On January 21, the IRCC held its second Express Entry draw this week.
4,626 permanent residency invitations were issued by Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to Canadian Experience Class candidates. The cut-off requirement for the Comprehensive Ranking Score (CRS) was 454.
The CRS cut-off score today was seven points lower than the previous CEC-specific draw, which had a CRS cut-off score of 461, held on January 7.
Since 2015, Express Entry has become Canada’s primary way to manage skilled worker applications.
The IRCC intends to welcome around 110,000 Express Entry immigrants each year, as defined under its new 2021-2023 Immigration Levels Plan. Last year, when it had a record-breaking year for Express Entry, Canada came close to this threshold, issuing a total of 107,350 permanent residence invitations. In order to sustain a strong economy, the Canadian government continues to emphasize that accepting high numbers of skilled immigrants during and after the COVID-19 pandemic would remain vital.
The Express Entry process has two steps. Firstly, it is necessary to see if skilled worker candidates are eligible for at least one of the following programs: the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Federal Skilled Trades Program, and the Canadian Experience Class.
Through uploading their profile to the IRCC website, candidates who are eligible for one of these programs can join the Express Entry pool. A Comprehensive Ranking System – CRS score based on criteria such as age, education, work experience, language experience, and other factors of human capital, will be awarded by IRCC.
In the second step, IRCC generally conducts Express Entry draws every two weeks and issues Invitations to Apply (ITAs) to candidates for permanent residence based on the proposed policies of IRCC and cut-off criteria of CRS.
The draw today is the 4th of 2021. On January 20, the IRCC held a draw for candidates from the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP).
An additional 600 CRS points are earned by candidates securing a provincial nomination through Express Entry, which then effectively guarantees that they can receive an ITA.
In 2021, the IRCC is still due to hold an all-program draw.
The return to PNP- and CEC-specific drawings is a strong indication that the IRCC will focus heavily on Canada’s new Express Entry candidates to try to meet its 2021 immigration goals. At the same time, it seems highly likely that candidates for FSWP and FSTP will also be considered for Express Entry drawings in 2021, even during the coronavirus pandemic. Last year, when the pandemic started but concluded in 2020, IRCC retained PNP- and CEC-specific drawings by keeping several all-program drawings, allowing FSWP and FSTP candidates to also secure ITAs.
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