New Express Entry draw sees another 3,900 candidates invited to apply for Canadian permanent residence

Canada held a new invitation round through the Express Entry system on March 4.

A total of 3,900 candidates were issued invitations this round, with a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score requirement of 471.

The cut-off score of 471 is an increase of one point over the previous draw on February 19, which had a minimum score of 470.

Two weeks ago, 4,500 Express Entry candidates received ITAs in the largest draw ever held by the Government of Canada.

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 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 ITA for Canadian permanent residence through regular draws from the pool and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) aims to process applications for permanent residence within six months.

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In order to reach this year’s 85,800 ITA target for new permanent resident admissions, it appears the government started issuing larger numbers of invitations in every draw.

Today’s draw is the 5th of 2020 and brings the total number of ITAs issued this year to 18,700.

The tie break applied in the March 4 draw was February 24, 2020 at 06:02:57 UTC.

This means that all candidates with CRS scores above 471, as well as those with scores of 471 who entered their profile in the Express Entry pool before this date and time, received an ITA.

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 Alberta, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island and British Columbia have invited Express Entry candidates to apply for a provincial nomination.

The following are hypothetical examples of candidates who would have obtained an ITA in the March 4 draw:

Chloé is 29, has a bachelor's degree, an advanced French language proficiency and has been working as a marketing consultant for 3 years. Chloé has never worked or studied in Canada, but she has a brother who is a Canadian citizen living in Alberta. Chloé’s CRS score of 471 would have been high enough to obtain an ITA during the March 4 Express Entry draw.

Geeta and Srinivas are married and are 29 and 37 respectively. They wrote the IELTS and Geeta scored an 8 in listening, a 7.5 in speaking and a 7 in writing and reading while Srinivas scored a 7 in each category. Geeta holds a master’s degree and Srinivas holds a bachelor's degree. They have been working as database administrators for the past three and five years, respectively. They entered the Express Entry pool with Geeta as the principal applicant. Their CRS score of 471 would have been high enough to obtain an ITA during the March 4^th Express Entry draw.

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