#228 - How Express Entry Went Off the Rails, with Steven Paolasini

Canada’s Express Entry system was designed to rank skilled immigrants predictably and select those most likely to succeed economically. Has it instead become an unpredictable collection of category-based draws, shifting priorities and short-term policy fixes?

Steven Paolasini joins us to discuss his recent Macdonald-Laurier Institute paper, co-authored with Nino Melikidze, on how Canada’s skilled immigration system went off the rails—and how it could be rebuilt.

We discuss the transformation of Express Entry after the pandemic, historically high CRS cutoffs, the growing emphasis on French-language selection, and why highly educated and well-paid workers already established in Canada are increasingly unable to qualify. We also debate whether immigration selection should prioritize Canadian experience, earnings, education, language ability, occupational demand or broader social objectives.

In the live listener questions, we address whether criticism of French-language draws unfairly characterizes Francophone immigrants, whether applicants already working and building lives in Canada should receive priority over candidates abroad, and what should happen to cooks, fast-food workers, construction labourers and other lower-wage workers who do not fit a narrowly defined high-skills model.

Read Steven Paolasini and Nino Melikidze’s paper, “How Canada’s skilled immigration system went off the rails—and how to fix it”:

https://macdonaldlaurier.ca/how-canadas-skilled-immigration-system-went-off-the-rails-and-how-to-fix-it-nino-melikidze-and-steven-paolasini/

01:15 – How Canada’s skilled immigration system went off the rails

04:00 – What Express Entry was originally designed to do

08:08 – CRS scores before and after the pandemic

10:06 – The extraordinary 2021 CEC draw

12:32 – The rise of category-based selection

13:06 – French-language draws and lower cutoffs

17:25 – The skilled workers whom the system leaves behind

20:04 – Scientists and graduates struggling to qualify

27:03 – How Steven would redesign Express Entry

27:28 – Longer-lasting profiles and refundable deposits

29:22 – Why Canadian earnings should receive more weight

30:30 – Should all educational credentials be treated equally?

32:21 – Why predictability matters

LIVE LISTENER QUESTIONS

39:37 – Is criticism of French-language draws anti-Francophone?

42:42 – Should workers already in Canada receive priority?

44:36 – Should cooks and lower-wage workers qualify through Express Entry?

48:43 – Who should design pathways for essential workers?

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