Alberta invites Express Entry candidates with CRS scores as low as 350

Alberta invited 115 federal Express Entry candidates to apply for a provincial nomination for Canadian permanent residence in a draw held October 9.

The federal Express Entry system is Canada's principal source of skilled foreign workers. It manages the pool of candidates for the Federal Skilled Worker Class, Federal Skilled Trades Class and the Canadian Experience Class, which are three of Canada's main economic immigration programs.

All Express Entry candidates are issued a ranking score based on human capital factors such as age, work experience, education, and proficiency in English or French.

Canada's federal government only invites the highest-ranked candidates in the Express Entry pool to apply for Canadian permanent residence. The lowest-ranked candidates invited in an all-program Express Entry draw in 2019 had a CRS score of 438.

An all-program draw includes candidates from all three Express Entry-managed immigration classes.

Draws conducted through provincial immigration streams aligned with the Express Entry system often invite candidates with lower CRS scores.

This is true of the Alberta Express Entry Stream, which invited Express Entry candidates with scores as low as 350 in its October 9 selection round.

Previous Alberta Express Entry Stream draws have selected federal candidates with CRS scores as low as 300.

A provincial nomination results in an additional 600 CRS points and effectively guarantees an invitation to apply in a subsequent federal Express Entry draw.

Find out if you are eligible for Express Entry

Alberta Express Entry Stream

Express Entry candidates who can demonstrate strong ties to Alberta, or who can support the province's economic development and diversification objectives, may be invited to submit an application for a provincial nomination through the Alberta Express Entry Stream, which is managed by the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP).

The AINP says it is more likely to issue invitations to an Express Entry candidate who:

has an Alberta job offer and/or work experience; and/or
is a graduate of a Canadian post-secondary institution; and/or
has a relative living in Alberta such as a parent, child, and/or sibling.

The following factors may decrease a candidates likelihood of being selected:

the Express Entry profile expires within three months
Express Entry candidates are working in an occupation on the Alberta Opportunity Stream Ineligible Occupations list, as well as the list of high-wage and low-wage occupations in the province of Alberta, and any occupation that already has a high volume of submissions across all AINP streams.

Find out if you are eligible for any Canadian immigration programs