After extensive stakeholder consultation throughout early 2017, the Strategy launched on June 12, 2017.

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Global Skills Strategy: Context

IRCC participated in close to 60 events with over 300 stakeholders across Canada promoting awareness of the Global Skills Strategy, soliciting feedback on the design and development of GSS policy, programs and services. Federal Organizations

Provincial and Territories

Incubators

Legal community

Academic Institutions

Sectoral leaders and associations

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Global Skills Strategy: Consultations

Two-week Service Standard

to support economic growth & improve predictability

Work permits for high-skilled talent will be processed in two weeks or less.

Work Permit Exemptions

For short duration, high-value work

Skilled workers and top research talent able to come work in Canada for short periods with less red tape.

Dedicated Service Channel

For employers bringing significant investment to

Canada

Departmental staff ready to guide employers through the immigration process to help meet their specific needs.

IRCC

Global Talent Stream (ESDC)

For skilled occupations in shortage and for employers with specialized talent needs

Processing global talent applications from Canadian employers in 10 business days while tracking benefits for Canadians on job creation, knowledge and skills training investments.

ESDC

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Global Skills Strategy: Pillars

TWO WEEK SERVICE STANDARD PURPOSE Provide two week work permit processing to high-skilled* workers under the

International Mobility program

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA E-application submitted on June 12, 2017 or later; Application submitted outside of Canada; Foreign national has an employer-specific job offer in a NOC 0 or A position; or, Is applying from outside of Canada and has been identified within ESDC’s Global

Talent Stream.

EXPECTED OUTCOMES Improved speed and responsiveness; Greater predictability for both employer and prospective recruits; Canadian employers gain an edge in recruitment; Canadian workers benefit from knowledge transfer and new economic opportunities.

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WORK PERMIT EXEMPTIONS PURPOSE Simplify process for short-term entry (up to 30 days) for high-skilled workers through

a work permit exemption. Provide similar facilitative measures for researchers (up to 120 days).

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA High-skilled workers:

Job offer for a position within NOC skill type 0 or skill level A; Coming to perform work for up to 15 or 30 consecutive calendar days and have not been

granted an exemption under this public policy in the last 6 or 12 months (depending) Researchers:

Coming to perform research at a Canadian publicly-funded, degree granting institution or affiliated research institution;

Coming to perform work for up to 120 days and have not been granted an exemption under this public policy in the last 12 months

EXPECTED OUTCOMES Reduced administrative burden on employers and research institutions that need

workers on a short-term basis to meet deadlines, expand operations or perform research.

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DEDICATED SERVICE CHANNEL PURPOSE Provide enhanced client service to selected employers and academics who are

creating jobs and making significant investments in Canada with a dedicated client service representative at IRCC and tools to facilitate their immigration needs.

REFERRAL MECHANISM IRCC will rely on designated referral partners to identify eligible firms and federally

funded research chairs. EXPECTED OUTCOMES Firms are incentivized to invest in and/or relocate to Canada. Firms are provided with tailored client service and information to navigate the

immigration system. 15

IN-SCOPE SERVICES Provision of general information on immigration programs. Case-specific advice and troubleshooting (where

authorized). Seamless connections for the employer with other relevant

client services within IRCC and OGDs (e.g. Service Canada).

OUT OF SCOPE SERVICES x Targeted Labour Market Impact Assessment

exemptions. x Processing of applications. x Faster processing (unless foreign national meets

the eligibility criteria for two-week processing of work permits and visas, where applicable).

• Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency • BC Tech Association • Business Development Bank of Canada • Communitech • Council of Canadian Innovators • Economic Development Winnipeg • Edmonton Economic Development

Corporation • Federal Economic Development Agency of

Southern Ontario • Global Affairs Canada – Trade Commissioner

Service • Government of Ontario – Citizenship and

Immigration; Economic Development and Growth

• Information and Communications Technology Association of Manitoba

WHO ARE THEY?* • Innovation, Science and Economic

Development Canada – Accelerated Growth Service

• London Economic Development Corporation • MaRS Discovery District • National Research Council – Industrial

Research Assistance Program • Privy Council Office • Social Sciences and Humanities Research

Council – Tri-Agency Institutional Programs Secretariat

• Toronto Global • Vancouver Economic Commission • Venn Innovation • Waterloo Region Economic Development

Corporation

*as of June 19, 2017. Refer to the IRCC website for the Referral Partner updates.

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DEDICATED SERVICE CHANNEL: Referral Partners

Thank you

Steven Owen Employer Liaison Officer Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada

Catherine Demers A/Senior Program Advisor Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada