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Did you know? Canada has set itself an ambitious target to invite over 1.2 million new immigrants by the end of 2023. It would mean about 401,000 new immigrants will be invited in 2021 for Canada PR. Moreover, 60% of the total target is said to be achieved through economic-class immigration programs like Express Entry, Provincial Nominee Programs, and Business Immigration programs.
In 2021 alone, about 80,000 invitations will be sent out to eligible candidates through PNP and over 108,800 ITAs for Canada PR through Express Entry programs.
May 2021 saw up to 15,000 invitations to apply (ITAs) for permanent residency (PR) in Canada. It is to be read as a sign of relief as more new aspirants can be expected to immigrate to Canada very soon.
Express Entry ITAs For Canada PR
Canada Express Entry is a long-drawn two-step process.
As it manages the application database for three federal immigration programs – the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW), the Federal Skills Trades (FSTP), and the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) – aspirants are first required to qualify for individual program requirements. Such eligible profiles are assessed and ranked on a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS). Core human factors such as age, education, language skills, and work experience are used to calculate a CRS profile score.
The second step will involve the fortnightly nomination draws held by IRCC. The high-ranking candidates based on the CRS score get invitations to apply (ITA) for permanent residence (PR).
Express Entry has already issued over 60,000 ITAs for Canada PR so far in 2021. It is almost half of the expected annual target of 108,800 ITAs in 2021.
| Express Entry Draws – April 2021 | |||
| Draw Number | Nomination Draw Date | Qualifying CRS | ITAs issued |
| #186 | May 12 | PNP-specific: 752 points | 557 |
| #187 | May 13 | CEC-specific: 401 points | 4,147 |
| #188 | May 20 | CEC-specific: 397 points | 1,842 |
| #189 | May 26 | PNP-specific: 713 points | 500 |
| #190 | May 31 | CEC-specific: 380 | 5,956 |
Observing the Express Entry draw trends in April 2021, one may witness an increasing preference for candidates having a prior work experience inside Canada. Otherwise said, the IRCC is pushing more temporary workers, international graduates, recent graduates present in Canada to apply for permanent residence.
Somewhere in the whole nomination draws in 2021, the preference for candidates under Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) is still being sidelined. Usually, foreign skilled workers who have adequate work experience but outside Canada are considered under the FSWP category.
In the year 2019, before the current pandemic exploded the scenes, Canada created a record nomination through Express Entry draws by inviting over 1 million foreign skilled workers for the first time in its history. Data from Statistics Canada reveal that more candidates from the FSWP category were preferred. Canada repeated the same feat in 2020, however, more candidates qualified under CEC & PNP categories.
Active Provincial Nominations To Qualify For Canada PR
The unique arrangement between the federal and provincial/territorial governments in Canada allows the nomination of foreign candidates separately based on the unique labor demand of each province. Later on, these provincial nominations allow eligible candidates to apply for permanent residence.
Further, candidates with an active Express Entry were extremely benefitted as provincial nomination will give them a chance to gain an additional 600 points towards their overall CRS score. This would effectively guarantee them an ITA for Canada PR in a subsequent Express Entry draw.
The Previous month saw nearly 3,000 eligible foreign talent receive invitations to apply for provincial nominations. With improved retention rates for immigrants in Atlantic Canada, which otherwise was not much popular among immigrants, Canadian immigration through Provincial Nominee Program, Express Entry is gaining much steam.
BRITISH COLUMBIA
British Columbia has now issued nearly 5,000 invitations to apply for permanent residency since the start of the year. In a parallel development, the province has indefinitely extended the validity of its infamous British Columbia’s Tech pilot project. This would result in more nominations of specific foreign tech workers to immigrate to Canada.
| May 04 – Tech Pilot Draw | 84 ITAs | Nominations were issued to candidates in the Skilled Worker, International Graduate as well as Entry Level and Semi-Skilled sub-categories of Skilled Immigration and Express Entry British Columbia streams.
Additionally, invited candidates were expected to have a valid job offer of at least 12 months in one of the Tech Pilot’s 29 eligible occupations. |
| May 11 – Two provincial draws | 379 ITAs | General draw invited about 331
candidates with qualifying scores of 77 and 94. All candidates were invited under Skilled worker and international graduate subcategories Another draw targeted candidates whose occupation falls under NOC 0621(retail and wholesale trade manager.) or NOC 0631 (restaurant and foodservice managers). The draw resulted in 48 invitations with scores of 112. |
| May 18 – Tech Pilot Draw | 82 ITAs | Nominations were issued to candidates in the Skilled Worker, International Graduate as well as Entry Level and Semi-Skilled sub-categories of Skilled Immigration and Express Entry British Columbia streams.
