Ontario distributes the first Express Entry-linked invitations in 2020

The province of Ontario has issued 242 invitations to Express Entry candidates under the French-Speaking Skilled Worker Stream to begin 2020. They were the first Express Entry-linked invitations that Ontario issued in the new year, and they were distributed among 242 eligible candidates who are looking to apply for a provincial nomination that would take them a step forward in their quest for Canadian permanent residence. The invitations were issued under the French-Speaking Skilled Worker Stream, which happens to be one of the three Ontario immigration pathways that are associated with the Express Entry system.

The Express Entry system serves as Canada’s primary source for skilled foreign workers. It has been designed to control the pool of eligible candidates belonging to the country’s federal high-skilled immigration programs. These include the Federal Skilled Trades Class, the Federal Skilled Worker Class, and the Canadian Experience Class. The candidates who are registered in the Express Entry pool are assigned ranks on the basis of the score they secure under the Comprehensive Ranking System. The CRS calculates the score on the basis of social factors like age, skilled work experience, education, and language proficiency.

Ontario’s French-Speaking Skilled Worker Stream gives permission to the province’s immigrant nominee program, or the OINP, to browse the Express Entry pool in search of candidates who satisfy the stream’s eligibility requirements. One of the requirements is that the candidates have to be able to understand, write, read, and speak French well enough to clear the Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) level 7 or even higher.

According to the OINP, the 242 Express Entry candidates who were given a Notification of Interest (NOI) during the 9th January draw had secured Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) scores between 433 and 472. The candidates must register in the Express Entry pool to find out if they are eligible for the stream.