On January 20, Canada held its third Express Entry immigration draw of 2021.
With a minimum CRS score of 741, Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) invited 374 Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) candidates.
Express Entry is Canada’s primary source of accepting skilled workers who seek to acquire permanent residency in Canada. Canada plans to accept an average of 110,000 immigrants through Express Entry in the coming years, under the 2021-2023 Immigration Levels Plans. For the following three programs, IRCC uses Express Entry to manage skilled worker applications: the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Federal Skilled Trades Program, and the Canadian Experience Class.
Express Entry is a process that involves two steps. In step one, applicants who are eligible for at least one of the above three skilled worker streams upload their profile to the website of the IRCC. Based on their human capital, such as their age, education, language skills, and work experience, they then get a Comprehensive Ranking System – CRS score.
In step two, IRCC holds Express Entry draws roughly every two weeks and issues permanent residency Invitations to Apply (ITAs) to applicants with the highest CRS scores. If an ITA is obtained by a candidate, they can go ahead and submit a Canadian permanent residence application to the IRCC.
If they receive an invitation through an Express Entry-aligned Provincial Nominee Program, applicants can gain an extra 600 points in their final CRS score. This essentially ensures that they will earn an ITA for permanent residency.
The second main way Canada accepts eligible immigrant workers is the PNP. Through the PNP, most of the provinces and territories of Canada run their own immigrant selection systems to accept eligible newcomers who can better meet their needs in the local labour market. Candidates who follow the Express Entry-aligned PNP stream selection requirements are entitled to win an extra 600 CRS points, assuming they obtain an invitation to a provincial nomination.
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, Express Entry witnessed a record-breaking year in 2020. As Canada looks to welcome more immigrants to help its post-COVID economic growth, the country released 108,350 ITAs last year and targets are expected to rise over the coming years.
On January 6 and January 7, Canada held the first two Express Entry draws of 2021. These were program-specific draws. 250 PNP candidates were invited in the January 6 draw, while 4,750 CEC candidates were invited in the January 7 draw. At the onset of the pandemic in 2020, IRCC kept program-specific drawings with the justification that these candidates were more likely to be able to prevent disruptions associated with COVID. Nevertheless, Canada ended 2020 with all-program draws that allowed ITAs to also be earned by FSWP and FSTP candidates.
To date, 5,374 ITAs have been issued by the IRCC, more than the number issued at the same time in 2020. With a CEC-only draw expected later this week, the figure is expected to increase further.
Compared to the last PNP-only draw that took place on January 6, the IRCC issued further invitations and lowered the CRS cut-off score today. The cut-off score was 813 in that draw.
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