Express Entry: Canada invites 3,300 CEC candidates

Canada held another Express Entry round of invitations on August 20.

The latest Express Entry draw was the second one in two days and the 161st overall held by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

Invitations were issued to a total of 3,300 Canadian Experience Class (CEC) candidates. A Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 454 was enough to ensure an Invitation to Apply (ITA).

Today’s CRS cut-off score was nine points higher than the previous CEC-specific draw on July 23, which had a CRS cut-off score of 445. The increase in points is due to more candidates being entered into the pool over the past month after Canada held an all-program draw on August 5.

Find out if you are eligible for any Canadian immigration programs

IRCC has held these program-specific draws since the coronavirus pandemic caused Canada’s border to close in March. They have all taken place following Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)-specific draws, and the number of ITAs from the two draws combined add up to a round number.

Yesterday, IRCC held a program-specific draw with 600 PNP candidates receiving ITAs.

Express Entry is a system that the federal government uses to manage applications for Canada’s three main economic-class programs: the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) and the Canadian Experience Class (CEC).

Some provinces also have provincial programs that are aligned with the Express Entry system.

In the Express Entry system, candidates are ranked based on their CRS score that considers multiple factors including their age, work experience, education and proficiency in French or English. In some cases, the date and time at which the Express Entry profile was created is also a ranking factor.

IRCC implemented a tie-break rule in today's draw. The tie-break rule is used to rank candidates who have the same CRS cut-off score based on the date and time their profile was created.

The tie-breaking rule for today’s draw was implemented for July 27, 2020 at 11:10:05 UTC. This means that candidates with a CRS score of 454 were only invited if their profile was submitted before this date and time.

This draw brings the total number of invitations issued in 2020 to 65,750.

Despite coronavirus, this number still exceeds the number of invitations issued at the same time last year and the year before.

Candidates who wish to submit their Express Entry profile may still do so despite any coronavirus-related restrictions in place. IRCC continues to accept submissions to the Express Entry system and to process applications for permanent residence.

Who is invited?

Paul is 36, has a bachelor’s degree, and has been working in Canada as a database analyst for just over one year. Prior to coming to Canada, he worked for 6 years in his field. Paul has an advanced English language proficiency. Paul’s CRS score of 456 would have been high enough to obtain an ITA in the August 20 Express Entry draw.

Find out if you are eligible for any Canadian immigration programs