Express Entry and Economic Migration Pathways to Canada:

This paper focussed on two aspects of Express Entry as it applied to candidates in the three countries of origin in South Asia; that is the system and the human capital benchmarks used for ranking and inclusion/exclusion of a spouse based on them. [...] Iftekhar Immigration lawyers and consultants considered the system of ranking and the benchmarks for ranking as creating a fundamental shift in aspects of human capital that is valued in the selection of migrants. [...] Express Entry and the Structural Barriers to Women’s Participation With the introduction of spousal factors for CRS points and the option of determining accompanying status based on their points contribution, immigration lawyers have advised couples to decide on the principal applicant based on the most favorable accumulation of points. [...] As frontline advisors and counsel to applicants, immigration lawyers and consultants did not have an awareness of the manifold implications for the women left behind both in terms of the additional reproductive and caregiving roles or the possibility of a long and complicated sponsorship process. [...] In addition to the overall increase in the proportion of women applying and admitted as principal applicants in the years since the introduction of Express Entry, there is some country-level evidence of positive change in women’s participation rates (IRCC, 2019; 2020).