Canada commits high immigration levels as Express Entry issues 4200 ITAs for Canada PR

The month of September began on a positive note with the Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) conducting its all-program Express Entry draw for issuing permanent residence to foreign skilled workers. . 

An all-program draw takes into account the entire pool of candidates registered under the federal Express Entry system. It includes various profiles qualifying for any one of the three federal immigration programs – Federal Skilled Workers Program (FSWP), Canadian Experience Class (CEC), Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP), apart from the candidates with a provincial nomination.

Ever since the lockdown was imposed from March 18, IRCC had held specific Express Entry draws targeting candidates either with provincial nominations or canadian work experience.  The 162nd Express Entry draw is also noteworthy because it considered candidates belonging to the FSWP category. 

September 02nd draw is only the third draw since March that considered foreign skilled workers who had not previously lived or worked in Canada, i.e. FSWP category, to apply for permanent residence. 

Increase in Overall Draw Size

IRCC issued 4,200 invitations to apply (ITAs) for Canadian permanent residence in the latest Express Entry draw. This shows an increase of humble 300 ITAs over previous Express Entry draws in 2020. 

Earlier in the month of February, IRCC had conducted the largest ever Express Entry draw with 4500 ITAs for Canada PR. 

Decrease in qualifying CRS by 1 point

Any profile to be registered in the Express Entry pool is assessed and ranked on a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) that considers core human capital factors like age, work experience, education and skills in English or French. 

Following the declining trend in the CRS cut-off score, the latest draw required candidates to have their CRS scores above 475 for selection. This is a decrease of 1 point from the previously held all-program draw. 

Often there arises a situation where candidates end up having the same CRS score. Here is where IRCC uses its tie-break rule to rank a particular candidate higher. The timestamp used in the latest draw was September 2, 2020, at 14:17:32  UTC. 

This meant that all candidates with a CRS score above 475 before the selected date and time were eligible to receive an ITA in this invitation round. 

Fill-in this free online assessment to know more about your eligibility for various other immigration programs.  

Express Entry Draws in 2020

This is just the 29th draw of 2020 and the overall tally of ITAs issued has almost touched the 70k mark. The exact count of 69,950 ITAs issued thus far in 2020 is a new record in itself since the start of Express Entry draws in 2015. 

Here is a list of all Express Entry draws held in 2020.