On 13 May 2020, Canada invited 529 Express Entry candidates to apply for permanent residency. So far this year Canada has invited 34,829 aspiring immigration candidates.
In the current draw, only candidates who had been nominated by a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) were invited, which is why the Comprehensive Ranking System – CRS score cut-off was 718. The score seems high, as these candidates received an extra 600 CRS points with the provincial nomination. In other terms, this round, a candidate with a 718 CRS receiving an Invitation to Apply (ITA) would have had a CRS of only 118 without the nomination.
This PNP-specific draw appears to fit a pattern from Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) where Express Entry draws differ between targeted candidates with provincial nominations and Canadian Experience Class (CEC) nominations. The previous Express Entry draw only selected CEC candidates and had a 452 CRS cut-off which has been the lowest this year so far.
In this draw a tie-break rule was implemented, and the date and time used was at 12:53:21 UTC on March 19, 2020. This means that in this invitation round, all candidates with a CRS score of 718 and above who submitted their profile before that date and time received an ITA.
This is how IRCC has held Express Entry rounds after Canada closed its borders on March 18, in an attempt to avoid the spread of coronavirus. The potential of Express Entry draws was uncertain for a while, as these days have also been generally described. However, as we look back on the years, despite travel restrictions, and this new way of conducting Express Entry draws, in 2020 more ITAs have been issued than in 2019 and 2018.
The frequency of Express Entry draws has also modified since the implementation of specific coronavirus measures. Since the start of the year, Express Entry drawings appeared to happen every two weeks on Wednesday like a clockwork. CRS scores hovered unchanged around the 470s.
Then on March 18, as travel restrictions came into effect, the year’s first PNP-specific Express Entry draw was held, and the first CEC draw of the year was held, just five days later. The frequency of draws has also become much more unpredictable.
Canada is also on track to meet its Express Entry target of 85,800 ITAs in 2020, with 34,829 ITAs so far, compared with 31,250 in 2019 at this time.
Canadian immigration is managed by the federal government. Express Entry is the system being used by government to manage immigration applications for three economic-class programs: Federal Skilled Worker, Federal Skilled Trades, and Canadian Experience Class.
Individuals eligible for one of these programs submit their profile in the Express Entry pool, where they earn a CRS score based on the human capital factors such as age, work experience, education and English or French language ability.
The highest-ranking candidates are then invited through frequent Express Entry draws to apply for permanent residency.
Need more assistance on the same? Get in touch with authorized immigration consultants in Delhi.
Click here! Also read this interesting: Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program
