Express Entry: 392 PNP candidates receive ITAs

Canada held another round of Express Entry invitations on June 24, inviting candidates who had provincial nominations.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) issued 392 invitations to candidates with Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) scores of 696 and above.

All these candidates had previously received provincial nominations and were awarded an additional 600 points toward their overall score. This means without the provincial nomination the candidate would have had a CRS of 96.

The CRS ranks human capital factors such as age, work experience, education, and official language proficiency to determine which Express Entry candidates would have a high likelihood of succeeding in the Canadian labour market.

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Express Entry is Canada’s main pathway to permanent residence for skilled foreign workers and it manages the pool of candidates for the Federal Skilled Worker Class, Federal Skilled Trades Class and Canadian Experience Class.

A tie-break rule was applied in this draw. All candidates with a CRS score of at least 696 who submitted their profile before April 23, 2020, at 10:39:30 UTC, received an ITA in this round.

Since the government announced special coronavirus measures restricting travel on March 18, Canada has been holding regular Express Entry draws targeting provincial nominees and Canadian Experience Class candidates.

So far, the government of Canada has held 15 draws through these two programs and issued tens of thousands of Invitations to Apply (ITAs) for Canadian permanent residence.

Immigration targets are currently on track to exceed last year's levels. Despite travel restrictions, more ITAs were issued this year than at the same time in 2019. To date, as of June 24, a total of 46,392 principal applicants have been invited to apply for permanent residence in 2020.

Recent weeks have also seen an impressive amount of activity among Canada’s Express Entry-linked provincial nominee streams. In the past 7 days alone, more than a thousand Express Entry candidates have been contacted by Canada’s provinces to apply for a provincial nomination.

These streams allow Canada’s provinces and territories to choose candidates in the federal Express Entry system who meet their individual labour market needs and nominate them for Canadian permanent residence.

In order to be considered for a provincial nomination through one of Canada’s Express Entry-linked streams, the first step is to submit an Express Entry profile.

The following is a hypothetical scenario of someone who may have been invited in the June 24 draw.

Ali is 34 with a Master’s degree and has been working as a database analyst for ten years. He wrote the IELTS and scored a 7.5 in listening and a 6.5 in every other category. He has never worked or studied in Canada. Ali entered the Express Entry pool in January 2020 and also submitted a profile to the Canadian province of Saskatchewan through the International Skilled Worker: Saskatchewan Express Entry stream. He entered the Express Entry pool with a CRS score of 360. Shortly after submitting a profile to Saskatchewan, Ali was invited to apply for provincial nomination. After being nominated, his Express Entry CRS score increased to 960 and Ali obtain an Invitation to Apply for permanent residence in the June 24 Express Entry draw.

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