Canada remains committed with 4,200 Express Entry invitations for Canada PR

September ended on a higher note with the Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) conducting its 164th Express Entry draw. 

Express Entry draw is not a visa type but an application management system. Candidates who register their profiles in the system may qualify for nominations. Such nominations for permanent residence in Canada are held under three federal immigration programs- Federal Skilled Workers Program (FSWP), Canadian Experience Class (CEC), Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP), subjected to eligibility criteria. 

A select group of candidates with prior provincial nominations may also find themselves eligible to apply for Canada PR alongside the nominated candidates. 

Ever since the lockdown was imposed on March 18, IRCC had held specific Express Entry draws targeting only those candidates with provincial nominations or Canadian work experience.  The 164nd Express Entry draw is a departure from usual as it considered candidates belonging to the FSWP category. 

September 30th draw is now the fifth 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. 

Draw Size Remains Same

The draw size in the latest draw remains the same with 4,200 invitations to apply (ITAs) for Canadian permanent residence. Although the draw size went up to 4500 ITAs in February 2020, the constant draw size of 4200 for the last three draws shows how well Canada is committed to increasing the immigration levels in 2021 and beyond. 

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). The said ranking system evaluates the registered profiles based on core human capital factors like age, work experience, education and skills in English or French. 

Following the declining trend in the CRS cut-off scores, the latest draw required candidates to have a score above 471 for a successful nomination. The minimum CRS requirement follows a one-point decline 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 March 2, 2020, at 12:37:25 UTC. 

This meant that all candidates with a CRS score above 471 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 31st draw of 2020 and the overall tally of ITAs issued is nearing the 80,000 mark. The exact number of ITAs issued in 2020 alone stands at 78, 350 which is a new record in itself considering the unprecedented situation worldwide. 

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

The regular conduct of Express Entry draws and Provincial Nominee draws even during the ongoing pandemic displays a high level of commitment for increasing immigration levels in Canada. In such times, CanApprove is your best immigration and overseas education consultant with a genuine service record of over two decades. 

You can now fix an appointment with one of our consultants to further discuss the prospects of your Canadian immigration.