Canada continues to issue Express Entry invitations through regular draws, invites 606 candidates

The Government of Canada has invited 606 Express Entry candidates to apply for Canadian permanent residence in a draw held April 9. The minimum Comprehensive Ranking System score for this invitation round decreased by 22 points from the previous Provincial Nominee Program draw held March 18.

Canada continues to hold regular draws which removes the uncertainty about the likelihood that Express Entry draws would take place following the implementation of special measures to slow the spread of coronavirus.

In fact, on April 1, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) tweeted that Express Entry rounds of invitations are still being held, and confirmed that it is accepting and processing applications.

Today's program-specific draw was the second in less than a month to target provincial nominee program candidates.

Since March 18, IRCC held two other program-specific invitation rounds through the Express Entry system exclusively targeting Canadian Experience Class candidates and those with provincial nominations.

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The Express Entry system is Canada’s principal source of skilled foreign workers. It manages the profiles of candidates for Canada’s three Federal High Skilled economic class immigration programs — the Federal Skilled Worker Class, Federal Skilled Trades Class, and Canadian Experience Class.

Eligible candidates are entered into the Express Entry pool and are ranked based on a CRS score that considers factors such as age, education, skilled work experience and proficiency in English or French.

A set number of the highest-ranked candidates are issued an invitation to apply for Canadian permanent residence (ITA) through regular draws from the Express Entry pool.

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Today’s draw is the 8th of 2020 and brings the total number of ITAs issued this year to 23,206.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) used its tie-break rule in this draw and the date and time used was December 18, 2019 at 11:29:51 UTC. This means that all candidates with a CRS score above 698, as well as those candidates with scores of 698 who submitted their profile before this specified date and time, received an ITA in this invitation round.

Express Entry candidates with scores below today’s CRS cut-off have a variety of potential options for increasing their points total, the most valuable of which is a provincial nomination.

A provincial nomination results in an additional 600 CRS points and effectively guarantees an invitation to apply for Canadian permanent residence.

Since the previous all-program draw held on March 4, several of Canada’s Express Entry-aligned provincial nomination streams have issued invitations, including streams in Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia.

Canada’s various Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) streams have already held more than 30 draws since the start of 2020.

Under its 2020-2022 Immigration Levels Plan, the Government of Canada is targeting the admission of 341,000 immigrants in 2020, 351,000 in 2021, and another 361,000 in 2022. PNP admissions are set to increase by 20 per cent by 2022.

The following are hypothetical examples of candidates who would have obtained an ITA in today's draw:

Arvin is 40, holds a Bachelor’s degree, has an advanced English language proficiency and has been working as a software developer for 6 years. He entered the Express Entry pool with a CRS score of 381. Arvin has never worked or studied in Canada. Arvin was invited to apply for Provincial Nomination under the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program and since being nominated has seen his CRS score increase to 981. Arvin obtained an ITA in the April 9 Express Entry draw.

Lianne is 27 and completed her Bachelor’s degree in Canada. Since graduating in late 2018 she has been working in Nova Scotia as a management consultant. Lianne did not work or complete any post-secondary study before coming to Canada. She wrote the IELTS and scored a 6 in each category. She entered the Express Entry pool with a CRS score of 394 and was recently nominated under the Nova Scotia PNP. Her new CRS of 994 was high enough to obtain an ITA during the April 9 Express Entry draw.

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