‘Express Entry’: Job sectors for priority immigration announced

A registered nurse with a patient in the intensive care unit at the Halifax Infirmary in Halifax on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan)

The federal government has announced the targets in its latest effort to address labour shortages through economic immigration, promoting jobs in health care and social services, education and the trades as prioritized pathways to permanent residence.

Identified among this year’s Express Entry categories, the Thursday announcement from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) highlighted selected occupations including family doctors, nurses and dentists, carpenters and contractors, teachers, child care workers and instructors for persons with disabilities.

“IRCC continues to focus economic immigrant selection efforts on priority sectors,” the announcement reads. “This allows us to issue invitations to apply to prospective permanent residents who have specific skills, training or language abilities in order to bring those in-demand professionals to Canada.”

Also prioritized in this year’s immigration plan are prospective permanent residents with prior experience working in Canada. IRCC noted efforts to transition temporary residents to permanent status as part of a broader push to attract “skilled workers with the potential to integrate and contribute to Canada’s future.”

Express Entry system

The Thursday category announcement highlighted the education sector as the newest addition to the Express Entry system, which manages applications under the Federal Skilled Worker Program, Federal Skilled Trades Program and Canadian Experience Class, as well as some provincially based immigration.

Following the system’s 2015 launch, legislation later expanded the federal government’s authority to prioritize permanent resident applications for particular fields.

The IRCC’s Express Entry website shows that education joins the aforementioned health care, social services and trades fields, as well as select science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and agricultural jobs.

Applicants with proficiency in French also qualify for the program, part of the government’s efforts to support the “economic vitality of Francophone communities outside of Quebec,” the IRCC release reads.

“Canada’s Express Entry system is evolving to meet the country’s changing needs,” Immigration Minister Marc Miller said in the Thursday announcement. “Our approach ensures immigration remains a key driver of Canada’s growth.”

Further information on specific eligible occupations can be found on the IRCC’s Express Entry portal.

What jobs are eligible?

IRCC’s Express Entry portal lists 79 occupations among the eligible job categories.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to fix an issue with the embedded table at the bottom of the article, which may have affected visibility on some screens.