The Canadian government has announced that it will resume immigration and Express Entry draws through the Federal Skilled Trades Program, Federal Skilled Worker Program and other immigration classes.

“Starting July 6th, 2022, qualified candidates will be invited to apply for permanent residency from the following programs:

1. Federal Skilled Worker program

2. Federal Skilled Trades program

3. Canadian Experience Class,” Canada’s Immigration minister Sean Faser said on Twitter.

The policy resumption on Wednesday comes months after Canada suspended its express entry visa program in January. At the time, an internal memo released by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) noted a backlog of qualified candidates. The suspension was enable processing times. 

In June, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that a new task force had been established to handle immigration processing delays. 

“We know service delays, particularly in recent months, are unacceptable…we will continue to do everything we can to improve the delivery of these services in an efficient and timely manner, and this new task force will help guide the work of the government to better meet the changing needs of Canadians and continue to provide them with the high-quality services they need and deserve,” Mr Trudeau had said.

IRCC’s backlog currently stands at about 2.4 million people. Between April 29 and June 1, the number of applicants increased by 257,499. CIC News attributes the rising numbers due to more people seeking temporary residence.

As of June 1, there are 1,471,000 persons in the application backlog for temporary residence, an increase of 216,380 compared to data released on April 29.