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Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) held its 175th Express Entry draw on February 10, 2021.
In continuation with its pattern of alternative PNP & CEC specific Express Entry nominations draws, IRCC ended up issuing 654 invitation to apply (ITAs) for Canada PR to the registered Express Entry applicants with prior provincial nominations. All the invited candidates had a CRS score of above 720 points.
Comparing the results with the previous January 20, PNP-specific draws, the latest draw saw an increase in draw size and decline in the qualifying CRS cut-off score. Today’s draw CRS score was 21 points lower than that of the previous PNP-specific round of invitations.
No registered candidate qualifying for Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) was considered. It could be due to the ongoing travel restrictions owing to the pandemic. Candidates qualifying for FSWP need not have a prior work experience inside Canada or even a job offer as compared to other programs under Express Entry to qualify for permanent residence.
Despite the disruptions caused by the pandemic, Express Entry had a record-breaking year in 2020. Canada ended up issuing 108,350 ITAs last year as against the target of 91,800 ITAs.
Under the new Immigration Levels Plan, Canada will target at least 110,000 ITAs for Canada PR only under Express Entry draws every year. So far, over 10,000 ITAs have been issued in the month of January 2021.
Take this free assessment online to determine your eligibility for Canadian immigration.
Qualify For Canada PR Through Express Entry
Canada Express Entry is a long-drawn two-step process.
The first step involves the management of the applications for three federal immigration programs – the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW), the Federal Skills Trades (FSTP), and the Canadian Experience Class (CEC). Aspirants willing to be considered for Canada PR are required to qualify for individual program requirements before registration.
All eligible profiles are evaluated and ranked based on a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS). Factors such as age, education, language skills, work experience, previous provincial nominations are used to calculate a CRS profile score.
The second step involves the fortnightly nomination draws held by IRCC. Only high-ranking candidates based on the qualifying CRS score of a particular draw may receive ITAs for permanent residence.
Another way to qualify for Canada PR through Express Entry is by receiving a provincial nomination from any Canadian province.
Canada PNP is the second main pathway to welcome foreign skilled immigrants. It supports the local labor market demands of provinces as well as fulfill the regional aspiration of ushering in development through immigration.
Most PNPs have an Express Entry-aligned PNP stream to nominate candidates already present in the federal database. All the nominated candidates are eligible to obtain the additional 600 CRS points upon receiving a provincial nomination invitation. This would effectively guarantee an ITA for Canada PR.
Here is a hypothetical example of who can qualify for the February 10 Express Entry draw.
“Mohammed and Lana are a married couple, aged 34 and 31 respectively. Both are graduates holding a bachelor’s degree and have similar IELTS scores of 8 in listening and 7 in reading, speaking, and writing. Lana has three years of work experience in Finance while Mohammed has been working as a computer programmer for the last four years. However, both their work experience are outside Canada.
They decided upon their chances of obtaining permanent residence in Canada by entering the Express Entry pool with a CRS score of 421. They also sent their acceptance to be nominated under the Ontario Immigration Nominee Program (OINP). Upon successfully receiving a provincial nomination from OINP, their CRS score increased to 1021 (additional 600 points, as per the guidelines) which guaranteed their ITA for permanent residence in this draw.”
If you think, you are eligible to qualify under Express Entry for Canada PR, contact us for legal and other documentation support.
