Blue Bird Blog

Canada Day is statutory holiday celebrated on July 1st by all those who call Canada home. The day commemorates the anniversary of the Constitution Act. The Act, signed in 1867, consolidated three new territories who agreed to come together to join Canada’s wider confederation. Canada Day is informally referred to as “Canada’s Birthday”, but July 1, 1867 was an important milestone in the evolution of the country into its current form of ten provinces and three territories.

Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has updated its policy regarding the collection of biometrics for permanent resident applicants. As of June 14, anyone applying for permanent residence (PR) must submit biometrics, regardless of if they have previously submitted them for a temporary residence permit. The update to the published policy means that IRCC is returning to pre-pandemic procedures for permanent resident applications. 

Today, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry announced the first STEM round for category-based selection will open the week of July 5th. The draw will prioritize sending invitations to candidates with Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) expertise, which includes data scientists, software developers and programmers, mathematicians, statisticians and actuaries, and electrical and electronic engineers.

The first half of 2023 has been an interesting chapter in Express Entry history. In some ways, Express Entry has been unpredictable, as it has worked to re-establish itself after a months-long pause throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the resumption of all-program draws in July last year, Express Entry draws occurred every two weeks on Wednesdays and resumed the pre-pandemic established patterns. Draw sizes increased by predictable increments while the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score decreased slightly with each draw.

IRCC has invited 500 healthcare workers under the new Express Entry category-based selection draws. Candidates required a minimum comprehensive ranking system (CRS) score of 476. This is the very first category-based selection draw since the six new categories were announced on May 31. A second round, inviting 1,500 workers to apply, will take place on July 5. A draw inviting eligible candidates from science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professions is also expected to occur in the same week.