In its most recent, surprising Express Entry draw, Canada welcomed 27,332 applicants to apply for permanent residency.

Candidates from the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) were welcomed by Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) on February 13. Candidates had to have a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of at least 75 – the lowest CRS requirement ever, for this historic Express Entry invitation round.

The draw today was nearly six times larger than the biggest ever Express Entry draw which issued 5,000 ITAs in four subsequent draws between November 18 and December 23 last year. The lowest CRS score cut-off requirement ever was 199 points in the May 16, 2017 draw – prior to today, which only invited candidates from the Federal Skilled Trades Program. Express Entry was introduced in January 2015.

Canada also held an Express Entry draw on Wednesday, inviting 654 candidates from the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) to apply for permanent residency, allowing a total of 27,986 Invitations to Apply (ITAs) issued this week.

The tie-break rule was enforced by IRCC, meaning that candidates who had the minimum score of 75 were only included if they submitted their Express Entry profile at 15:31 UTC before September 12, 2020.

Today’s draws illustrates IRCC’s dedication to meeting its target of 401,000 new immigrants in 2021. Of those, according to its 2021-2023 Immigration Levels Plan, IRCC plans to accept 108,500 immigrants through Express Entry-managed programs. The target will grow to 110,500 next year, and then to 113,750 in 2023. Canada has allocated the highest share of new immigrant allocations for the next three years to Federal High Skilled programs, which are operated by the Express Entry system. This means that, for the near future, the Express Entry system will continue to be Canada’s primary source of new immigrants.

The surprising draw today seems to indicate that at the beginning of this year the IRCC plans to release as many invites as possible so that the permanent residence landings of successful Express Entry applicants will be completed later in 2021. This will give IRCC a greater incentive to meet its target for immigration levels in the midst of ongoing coronavirus disruptions worldwide. At the same time, IRCC and Mendicino continue to emphasize that they will still look at global talent to help the post-pandemic recovery of the world, including those currently outside Canada.