Immigrant workers have always been the driving force of Canada’s labor supply. For this reason, the Canadian government actively seeks immigrants and has several immigration programs for this purpose.
Each month, millions of immigrants from all over the world apply to these programs, resulting in fierce competition. To make the final cut so that you can realize your Canadian immigration dream, your application needs to stand out from the competition and get noticed by the Canadian immigration authorities.
Here we will reveal how to get your immigration application noticed by the government of Canada.
How to Make Your Immigration Application Get Noticed?
In virtually all Canadian immigration programs, immigrants who submit applications are added to a pool. Candidates in the same pool are ranked using certain factors and the highest-scoring candidates are selected.
Thus, you can get your immigration application noticed by boosting your scores. That said, some of the common ways to make your application noticed are:
- Get more than the program’s minimum requirements
- Get a Canadian job offer
- Obtain provincial nomination
It’s worth noting here that the representative figures we’ve used below apply to a single applicant. Those with a spouse or common-law partner often have slightly fewer points in the ranking system for factors such as age, education, and work experience.
1. GET MORE THAN THE PROGRAM’S MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
Every immigration program has a set of minimum requirements. Meeting the minimum requirements qualifies you for consideration in the program. However, exceeding the minimum requirements makes your application a golden fish in the pool, ensuring that it’ll be noticed.
Consider the most popular Canadian immigration program, the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP).
The eligibility criteria include at least one year of work experience. However, in the comprehensive ranking system (CRS), one year of work experience gives only 40 points out of a total of 80 points (for work experience) for a single applicant. The more years of experience you have, the more your CRS points as follows:
- 1 year – 40 points
- 2 years – 53 points
- 3 years – 64 points
- 4 years – 72 points
- 5 years or more – 80 points
Also, FSWP requires having at least a secondary school education. However, a secondary school education gives only 30 points out of a total of 150 points (for education). The higher your education, the more your CRS points as follow:
- Diploma or certificate from a university, college, technical school, etc. – 90 points
- Bachelor’s degree – 120 points
- Master’s degree or professional degree needed to practice in a licensed profession – 135 points
- D. degree – 150 points
If you get maximum points from work experience, education, and many of the other ranking factors, your overall score will increase significantly. This will make you a high-ranking candidate, and ensure that your application is noticed.
Some ways to get more than a program’s minimum requirement and increase your points tally include:
- Get a higher education
- Get more work experience
- Increase your language proficiency and score higher on the language tests
- Don’t delay applying, as the points for age start decreasing after a certain age
- Get some Canada connection (like a relative living in Canada or an arranged employment in Canada)
2. GET A CANADIAN JOB OFFER
Another thing that can get your application noticed is getting a Canadian job offer. In the comprehensive ranking system for Express Entry programs, CRS points are calculated as follows:
CRS points = Human capital factors + spouse or common-law partner factors + skill transferability factors + additional points.
One way to get additional points is to get a job in Canada before submitting your Express Entry profile. If you get the job after completing your profile, you can update your profile and include the job. An arranged Canadian job gets you additional 200 CRS points.
Getting a Canadian job is not a requirement for the Federal Skilled Worker program. However, getting one gives you additional points, boosting your overall CRS points and ensuring that your application will be noticed.
To put this into perspective, the lowest qualifying score in the latest Express Entry draw (August 17) was 525 CRS points; and in the draw before that (August 3), the lowest qualifying score was 533 CRS points.
With getting 200 CRS points for simply obtaining a Canadian job offer, it’ll often leave you needing a little over 300 CRS points to make the cut.
Getting a job offer is a difficult thing being abroad. Here at Green Light Immigration we have collaborated with many local employees and are willing to help you make your Canadian dream come true. Check out our Job Search section to see what opportunities are available to you.
3. OBTAIN PROVINCIAL NOMINATION
Another excellent way to make your Canada immigration application noticed is to go through a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) and obtain a provincial nomination.
The Provincial Nominee Programs allow Canada’s provinces and territories to select candidates from the Express Entry pool to fill their labor needs. Thus, a provincial nomination tells the IRCC (the national immigration authority) that the nominating province or territory finds you as someone who can contribute to its economic development.
There are two ways to apply for a Provincial Nominee Program.
The first way is to contact the province/territory and apply to one of its PNP streams. If the province nominates you, then you can then create an Express Entry profile and indicate that you have a provincial nomination.
The second way is to create an Express Entry profile and indicate the provinces or territories that you are interested in.
If a province, upon checking the EE pool for suitable candidates, is interested in you, it’ll send you a notification of interest. You can then apply to one of the province’s PNP streams. If you are nominated, the province will send a nomination certificate to your account.
In either case, if you receive a provincial nomination, it shows in your account and immediately makes the government (IRCC) notice your EE profile.
In terms of CRS score, a provincial nomination gives you additional 600 CRS points. That is, once your account indicates that you are nominated by a province, 600 points are added to your previous CRS point tally.
Getting 600 additional CRS points will instantly make you one of the highest ranking candidates in the Express Entry pool, and virtually guarantees being invited to apply for permanent residency.
For example, just before the recent Express Entry draw (specifically, as of August 15, 2022), of the 238,947 candidates in the EE pool, only 538 had CRS scores above 600. In that draw, 2,250 candidates (including candidates in PNP programs) were invited to apply for permanent residence.
Final Thoughts
Given the many benefits of immigrating to Canada, there is fierce competition in the immigration programs. However, you can make your immigration application stand out from the competition and get noticed by the government of Canada.
Some ways to do this include getting more than your desired program’s minimum requirements, getting a Canadian job, and obtaining a provincial nomination.
Take the assessment form on our website Assessment Forms to find out what immigration program will be best for you. Also, make sure to check out our Job Search page to make sure you’re not missing out on any opportunities!