Large July 24 Express Entry draw sees another 3,600 candidates invited to apply for Canadian permanent residence

A new invitation round through Canada's Express Entry system issued 3,600 invitations to candidates with Comprehensive Ranking System scores of 459 or higher.

The cut-off score of 459 is a decrease of one point over the previous draw on July 10, which had a minimum score of 460.

The July 24 draw was the second consecutive invitation round to issue 3,600 invitations to apply for Canadian permanent residence (ITAs).

This is an increase of 250 ITAs over the 10 all-program Express Entry draws held between January 30 and June 26, which had a cap of 3,350 ITAs each.

Canada's Express Entry system manages the profiles of candidates for three of Canada's main economic-class immigration programs — the Federal Skilled Worker Class, Federal Skilled Trades Class and Canadian Experience Class.

Candidates are ranked based on a score awarded under Express Entry's Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) that considers factors such as age, education, skilled work experience and language ability in English or French.

A set number of the highest-ranked candidates receive an invitation to apply for Canadian permanent residence, or ITA, through regular draws from the pool and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) aims to process applications for permanent residence within 6 months.

Find out if you are eligible to enter the Express Entry pool

Today's draw continued a trend that has seen the cut-off CRS score decrease in each of the last three draws. This trend may be explained in part by the regular, two-week interval between draws that IRCC has maintained since the end of May.

The time between draws is an important factor that can have an effect on the CRS cut-off score. A shorter interval between draws means fewer candidates have time to enter a profile in the Express Entry pool.

Draw size is also an important determinant of the CRS cut-off — larger draws allow IRCC to go deeper into the pool and can result in candidates with lower CRS scores receiving an ITA.

IRCC has now issued 49,000 ITAs so far in 2019. With Canada's expanded admissions targets for the three Express Entry-managed programs and its Provincial Nominee Program, which is also partially managed by Express Entry system, it remains possible that IRCC will exceed its ITA record of 89,800 that was set last year.

Express Entry-linked PNPs

A number of Express Entry-linked provincial nominee streams have been active in recent weeks. Express Entry candidates who receive a provincial nomination are awarded an additional 600 points toward their CRS score and move to the front of the line for an ITA.

These 600 points are especially valuable to candidates with lower CRS scores who have yet to make the cut-off in a federal Express Entry draw.

Several Express Entry-linked provincial nominee streams do not consider a candidate's CRS score or have CRS requirements that are below the cut-off scores in federal draws.

Over the past two weeks, Express Entry-linked provincial nominee streams in Ontario, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island and British Columbia have invited Express Entry candidates to apply for a provincial nomination.

The Ontario draw was the first of the province's new Tech Draws and its largest yet of 2019 through its Human Capital Priorities Stream, issuing 1,623 invitations to Express Entry candidates with CRS scores between 439 and 459 and work experience in six tech-related occupations, among other requirements.

The following are hypothetical examples of candidates who would have obtained an ITA in the July 24 draw:

Sheila is 33, holds a master’s degree and has an advanced English language proficiency. She has been working as a Human Resources Manager for four years. While Sheila has never worked or studied in Canada, her CRS score of 459 would have been high enough to obtain an ITA during the July 24 Express Entry draw.

Dev and Salimah are married and have been working together as software developers for three years. They are 34 and 30 years old respectively. Both Dev and Salimah hold two post-secondary certificates and each wrote the IELTS and scored an 8 in listening and a 7 in each other ability. Dev and Salimah have never worked or studied in Canada, and they entered the Express Entry pool with Salimah as the principal applicant. Her CRS score of 459 would have been high enough to obtain an ITA during the most recent Express Entry draw.

"The CRS cut-off has now dropped 11 points since June and now that IRCC is going with larger draws we will hopefully see that trend continue," said David Cohen, senior partner with the Campbell, Cohen Canadian immigration law firm in Montreal.

"It's also been great to see Express Entry-linked provincial nominee streams in action over the past couple of weeks with Ontario's first Tech Draw inviting Express Entry candidates with scores as low as 439."

Find out if you are eligible to enter the Express Entry pool