The Canadian government announced the removal of job offer points from the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) in the Express Entry pool.

Key Points:

  • Effective March 25, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is altering the allocation of points under its Express Entry permanent residence programs.
  • The change impacts applicants with offers of ongoing employment (“Arranged Employment”) currently in the Express Entry pool who have not yet received an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for permanent residence.
    • It also affects job offers supported by a Labor Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) and those that are LMIA-exempt.
  • This change will not affect applicants who have already received an ITA or those currently being processed for permanent residence.

Additional Information: The CRS previously awarded 50 points to any other skilled occupation with Arranged Employment and 200 points to those with Arranged Employment offers in senior managerial positions (Major Group 00 of the National Occupation Classification).

As BAL reported, the Canadian government announced late last year that temporary foreign workers who apply to become permanent residents through the Express Entry system will soon no longer get additional points if they have a job offer supported by an LMIA. The most recent change removes points for all offers of Arranged Employment, LMIA-based or otherwise.

This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice Group.

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