Express Entry: Minimum CRS hiked as 4,500 ITAs issued for Canada PR

The Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) held its 166th Express Entry draws on November 5, only a week after announcing the historic Immigration Levels Plan for 2021-2023. 

Express Entry draws are held every two weeks. However, November 5 draw was delayed following an update in the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) evaluation: French-speaking candidates are now eligible for additional CRS points over their English-only speaking counterparts. 

Quick Highlights on 166th Express Entry Draw

#1 Largest Draw Size: IRCC maintains the same draw size as the previous Express Entry draw at 4,500 invitations to apply (ITAs) for permanent residence. This is the third instance in 2020 where IRCC issued 4,500 ITAs in a single draw. 

CanApprove anticipates increased draw size in near future Express Entry draws based on the following factors: 

• Those who receive invitations now will be able to enter Canada only in 2021. It takes upto six months or beyond to process the application 
• The reduced refugees intake temporarily is replaced with more number of immigrants intakes under the economic class immigration
• With Provincial Nominee Programs falling short of its demand, Express Entry nominations may remain high. 

#2 Qualifying CRS increases: Express Entry is merely an application management system for federal immigration programs and specific provincial nominee programs. Thus all the registered profiles in the Express Entry pool are evaluated using a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS). This ranking system factors in the core human capital like age, work experience, education, and skills in English or French. The profiles are scored upon a maximum of 1200 points. 

November 5 draw saw a sharp increase in qualifying CRS to 478. The previous draw required CRS scored equal to or above 471 for selection. 

#3 Tie-break rule: 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 October 26, 2020 at 22:44:19 UTC. 

This meant that all candidates with a CRS score above 478 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.  

Example: Who Gets Nominated? 

Consider these hypothetical examples for a better understanding of Express Entry invitation rounds. Contact our consultants for further details. 

Factoring in the above human capital:

• Couple: If System Analysts received an offer of employment in Canada, she would enter the Express Entry pool as the principal applicant, gaining the couple a score of 488, sufficient to qualify for the November 5 Express Entry draw.

• Single: Her initial human capital score is 422, not enough to qualify. However, since she holds a provincial certification in her occupation from Nova Scotia, she gains 600 additional points. This makes her eligible to qualify for November 5 draw.  

Express Entry Draws in 2020

Canada is already cruising ahead with 87,350 ITAs for permanent residence so far in 2020. It is further expected to cross the 100,000 ITA landmark, exceeding the 2020 annual allocation target of 91,800 ITAs. 

Despite the negative consequence of pandemic on immigration levels, Express Entry has created record-breaking nominations for permanent residence, thereby welcoming eligible foreign skilled workers with/without job offers or Canadian work experience. 

The regular conduct of Express Entry draws and Provincial Nominee draws during the ongoing travel restrictions in Canada shows a high level of commitment towards welcoming immigrants. Having offered our immigration consultancy services for over two decades now, CanApprove senses a big pull for skilled immigrants- professionals, entrepreneurs/investors, students, in the coming years to migrate to Canada.  

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

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