To Combat Fraud, Canada’s Express Entry System No Longer Awarding Points for Job Offers

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Marc Miller speaks in the Foyer of the House of Commons before question period on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on June 12, 2024. The Canadian Press/ Patrick Doyle

The Canadian immigration system will no longer grant extra points to temporary foreign workers applying for permanent residency based on job offers endorsed by a Labour Market Impact Assessment, Ottawa has announced.

Immigration Minister Marc Miller says the temporary measure will help mitigate fraudulent activities in Canada’s Express Entry System, an online framework for managing the country’s skilled immigration programs.

By eliminating the incentive to illegally buy or sell Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIA), candidates can no longer boost their chances of obtaining permanent residency in Canada, Miller said in a Dec. 23 press release. The change will come into effect in spring of 2025.

“We are taking important steps to reduce fraud while continuing to attract the skilled talent our economy needs,” he said.

Once the changes are enacted, they will impact candidates seeking permanent residency via the Express Entry system, including those who are presently employed in Canada on a temporary basis, Miller said.

Candidates who have already been invited to apply or have an ongoing application will not be affected by these changes, he said. Once it takes effect, the change will be applicable to all candidates who currently have job offers in the pool as well as to any new candidates entering the pool.

Miller first made mention of the pending changes during a Dec. 17 press conference in which he announced sweeping changes to Canada’s immigration and border security policies.

“This measure is expected to remove the incentive for candidates to purchase an LMIA, resulting in increased fairness and integrity [to] the Express Entry System,” he said.

LMIAs are part of Canada’s temporary foreign worker program that allows employers to hire foreign workers. If an employer can demonstrate they’re unable to find a qualified candidate for the position domestically, they can hire a foreign worker. To accomplish this, however, employers must obtain an LMIA.

Once an employer applies for and receives an LMIA, the worker can apply for a work permit.

Fraud comes into play when an employer or immigration agent uses the system to illegally sell LMIAs to foreigners hoping to improve their immigration score to facilitate their transition from temporary to permanent resident status.

Some media reports citing industry players place the price to purchase an LMIA between $10,000 and $30,000, while others indicated it could be as much as $70,000 or more.

Canada uses immigration scores to rank immigrants in its Express Entry pool. The higher the applicants score, the better the chance they have of becoming permanent residents. Under the old system, an LMIA could add 50 to 200 points to an applicant’s total score out of 1,200.

Canada approved 54,879 LMIAs in the second quarter of 2024—an increase of 10,000 more than the same period in 2023. Most of the employment was in the food service, transportation, and construction sectors.

Foreign Worker Program Crackdown

The Liberal government has been heavily criticized for increasing the number of temporary residents allowed into Canada, which many have linked to housing shortages and a higher cost of living.

This latest change appears to be an extension of the measures implemented last month to reduce the influx of newcomers to Canada in response to the country’s housing and affordability issues.

Under the measures, Canada is now imposing restrictions on the number of low-wage temporary foreign workers across most industries and has raised the minimum wage. The change, which came into force on Nov. 8, requires an employer to pay 20 percent above the median income in their province to qualify for a foreign worker permit.

Miller said at the time that Ottawa planned to balance the number of foreign workers with actual demand.

“It’s clear that the age of unlimited supply of cheap foreign labour is over, and I think that is a good thing,” he said at a Nov. 13 press conference.