Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) introduced a new system known as Express Entry for accepting economic immigrants to Canada in January 2015. The new system was formulated to match skills of prospective immigrants with skill shortages and employer requirements in the country.
Evaluation System
A new point system (Comprehensive ranking system) replaced the old scoring system in which the applicants having a higher point score were given preference. The points were awarded for various factors like Age, Education, Experience, English Ability and siblings in Canada. Applicants could score extra for French language ability.
National Occupation Classification
The advantage of the new system was that the entire Occupation List (NOC 0, A, B) was open for applicants which was a big change compared to the shorter list of 50 occupations in previous immigration program of 2014. This opened up the possibilities for professionals from various backgrounds to make application to CIC for immigrating to Canada.
Invitation Round
CIC announced invitation rounds every fortnight or monthly to invite applicants to lodge the full application. A cut of score was announced and all applicants matching or crossing that score in the pool were issued Invitation to Apply.
English Language Ability
The applicants who are able to score CLB 9 in IELTS general have an advantage under express entry. IELTS plays a vital role under express entry as it increases the CRS points.
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