Canada maintains 2018 high of 3,900 invitations in latest Express Entry draw

The Government of Canada has issued 3,900 Express Entry candidates an invitation to apply for Canadian permanent residence in a draw held October 29. The minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score in this latest draw was 442.

The federal Express Entry system manages the pool of candidates for Canada’s three main economic immigration program — the Federal Skilled Worker Class, Federal Skilled Trades Class and Canadian Experience Class.

Eligible candidates are given a score under the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) that determines their position in the Express Entry pool, and a set number of the highest-ranked are issued ITAs through regular draws from the pool.

Today's draw was the fourth time since September 5 that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has issued 3,900 Invitation to Apply (ITA) to Express Entry candidates, which remains the largest draw size of 2018.

To find out if you are eligible to enter the Express Entry pool, fill out a free assessment.

The minimum score in the October 29 draw was two points higher than the cut-off score of 440 in the previous invitation round, which took place October 15.

IRCC used its tie-break rule in this latest invitation round. The date and time used was October 16, 2018, at 06:09:04 UTC. This means that all candidates with a CRS score above 442, as well as those candidates with scores of 442 who submitted their profile before October 16, 2018, at 06:09:04 UTC, received an ITA in this invitation round.

Today's invitation round brings the number of ITAs issued this year to 74,200 and puts IRCC 778 ITAs behind where it was at this same point in 2017, at which point it had issued 74,978 ITAs.

IRCC's admissions target for 2017 was 71,700 new permanent residents and the department has established a target of 74,900 for 2018 and 81,400 for 2019 under Canada's Multi-Year Levels Immigration Plan.

There are a number of ways to improve your CRS score, including a provincial nomination that results in 600 additional CRS points.

Most Canadian provinces and territories have a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) that allows them to nominate a certain number of immigrants each year for Canadian permanent residence. Every PNP has at least one stream that is linked to the Express Entry system.

Express Entry linked-PNP streams were involved in four provincial draws in October that set new 2018 records for invitations issued. Those streams are located in Prince Edward Island, Ontario, Saskatchewan and British Columbia.

Looking for more information on Canada’s Provincial Nominee Programs? Use the new interactive Canada PNP Finder to explore programs, filter your search, and keep up to date on all PNP-related news.

The following is a hypothetical example of candidates who would have obtained an ITA in today’s draw:

Shoka and Navid are married. Shoka is 29 years old and Navid is 32. For language, Shoka had CLB 10 and Navid had CLB 9 across the board. They both have a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, each has more than three years of foreign work experience and neither has worked or studied in Canada. Shoka submitted a profile as the principal applicant and their score of 443 would have earned them an ITA in today's draw.

"Today's draw brings us almost neck-and-neck with 2017, which set the Express Entry record for invitations issued in a single year," said David Cohen, senior partner at the Campbell Cohen Canadian immigration law firm in Montreal. "If IRCC keeps draw sizes at 3,900, or even increases them, we could see a new record set this year."

To find out if you are eligible to enter the Express Entry pool, fill out a free assessment form.