Canada is conducting a survey among employers and other departments to determine the focus for 2025.
Moreover, the immigration department wants to decide whether to prioritize skilled workers already in Canada, allowing them to stay, or to continue offering opportunities for foreign specialists to obtain permanent residency.
Canada is targeting three priority types of immigration:
1. Addressing long-term shortages of certain skilled trades through new immigrants. In addition to the current list of selected specialists, the Ministry of Immigration plans to start selecting the following specialists through Express Entry:
- Kindergarten teachers and assistants
- Elementary and secondary school teachers and assistants
- Career guidance specialists
- Specialists working with people with disabilities (physical or mental)
There is also consideration to expand this list further to include specialists from the education sector.
2. Support for French-speaking specialists outside the province of Quebec. The minimum percentage of French speakers is set as follows:
2024 - 6%
2025 - 7%
2026 - 8%
As we can see, the selection for Francophones will only increase and be conducted more frequently. Additionally, there is consideration to either lower the French language requirement or keep it at the current level (currently level 7 in all categories).
3. Addressing shortages in critical industries (eco-technology, biotechnology, biomanufacturing, and the mining sector to promote electric vehicles or generate safe energy). The quota for issuing permanent residency in 2024 is set at 110,770 applications. For 2025 and 2026, the quota will remain approximately the same – 117,500 per year. If you want to participate in the IRCC survey – please follow the link below.
