Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), announced on April 22, 2022 that the government’s plans to resume Express Entry draws in early July.
As a result of the temporary pause, Canada has diminished more than half of the federal high-skilled processing inventory, from 111,900 people in September 2021 to just 48,000 people by March 2022. According to the announcement, the inventory will be further reduced by July 2022 to help the government return to the service standards.
As part of the announcement, Minister Fraser introduced a temporary policy that will enable recent international graduates with expiring temporary status to remain in Canada for a longer period of time, allowing them to gain work experience and increase their chances of qualifying for permanent residency.
International students who have a post-graduation work permit expiring between January and December 2022 and are already in Canada will be able to apply for an additional open work permit of up to 18 months beginning in summer 2022.
The talents and skills of international graduates contribute significantly to addressing Canada's labour shortage, and those who are nearing the end of their post-graduation work permits are already well-integrated into Canada's labour market and are employed in many sectors across the country.
IRCC has also processed more than 100,000 work permit applications in the first quarter of 2022, which is almost double the number processed in the same period in 2021.