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Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) held its third program-specific Express Entry nomination draw of August 2021, 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 invited 3,000 CEC-only candidates, the August 18 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 201st draws since its introduction in 2015. A brief summary of the nomination draw is as below:
- Bigger Draw Size: Canada issues 463 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 512 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 201st Express Entry draw required candidates to have a lower qualifying CRS score of 751 points than the previous 760. However, when compared to qualifying scores in CEC-only draws, candidates would only be required to score 151 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 April 13th, 2021 at 16:29:29 UTC.
| Mohammed Rusul is in his mid-30s and holds a master’s degree in Computer Science. He scored well in the IELTS English proficiency tests. Without any study experience or work experience in Canada, he had registered his profile in the Express Entry pool last year around September 2020.
Based on his credentials, Rusul received a provincial nomination from British Columbia. With this provincial nomination, his CRS score jumped above the minimum CRS required in this PNP-only Express Entry draws. |
Canada Issued 16 PNP-only Draws in 2021
Only program-specific draws linked to either Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) or Canada Experience Class (CEC) have been held so far. This led to neglecting of candidates who qualified under the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP). This is largely due to public health restrictions & 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, 102,779 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.
