Canada invited 500 Express Entry candidates to apply for permanent residence on May 26.
To be invited, Express Entry candidates needed to have a nomination from a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). The minimum score requirement was 713, because they would have received 600 points automatically as a result of the PNP. Without the nomination, the lowest-scoring candidate would have had a score of 113.
Compared to the previous PNP-only draw, Canada invited 57 fewer candidates, and the score requirement dropped 39 points.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) publishes a cutoff time for the tie-break rule as an administrative requirement, regardless of whether there was an actual tie. In the new draw, candidates who had the minimum score were only invited if they submitted their Express Entry profile before April 06, 2021 at 09:50:14 UTC.
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IRCC prioritizing candidates in Canada
Since the start of the year, Canada has only invited Express Entry candidates who have received a PNP, or who are eligible for the Canadian Experience Class (CEC). This is because the COVID-related travel restrictions do not allow approved permanent residents to come to Canada from abroad, and the government is aiming to admit record-breaking numbers of new immigrants over the next three years.
In 2021 alone, Canada is set to welcome 108,500 new immigrants through Express Entry-managed programs. So far, IRCC has invited 68,817 Express Entry candidates to apply for permanent residence.
PNP-only and CEC-only draws have vastly different CRS requirements. This is because PNP candidates have a 600-point award attached to their score. CEC candidates are invited in high numbers, and they are not competing for invitations from other programs. The larger the draw size allows for more top-scoring candidates to receive invitations, therefore a lower CRS cutoff. In the previous CEC-only draw, the CRS requirement dropped to 397.
What is Express Entry?
Express Entry is a points-based application management system. It covers the three Federal High Skilled programs, which include the: Canadian Experience Class, Federal Skilled Worker Program, and Federal Skilled Trades Program. Some PNPs also use the Express Entry system to find candidates who may be good candidates to receive a provincial nomination.
If you are eligible for one or more of the Federal High Skilled programs, you will get a score based on the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS). The CRS awards points based on skilled work experience, education, age, official language skills, and other factors.
IRCC holds regular rounds of invitation. The highest-scoring candidates receive an Invitations to Apply (ITA) for permanent residence. This is your chance to get Canadian permanent residence.
After you submit an application, an IRCC immigration officer will make a decision. If you are approved, the last step is to complete the landing process and officially immigrate to Canada.
Who was invited?
The following is a hypothetical example of someone who may have been invited in the new draw.
Ngozi is 34 with a Master’s degree and has been working as a database analyst for ten years. He wrote the IELTS and scored a 7.5 in listening and a 6.5 in every other category. He has never worked or studied in Canada. Ngozi entered the Express Entry pool and also submitted a profile to the Canadian province of Manitoba. He entered the Express Entry pool with a CRS score of 360. Shortly after submitting a profile to Manitoba, Ngozi was invited to apply for provincial nomination. After being nominated, his Express Entry CRS score increased to 960 and Ngozi obtained an Invitation to Apply for permanent residence in the new Express Entry draw.
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