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Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) held another program-specific Express Entry nomination draw on August 04, even as Canada enters its next phase of border relaxations.
The practice of holding alternate CEC-only & PNP-only nomination draws has yielded better results for Canada as it recorded over 100,000 invitations to apply for a permanent residency last year, despite the pandemic. It is even more interesting to note that IRCC is already close to achieving its annual target of 108,000 Canada PR invitations through Express Entry in 2021 only by holding alternate draws.
While the last time, IRCC managed to invite 4,500 CEC-only candidates, the August 04 draw invited a new batch of candidates from the federal pool with prior provincial nominations to apply for permanent residency (PR).
Overview of PNP-only Express Entry Draws
The latest Express Entry round of invitations is the 199th draws since its introduction in 2015. A brief summary of the nomination draw is as below:
- Bigger Draw Size: Canada issues 512 invitations to apply (ITAs) for permanent residency (PR) exclusively to those candidates in the federal pool who had already received provincial nominations. The previous PNP-only draw held two weeks ago issued 462 ITAs for Canada PR.
A provincial nomination is a certificate to immigrate to a certain Canadian province to fulfil its labour shortage demand. It is mainly issued by the concerned provincial government to fast-track one’s application to permanent residency in Canada which remains under the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal government.
All the invited candidates have already demonstrated their connection to a province or territory and experience to succeed in the labour market by securing a provincial nomination. Further, they may qualify to receive invitations for permanent residency through the Federal Skilled Worker Program, Federal Skilled Trades Program, or Canadian Experience Class.
- Higher Qualifying Score: Any prospective candidates that seek to register their profile for consideration under the Express Entry system shall be assessed and ranked based on a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS).
Such profiles are evaluated on a total of 1200 points and considers human capital factors like age, education, work experience outside Canada, language proficiency in English/French, spouse adaptability, Canadian study experience, etc. Those who receive provincial nominations through ‘enhanced’ PNP streams will get an additional 600 points towards their CRS score.
The 199th Express Entry draw required candidates to have a much higher qualifying CRS score of 760 points than the previous 734. However, when compared to qualifying scores in CEC-only draws, candidates would only be required to score 160 points in actual terms. Additional 600 points get automatically added to their overall CRS score upon receiving a successful provincial nomination.
- Tie-Break Rule: IRCC applies a tie-break rule to avoid disputes in the rankings in the case where two or more candidates are awarded the same CRS score. This draw invited candidates who had a minimum score of 734 and only if they submitted their Express Entry profile before March 5, 2021, at 22:38:31 UTC.
| Mushin & Khalid are a married couple in their mid-30s. Both hold a bachelor’s degree and scores well on their IELTS tests. Without any study experience or work experience in Canada, both registered their profiles in the Express Entry pool as a married couple last year in July 2020.
Based on their credentials, Anna, the principal applicant got a provincial nomination from the Prince Edward Island Express Entry impact category. With this provincial nomination, their CRS score jumped before the minimum CRS required in this PNP-only Express Entry draws. Learn more about Express Entry for Married Couples or Common-law Partners here. |
Immigration Candidates Already in Canada Prefered
IRCC has regularly held Express Entry draws in 2021. Only program-specific draws linked to either Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) or Canada Experience Class (CEC) have been held so far, thereby ignoring the candidates who qualified under the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP). This may be largely due to the COVID-related travel restrictions internationally.
FSWP candidates are mostly foreign skilled workers who do not have work experience inside Canada and do not hold a job offer in Canada. However, they may qualify for permanent residency based on their age, language proficiency, education, and relevant work experience abroad.
Canada is set to welcome 108,500 new immigrants through Express Entry-managed programs in 2021 alone. So far, about 92 per cent of the target has been achieved, i.e., 99,316 Express Entry candidates have been already invited to apply for permanent residency.
Click here to get a quick review of nomination draws in the months of January, February, March, April, May, June, July 2021.
Take this free assessment online to determine your eligibility for permanent residency.
For more latest updates on Canadian immigration, contact CanApprove.
