Express Entry: Only 440 CRS needed; 3,515 ITAs issued

Today's Express Entry round issued 3,515 invitations to Canadian Experience Class (CEC) candidates with Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) scores of 440 or higher.

Express Entry draw cut-offs continue to plummet as Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) invites a larger number of CEC-specific candidates. Today's draw was the largest CEC-specific Express Entry draw since May 1st, and the second-largest since Canada introduced special coronavirus measures in the middle of March.

The May 28 draw continued a trend that has seen the cut-off CRS score decrease in each of the last six CEC draws held since the last all-program draw on March 4, 2020. This trend may be explained in part by the relatively regular interval and frequency between draws that IRCC has maintained during the last two months.

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

The cut-off score of 440 is a decrease of 7 points from the previous CEC draw on May 15, which had a minimum score of 447 and was previously the lowest points cut-off for the program since January 2019.

Today's CEC draw was the second invitation round in 24 hours to issue Invitations to Apply (ITAs) for Canadian permanent residence.

The draw held on May 27 issued 385 invitations to Express Entry candidates nominated through the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). The minimum CRS score for these candidates was 757.

Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) candidates in the Express Entry pool are awarded an additional 600 points on top of their original human capital score. This is why the minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score requirement is usually much higher for draws such as the one that took place yesterday.

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 ITA through regular draws from the pool and IRCC typically aims to process applications for permanent residence within six months.

IRCC applied its tie-break rule in this draw and the date and time used was March 7, 2020 at 10:36: 59 UTC. This means that all CEC candidates with a CRS score of at least 440 who submitted their profile before this date and time, received an ITA in this invitation round.

Today’s draw brings the total ITAs issued in 2020 to 42,100.

Despite the fact that Canada's immigration policies and procedures have undergone major changes since March 18 due to the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), the Express Entry system has remained operational and candidates can still submit a profile.

IRCC has held a total of twelve Canadian Experience Class and Provincial Nominee Program draws over the past two months.

Both categories of applicants are more likely to already be in Canada than those arriving through other Express entry-linked programs, which means they will not be impacted by the current travel restrictions.

Here is a hypothetical scenario of candidates who would have been invited in the May 28 draw:

Ram is 31 and married to Priya. Priya and Ram each hold a bachelor’s degree obtained outside of Canada, and Priya is pursuing her second bachelor’s degree in Canada. Ram has been working in Canada for just over a year as a business analyst. Prior to coming to Canada, Ram had three years of experience as a business analyst. They each wrote the IELTS and scored a 7 in each category. They entered the Express Entry pool with Ram as the principal applicant. Their CRS score of 442 would have been high enough to obtain an ITA during the May 28 Express Entry draw.

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