Canada's Express Entry immigration system loves the young. It showers points on anyone under 29. Foreign work experience stops counting after just three years, no matter how extensive, and the Canadian Experience Class requires only a single year of local work. The whole system is designed to prioritize youth over seasoned expertise.
The result? A system where the youngest applicant often outshines the most qualified one, on paper, at least. All of this creates one clear winner: junior workers.
But here's the uncomfortable truth. Canada doesn't just need more junior workers. It needs seasoned, highly skilled professionals who can train and mentor Canadians, bring depth to our industries, and build lasting expertise. Right now, the Express Entry system makes that harder, not easier, and in a global talent competition, shouldn't we be rewarding the most skilled professionals, not just the youngest workers available?
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Points That Miss the Point
TheComprehensive Ranking System (CRS)was designed to be objective, but its structure clearly favours age over depth of experience:
- Age points max out at 29 and then decline rapidly after 30, creating a steep penalty for professionals in their 30s and 40s.
- Foreign work experience doesn't even get its own points.It's bundled with other factors and peaks at just three years. That means a decade of specialized expertise counts the same as three years on the CRS scorecard.
- The Canadian Experience Class requires only one year of local experience to qualify. While that's enough to enter the pool, it doesn't capture long-term skill or leadership potential, and it doesn't want to either, with points starting strong for the first year of experience and tapering off for subsequent years.
Put it all together, and a 25-year-old with one year of experience can easily outscore a 40-year-old with a decade of high-level expertise in healthcare, tech, or engineering. That's not just a numbers game. It's a missed opportunity for Canada's workforce.Take the 49-year-old family doctor, working in Ontario for the last 2 years, but yet to be selected from the pool.
Economic Immigration Should Be About Skills
Economic immigration is meant to attract high-skilled workers, not just more workers to fill critical shortages. Sectors like healthcare, tech, engineering, and skilled trades need leaders, trainers, and subject-matter experts. The people who can design systems, transfer knowledge, and mentor the next generation.
By prioritizing points for youth without striking a balance for experience, Express Entry risks bringing in enthusiasm at the expense of expertise. It overlooks the reality that experience keeps hospitals running, infrastructure growing, and innovation moving forward.
Malcolm Gladwell'sOutliersfamously emphasized the 10,000-hour rule. The idea that mastery requires 10,000 hours of deliberate practice. Canada's system, however, effectively assumes 1,560 hours (one year at 30 hours a week) is enough to demonstrate skill and value. It isn't.Professionals, and countless HR studies, point to the concept of time-to-productivity: the period it takes a new hire to reach full effectiveness in a role. For many positions, especially in complex or technical fields, this can be 6 to 12 months or more before someone isn't just performing tasks, but adding real value, mentoring others, or driving innovation.
If that's true in the labor market, why does Canada's immigration system act as though one year of work experience is enough to measure skill, leadership, or long-term potential?
Experience Isn't the Enemy
The system assumes younger workers will stay in Canada longer, pay more taxes, and integrate faster. But experience brings stability and ability, not to mention a higher tax bracket. One surgeon coming and earning $500,000 (or closer to a million in some cases) is going to pay more taxes than a few young workers earning at or just above the median wage in Canada.
Beyond higher earnings, seasoned professionals bring problem-solving skills, industry insight, and leadership experience. They train junior hires, bridge skill gaps, and deliver on complex projects that power economic growth.
Why This Needs to Change
Canada risks creating a narrow, one-dimensional pool of permanent residents if Express Entry keeps prioritizing youth with limited Canadian experience over seasoned professionals, producing candidates who look the same on paper but lack the diversity of expertise needed for a truly competitive economy.
This isn't just about demographics; it's about the range of skills that drive innovation, build infrastructure, and keep critical systems running. By shutting out seasoned professionals with global experience, Canada risks missing out on the very talent its economic immigration mandate was designed to attract.
What Needs to Change
Canada shouldn't abandon young applicants, but it needs to strike a better balance by valuing skill more heavily. Here are just some ways this can be achieved:
- Extending the points curve for work experience, so ten years of foreign work experience holds more value than three.Better yet, give foreign work experience its own points under core/human capital factors instead of bundling it with other factors under skills transferability.
- Flattening the points penalty for age so professionals in their 30s and 40s remain competitive.
- Adding points for leadership experience.
Immigration should build the strongest possible workforce. Youth bring energy, but experience brings expertise. Canada needs both.
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