IRCC seeing record high applicants, with CRS average topping 540 since January. When Harkirat Singh Virdi moved to Brampton from India, he was focused on building a career in computer programming.
But he wound up pivoting to learn French, and spending $3,000 in the process, to help his bid to land permanent residency.
"I started to learn French for 10 hours per day and just left my part time job… it was the best investment," said the 23-year-old, who became a permanent resident in 2022.
Singh Virdi now says he's seeing an increasing number of people asking for tips on learning French as the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) scores have soared in recent months, averaging over 540 since early 2024. If newcomers can't get their score to that threshold, they risk not qualifying for permanent residency and having to leave Canada.