Canada to introduce new refugee pathway under Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot

IRCC Minister Sean Fraser has announced Canada will introduce a new immigration pathway that aims to connect employers in Canada with skilled refugees and displaced persons.

The pathway will be available under the federal Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (EMPP).

The IRCC website states the new pathway under the Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (EMPP) is set to launch this summer.

The EMPP exists to help employers hire skilled refugees and other displaced persons.

It pairs such individuals with Canadian employers who need to overcome labour shortages in key occupations.

The new pathway launching this summer will give employers more opportunities to address in-demand jobs such as nurse aids, personal support workers, long-term care aids, software engineers, web designers, mechanical and electrical engineers and technicians, teachers, tourism and hospitality workers, and truck and delivery service drivers.

Over the next few years, Canada is looking to expand the EMPP and welcome 2,000 qualified refugees and displaced persons to fill labour shortages via the EMPP.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is looking to welcome 465,000 new permanent residents this year.

Under the Immigration Levels Plan 2023-2025, this target is set to rise to 485,000 immigrants in 2024, and 500,000 immigrants in 2025.

Last year, Canada welcomed just over 437,000 immigrants.

Canada’s record levels of immigration numbers, combined with record foreign student and worker admissions, resulted in the country’s population growing by over one million people for the first time in history last year.

Canada’s ambitious immigration targets are largely aimed at addressing the country’s high number of labour shortages.

Canada offers more than 100 different economic class immigration pathways.

The leading economic class pathway is the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP), which enables provinces and territories to identify candidates who meet their local economic needs.

The leading federal pathway is the Express Entry system.

Both pathways have been seeing a lot of activity recently.

Four provinces announced their latest PNP results over the past week.

Meanwhile, IRCC has held two major Express Entry draws over the past two weeks, inviting 14,000 candidates in total to apply for permanent residence.