The Canadian government on 22^nd July, invited CEC candidates with scores of at least 357. A total of 4,500 candidates were issued Invitations to Apply (ITA) for Canadian permanent residency.

The immigration department invited candidates with scores of at least 357. In order to be invited – candidates needed to be eligible for the Canadian Experience Class (CEC). Also, candidates were only invited if they met the minimum CRS score and had their profiles in the Express Entry pool before February 14, 2021 at 09:04:15 UTC as per the tie-breaker rule.

In the previous CEC draw, 4,500 immigrating candidates were invited with a CRS cut-off score of 369. The CEC round before that however, had a cut-off score of 357. This 22^nd July draw matched the second lowest score for a CEC draw ever. The lowest being when IRCC invited CEC candidates with scores of at least 75 on February 13.

CEC and PNP draws

The IRCC has been frequently holding CEC and Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) draws throughout the pandemic. The reasons being that the candidates are more likely to be already living in Canada – and less likely to be affected by travel restrictions and other public health measures.

According to its immigration level plans, Canada is all set to welcome 401,000 new immigrants to the Great White North. A fourth of these are expected to come through the Express Entry system.

So far this year, the Canadian government has invited twice as many candidates compared to the same time last year. The large number is majorly the courtesy of the historic February 13 Express Entry draw where every one of the eligible CEC candidates (27,332) in the pool were issued an ITA.

The CRS score requirements for PNP-only and CEC-only drawings are vastly different. This is due to the fact that PNP applicants’ scores are automatically increased by 600 points. Candidates for the CEC are not competing for other programmes’ invitations. As a result, IRCC subtracts more from the top, causing cut-off scores to fall lower.