The Right Honourable Justin P. J. Trudeau, P.C., M.P.
Prime Minister of Canada

The Honourable Sean Fraser
Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

The Express Entry system is the backbone of Canadian immigration as the majority of the economic immigrants migrate through this system. Candidates with the highest scores are chosen through a draw in the Express Entry procedure. The Federal Skilled Worker is one of the three federal programs managed through Express Entry. The other two programs include the Canadian Experience Class and the Federal Skilled Trade program.

The Immigration Refugees and Citizenship (IRCC) has held 'All Programs Draws' fortnightly since the beginning of the Express Entry system in 2015. The last "All Program Draw", however, took place on December 23, 2020, and IRCC has only held the CEC and PNP draws since then. The majority of applicants who invested their time, money and effort to achieve a competitive score are losing their CRS points, either because of age or English test expiry, in the hope of getting an invitation to apply for permanent residence.

The IRCC has neither stated why the Federal Skilled Worker and Federal Skilled Trade drawings have been halted nor when the "All Programs Draws" would resume. In this regard, the IRCC has made no official statement at all. Applicants having an active profile in the Express Entry Pool have tried to reach out to IRCC on several occasions, but it has turned a deaf ear to their pleas. Our inquiries go unanswered by the IRCC.

For post-pandemic economic recovery, a highly skilled workforce is required. Canada is facing a labour shortage and Canadian businesses need a highly skilled workforce in order to compete internationally. Canada requires a highly skilled workforce, and foreign workers in the Federal Skilled Worker pool are well suited to meet the country's labour market demands. As opposed to the Canadian Experience Class candidates, these candidates are more experienced, highly proficient in English, bilingual, and hold professional degrees in fields such as medical, engineering, nursing and finance, etc. This is also indicated by the cut-off score in the recent CEC draws, and therefore the FSW candidates ought to be prioritised over the CEC applicants.

Since more than 60% of the Canadian population is fully vaccinated and border restrictions have been lifted, we, the FSW candidates, urge the federal government to resume the FSW draws as soon as possible.

Note: This petition is sponsored and supported by a group of concerned Canadian citizens and we expect the Liberal government to redress this issue since Canada's election campaign is in full swing.