A ranking system that Canada now uses to select skilled immigrants has been a resounding success, resulting in improvements to newcomers’ employment rates and earnings, an internal review has found.

Ninety-five per cent of the principal applicants admitted under the so-called Express Entry process were employed after one year, while 83 per cent of them reported doing so in their primary occupation, says the review of the five-year-old program.

These immigrants also earned 20 per cent more than their “non-Express Entry” peers who were admitted in the old system, with 43 per cent of them employed in occupations usually requiring university education for their first job, compared to just 25 per cent for the latter group.

“They are demonstrating high levels of labour market participation and solid results in terms of their employment income, as well as the type of occupation in which they are employed,” said the 85-page study, which was recently released.

“The EE system was designed to screen high human capital candidates who have the potential to achieve economic success in the Canadian labour market over the longer term. Nevertheless, the early results are encouraging.”

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