Additionally, invited candidates were expected to have a valid job offer of at least 12 months in one of the Tech Pilot’s 29 eligible occupations. |
| May 25 – Two provincial draws | 370 ITAs | Candidates with a provincial score ranging between 76 and 94 points under Express Entry British Columbia (EEBC) and Skills Immigration (SI) categories.
The separate draw for applicants whose occupation falls under NOC 0621 or NOC 0631, resulted in 47 invitations with scores of 113. |
ONTARIO
Ontario is now eyeing to welcome at least 8,350 eligible candidates to apply for permanent residency (PR) in 2021. Typically, foreign workers with Canadian work experience in occupations relating to National Occupational Classification (NOC) skill level 0, A, B. Such jobs include Managerial positions, Experts in certain fields, Professionals, Supervisors with graduate-level or higher education qualifications.
| May 04 – Express Entry-linked Draw | 102 ITAs | Express Entry candidates whose Comprehensive Ranking System scores ranged between 456 and 467.
Candidates proficient in both French & English were only considered. Further, candidates who received a Notification Of Interest in this draw had to have an Express Entry profile created between May 4, 2020 – May 4, 2021. Prior work experience of at least one year in Canada was also a determining factor. |
| May 11 – first base PNP draw under new EOI system | 81 ITAs | Invited candidates had work experience in one of 23 occupations.
Candidates needed an EOI score of at least 31, and they needed to have job offers in one of 15 health care occupations or eight skilled trades occupations. |
| May 18 – first PNP draw for international students under new EOI system | 138 ITAs | The Ontario International Student Stream under the Employer Job Offer category is open to foreign nationals who have an eligible job offer from an employer in Ontario.
Candidates needed an EOI score of at least 77 to receive an invitation to apply for provincial nomination. |
| May 25 – first PNP draw targeting candidates with job offers in three rural communities under new EOI system | 64 ITAs | Eligible candidates under any of the OINP Employer Job Offer streams and also have a full-time job offer in one of the participating communities are eligible to, you may be able to get a provincial nomination through the pilot. |
| May 26 | 158 ITAs | International students with job offers in Ontario were considered to apply for a provincial nomination. |
ALBERTA
Alberta has now invited 1,909 Express Entry candidates to apply for a provincial nomination in 2021.
| May 05 | 250 ITAs | Express Entry candidates with a score of 300 were eligible to receive invitations to apply for a provincial nomination. |
| May 18 | 250 ITAs | Invited candidates were required to have a valid Express Entry profile with a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) requirement of at least 301. |
MANITOBA
Manitoba has now issued nearly 3,422 invitations to apply for permanent residency since the start of the year.
| May 06 | 150 LAAs
(Letter of Advice to Apply) |
Further, a total of 14 LAAs went to Express Entry candidates. |
| May 25 | 232 LAAs |
Further, a total of 20 invitations went to Express Entry candidates. |
| May 27 | 404 ITAs | All eligible candidates in the federal Express Entry pool with an EOI score of at least 601 were invited. |
SASKATCHEWAN
| May 06 | 259 ITAs | International Skilled Worker category through two subcategories: Express Entry, and Occupations In-Demand. |
| May 25 | 269 ITAs | Only Occupation In-Demand with scores of 65 were considered to apply for a provincial nomination by the province. |
PRINCE EDWARD ISLANDS
| May 20 | 155 ITAs | Eligible candidates were invited under Express Entry, Labour Impact and
Business Impact categories. 138 invitations went to Express Entry and Labour Impact candidates. The remaining 17 invitations went to Business Impact candidates who had a minimum point threshold of 80. |
Further, demand for foreign entrepreneurs is being created through this new entrepreneur immigration pathway for international graduates to apply for Canada PR.
As an aspirant to migrate and settle in Canada, now is the best time for you to apply. Further, you are also being informed that any misrepresentation on your visa application can cause a ban of up to five years.
Here’s a quick review of our previous editions of monthly nomination draws review:
- Monthly nomination draws: January 2021,
- Monthly nomination draws: February 2021,
- Monthly nomination draws: March 2021,
- Monthly nomination draws: April 2021.
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