Canada To End Express Entry Points for Job Offers Backed by LMIA

Canada’s Immigration Minister Marc Miller has indicated that Canada Express Entry points for a job offer with a Labour Market Impact Assessment would be eliminated.

In a televised interview, Miller stated that he would carry out the previously announced decision to eliminate the 50 or 200 points available for an LMIA-backed job offer in the Express Entry Comprehensive Ranking System.

There was no indication of when the adjustment will be made.

On This Page, You Will Find:

• An explanation of the loss of CRS points for LMIA-backed job offers in Canada Express Entry.
• Implications for candidates who rely on these points to receive Invitations to Apply (ITAs).
• Key implications for firms hiring foreign workers through LMIA-supported offers.
• Modifications to the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) and its scoring criteria.
• Strategies for applicants and employers to adjust to this huge policy change.

The important points can mean the difference between a candidate receiving a coveted Invitation to Apply for Immigration to Canada and a profile exceeding the number of points required in regular Express Entry draws.

It is a response to the situation surrounding LMIA-backed employment offers being offered at exorbitant costs to desperate hopefuls by unscrupulous actors. According to the Financial Post, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) failed to validate such job offers.

The move dramatically reduces the power of a job offer on an Express Entry profile. When the system was first implemented in 2015, a job offer was worth 600 points, equivalent to a provincial nomination. That sum was cut to 50 or 200 two years later, as IRCC worked to better balance the CRS with a candidate’s other qualifications.

The 200 points were for a job offer in NOC TEER 0, major group 00, whereas the 50 points were for a job offer in NOC TEER 1, 2, or 3, or any TEER 0 other than major group 00.

What Does this Mean for Candidates?

This discovery has important ramifications for candidates who rely on job offers accompanied by a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) to improve their Express Entry Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) scores. This is what it means.

• Reduced Importance of LMIA-Backed Job Offers: LMIA-backed job offers will no longer count towards CRS points after the modification. This is a substantial shift in how candidates might improve their results, stressing factors such as age, education, language proficiency, and work experience.
• Impact on Invitations to Apply (ITAs): Candidates who relied on 50 or 200 points from LMIA-backed job offers to satisfy the cut-off scores in ordinary draws may struggle to obtain an ITA. This adjustment may boost competition between profiles based simply on human capital criteria.
• Focus on Authentic Credentials: The focus on authentic credentials comes in response to worries regarding applicant exploitation and fraudulent tactics. Without the CRS incentive, candidates and employers may favour real offers and qualifications over using LMIA-backed points to manipulate CRS rankings.
• Potential for a Fairer System: Eliminating LMIA-backed points could make the Express Entry system more equal, prioritizing a candidate’s overall qualifications above their ability to receive a job offer. This could be more consistent with the program’s goals of attracting skilled immigrants based on merit.
• Increased Importance of Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs): The loss of LMIA points may increase the importance of Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs), which are worth 600 points. Candidates should investigate PNP choices that match their abilities and experience.
• Uncertainty for current candidates: The lack of a deadline for this transition puts applicants in limbo. Those who are now benefiting from LMIA-backed points may need to act swiftly to submit profiles or acquire ITAs before the change takes effect.

What Does This Mean for Employers?

For Canadian firms, the elimination of Express Entry points for LMIA-backed employment offers will have many major implications:

Reduced Incentive for Candidates to Seek LMIA-Supported Jobs

LMIA-backed employment offers may become less appealing to Express Entry candidates without CRS points, reducing their incentive to seek them. Employers may encounter difficulties in recruiting foreign workers who previously sought LMIAs to improve their immigration prospects.

Candidates who accept job offers are more likely to do so for genuine career prospects, rather than to improve their CRS ratings. This leads to more committed hiring.

Increased Compliance and Monitoring Pressures

Fraudulent tactics involving LMIA-backed offerings have prompted stricter scrutiny. Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will increase surveillance of job offers to guarantee compliance and validity.

Employers may need to enhance their documentation standards to justify using the LMIA procedure, even if the CRS incentive is withdrawn.

Greater Reliance on Alternate Pathways

Employers should prioritize assisting individuals in obtaining provincial nominations, which are still highly valued in the immigration process (worth 600 CRS points).

Employers who rely on LMIAs may use the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) to bring people to Canada for temporary employment, as the path to permanent residency through Express Entry becomes less dependent on job offers.

Potential Challenges in Attracting Global Talent: 

Without CRS points for LMIA-backed offers, international talent may consider Canada less enticing than other nations that provide explicit pathways from employment offers to permanent residency.

Employers may need to invest more in attracting and retaining international talent by giving competitive compensation, perks, and assistance.

Opportunities for genuine recruitment

Employers may benefit from a more open recruitment process in which candidates are driven by job possibilities rather than CRS incentives. This could result in improved matching between employers and competent immigrants

Employers who follow best practices and avoid misusing LMIAs would benefit from a better reputation, making them more appealing to applicants and regulatory agencies.

Adjusting Recruitment Strategies

Employers should review their hiring processes for foreign workers, including

• Promoting opportunities through PNP-aligned streams.
• Helping candidates maximize other CRS criteria (such as language training and credential recognition).
• Using the Global Talent Stream to accelerate work permits.

What Does This Mean for the Comprehensive Ranking System?

Increased emphasis on core human capital factors.

The CRS will prioritize variables other than LMIA-backed employment offers, resulting in more balanced scoring.

• Age
• Education
• Language proficiency (English or French)
• Work Experience (Canadian and Foreign) To increase their results, candidates should focus on maximizing these essential elements.

Removing job offer points may result in higher CRS cut-off scores in draws, as candidates with inflated scores from LMIA points will no longer dominate.

Changes in CRS Dynamics

When the Express Entry system was introduced in 2015, employment offers were worth 600 points, comparable to a provincial nomination. Their weight gradually dropped to 50 or 200 points. Eliminating them totally represents a substantial move away from using job offers as a main element in candidate evaluation.

The value of Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) nominations, which are still worth 600 points, will increase and become the primary “boost” for CRS scores. Candidates and provinces may increasingly focus on matching skills to regional labour market demands.

More Competitive Pool of Candidates

Candidates will no longer have an edge based on LMIA-backed points. This establishes a more equitable system in which only candidates with strong human capital qualities or province nominations advance to the top.

As LMIA-backed offers become less common, candidates may need to improve their profiles in other ways to compete.

Impact on Draw Types.

Removing LMIA-backed points can lead to more diversified candidate selection, as IRCC draws may prefer specific occupations, abilities, or education levels over job offers.

Category-Based Selection Gains Importance: IRCC has already implemented category-based selection for Express Entry draws, such as healthcare, technology, and trades. The removal of LMIA points coincides with this goal, as employment offers will no longer have a disproportionate impact on results.

Fraud Prevention and Integrity: 

Removing LMIA points resolves concerns about fraudulent players using the system by selling bogus or inflated job offers. Without CRS points as an incentive, Express Entry’s integrity is expected to improve.

To reduce the potential for manipulation, candidates’ ratings will be based more on verifiable achievements such as language scores and school qualifications.

Long-term Impact on CRS Trends

Candidates with adaptation to the Canadian labour market, such as through education, language skills, or work experience, will have a competitive advantage.

The loss of LMIA points may cause changes in CRS cut-off scores, particularly in the short term, as applicants adapt their strategy to meet selection requirements.

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