Alberta’s latest Express Entry selection round invited 374 candidates with Comprehensive Ranking System scores as low as 400 to apply for a provincial nomination for Canadian permanent residence. 

Details of the September 25 draw were published today by the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP).

The AINP is a component of Canada’s Provincial Nominee Program (PNP), which allows participating provinces and territories to nominate an allotted number of Economic-Class immigration candidates for Canadian permanent residence each year.

All provinces and territories that take part in the PNP have at least one stream that is linked to Canada’s Express Entry system, which manages the pool of candidates for Canada’s three main skilled worker immigration programs: the Federal Skilled Worker Class, Federal Skilled Trades Class, and Canadian Experience Class.

The draw capped a September in which the AINP conducted three selection rounds through its  Alberta Express Entry Stream and invited 852 Express Entry candidates to apply for a provincial nomination.

The Alberta Express Entry Stream allows the AINP to search the federal Express Entry pool for skilled foreign workers with strong ties to Alberta or who are working in an occupation that supports the province’s economic development and diversification priorities.

Candidates are not required to have a job offer in Alberta, but the AINP says having one may increase the likelihood of a candidate being invited.

Find out if you are eligible for Express Entry

A provincial nomination results in an additional 600 points under Express Entry’s Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS).

A candidate’s CRS score determines their ranking in the Express Entry pool and the additional 600 points from a provincial nomination effectively guarantee an invitation to apply for Canadian permanent residence.

The lowest-ranked Express Entry candidate invited in the AINP’s September 25  selection round had a CRS score of 400.

This score was higher than previous AINP selection rounds, which have seen candidates with scores as low as 300 selected. However, a minimum score of 400 is still significantly lower than the cut-off score in the latest federal Express Entry draw, which was 464.

The 374 invitations issued on September 25 brought the total number of Express Entry candidates invited by the AINP in 2019 to 6,088.

Find out if you are eligible for any Canadian immigration programs

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