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Changes to Canada's Express Entry System Benefit Skilled Workers With Siblings

Blog posted on by Evelyn Ackah in Permanent Residence and Express Entry Permanent

Changes to Canada's Express Entry System Benefit Skilled Workers With Siblings

Skilled immigrants with siblings in Canada awarded points

Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen announced changes to Express Entry that will help Canada “welcome more skilled immigrants” whose siblings can help them integrate faster and who can contribute to the country’s Francophone communities.

Express Entry changes go into effect June 6, 2017, and express entry will start awarding 15 points to applicants who have a sibling in Canada who is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident and aged 18 or older. Canada's Express Entry system awards up to 1200 points based on their education, training, work experience and language skills. Before now, no points were awarded to applicants with siblings in Canada.

Studies have shown that as newcomers build a new life in Canada, those with siblings benefit by having improved integration into Canadian society.

~ Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

Almost 34,000 invitations to apply for permanent residence were issued to express entry candidates in 2016.

Canada Express Entry - Permanent Residence

Express Entry was launched by the Canadian Government on January 1, 2015, as a way to choose skilled immigrants as Permanent Residents to Canada based on their ability to settle in Canada successfully.

Express Entry is used to manage applications for Permanent Residence under three federal economic immigration programs:


Evelyn L. Ackah, BA, LL.B.

Founder/Managing Lawyer

Ms. Ackah is passionate about immigration law because it focuses on people and relationships, which are at the core of her personal values. Starting her legal career as a corporate/commercial ...

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It is one thing to earn a living; it is another thing to make a difference in the world.

This is our formal thank you note to Evelyn Ackah and the Ackah Law Team for all the effort they put into helping us navigate and finally resolve the hurdle that was Canadian Immigration back in the spring of 2012.

A friend referred us to Evelyn; he assured us that Evelyn would take good care of us. Our friend was confident we were in good hands and said Evelyn would do her very best to help us and she did! At the time we did not know that his referral would go far beyond finding us help. Slowly we realized that it would become our own personal story of how we received grace and were reminded of the power in paying it forward

We wrote a detailed page of our dilemma, explaining how we came to be in the position we were in (overwhelmed with the hurdle that was Canadian Immigration and the uncertainty that we faced as a young family in Calgary). Evelyn agreed to take on our file with her team. They found the time to personally call us and listened intently and understood the details of what we were dealing with. They gave us their time, an honest opinion and provided clear direction which proved to be invaluable advice. Months went by but in time, we received word from Ackah Law that the Immigration office had finally reviewed our file and a decision had been made allowing our family to finally put the immigration matter to rest. We were finally able to focus again to live our lives without fear or pending doom.

Looking back now, even the sun appeared to shine a little brighter that day. At first we didn’t know whether to bake them a cake, drive out to meet their team, find their offices and personally thank them with a mighty hug or simply cry out to the heavens in thankful relief. Instead we emailed them to express our heartfelt thank-you and we hoped that they would know deep in their hearts just how grateful we were for all of their help.

Even though we relied on emails and phone conversations to communicate with them that year, we will always remember their constant professionalism, their kindness and understanding at a time that brought us so much pain not to mention fear. As if all their hard work wasn’t enough, Evelyn then then casually mentions that all their work was done pro-bono! We were thoroughly humbled!

To this day we are still eager to share how wonderful they all are as human beings but even more than that, we continue to pay it forward in honour of them, their service to us and their continued dedication in helping others.

Eternally thankful

– The Brummunds

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