Within two days, Canada held its second Express Entry draw.
A total of 250 Federal Skilled Trade Program (FSTP) candidates received a Canadian permanent residence invitation to apply (ITA). To receive an ITA, successful FSTP candidates required a Comprehensive Ranking System – CRS score of at least 415.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) held an all-program draw yesterday which saw 3,900 ITAs issued to candidates with a minimum CRS cut-off score of 476.
Canada issued 4,150 ITAs through this two-day period.
Given the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, this year is proving to be a good year for Express Entry. Canada has already issued 61,850 ITAs in 2020, the largest amount of invitations issued on this day relative to any other year since the introduction of Express Entry 2015.
The 7th FSTP draw since 2015
Today also marks the 7th FSTP-specific draw in the history of Express Entry.
The FSTP is a gateway to permanent residency for skilled workers working in a skilled trade. It opened in 2013 to help address shortages of jobs in several skilled trades in Canada. Candidates in one of the following trades and occupations need to have at least two years of work experience:
– Industrial, electrical and construction;
– Maintenance, equipment operation;
– Technical and supervisor jobs in natural resources, agriculture, and related production;
– Processing, manufacturing, utilities, central control operations;
– Chefs, cooks;
– Butchers or bakers.
This accounts for the fewest amount of ITAs provided by qualifying Express Entry programs, owing to the targeted nature of the program. In fact, of the 85,300 ITAs issued in 2019, only 1,000 went to the FSTP candidates.
One explanation why the FSTP is so small is because candidates appear to have lower CRS scores than candidates qualifying through the Federal Skilled Worker Program or the Canadian Experience Class of Express Entry.
As such, IRCC conducts rare FSTP-specific draws in order to meet the labour market demands of Canada through successful trades candidates.
Today was the first FSTP-specific draw of 2020 – and the first since 16th October 2019.
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