Although Canada is cutting overall immigration numbers, the country is looking to welcome people with specific skill to meet its labour needs.
On February 27, 2025, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced priority professions for Express Entry.
Express Entry is an online system used to manage permanent residence application from a pool of skilled workers within a standards processing time of six months.
For 2025, Canada wants to invite workers in three fields, namely health care and social services, trades, and education.
Under health care and social services are family physicians, nurse, practitioners, dentists, pharmacists, psychologists, and chiropractors.
For trades, carpenters, plumbers, and contractors are welcome to apply.
In education field, Canada wants to see teachers, child care educators and instructors of persons with disabilities.
In addition to these fields, IRCC also listed French speakers as priority to meet the country’s Francophone immigration targets.
“Canada’s Express Entry system is evolving to meet the country’s changing needs,” Marc Miller, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, said in the February 27, 2025 media release.
“By addressing labour shortages, strengthening our economy and increasng Francophone immigration, we are building a more dynamic workforce with workers and professionals from in-demand fields. Our approach ensures immigration remains a key driver of Canada’s growth, helping businesses thrive while supporting communities across the country,” Miller continued.
Express Entry was launched in January 2013 as Canada’s flagship system to manage application for three federal high-skilled (FHS) permanent economic immigration programs.
These programs are the Federal Skilled Worker Program [FSWP], Federal Skilled Trades Program [FSTP], and Canadian Experience Class [CEC], and a proportion of the Provincial Nominee Program [PNP].
“Express Entry is an effective tool to bring in workers with skills and attributes needed to respond to Canada’s evolving economic needs and help address labour market shortages,” the government explains online in its 2023 year-end report about the Express Entry.
The year-end report stated that in 2023, 120,770 principal applicants and their accompanying family members were admitted to Canada as permanent residents through Express Entry.
“In 2023, India has remained, by a large margin, the most common country of citizenship among practical applicants and their accompanying family members, followed by Nigeria and China,” the report stated.
For that year, India has 54,015; Nigeria, 9,200; and China, 5,155.
The Philippines was eighth on the list in 2023, with 2,590, a number that is consistent with the previous two years.
In 2022, a total of 2,235 Express Entry applicants and their accompanying family members from the Philippines entered Canada as permanent residents.
For 2021, the number of Philippine applicants was 2,940.
While Canada continued to focus on people with specific skills, the country has started to cut overall immigration levels.
The move comes in response to rising negative public sentiment on immigration, as the surging number of newcomers has been blamed for expensive housing and deteriorating infrastructure and social services.
On October 24, 2024, the government announced that it is reducing permanent resident targets.
Compare to the 2024 immigration levels plan, the government will the number of new permanent residents it will welcome in 2025 from the previous target to 500,000 to 395,000 this year.
For 2026, the previous target of 500,000 permanent residents will be reduced to 380,000. In 2027, the previous target to 500,000 will be pruned to 365,000.
By Carlito Pablo
