It is expected that the government of Canada will soon announce changes to the processing of Canadian permanent residence applications from international graduates of Canadian study programs.

A recent report from the Advisory Council on Economic Growth — which recommended that Canada boost its immigration levels to 450,000 in order to optimize economic growth in Canada — advised that Canada welcome more international graduates as permanent residents. The Council proposed two ways to ease the pathway to permanent residence for international students in Canada: increasing the number of points allocated under the Express Entry system, and simplifying the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) process for employers who want to hire international graduates who studied at Canadian institutions.