Canada Issues 600 Invitations To Apply In Its Latest Express Entry Draw
The Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) held its 160th Express Entry draw, issuing out 600 invitations to immigration candidates to apply for permanent residence on August 19.
The new Express Entry round rolled out 600 invitations to candidates with Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) scores of 771. Invited candidates required a provincial nomination from a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) in order to be selected. PNP recipients automatically obtained an additional 600 CRS points added to their base human capital score.
This draw was the third round this month to roll out Invitations to Apply (ITAs) for Canadian permanent residence.
Another 600 Invitations were sent out to Express Entry candidates nominated via the Federal Skilled Trades Program on August 6. The minimum CRS score for candidates nominated in that rare draw was 415.
The day before, on August 5, Canada also sent out 3,900 invitations to candidates with scores of 476 in an all-program draw.
If Canada continues the pattern that it started after the coronavirus lockdown on March 18, then tomorrow there is a chance that a Canadian Experience Class draw will be held.
Express Entry is the application system that manages the pool of candidates for Canada’s three main economic immigration classes — the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP), the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) and the Canadian Experience Class (CEC).
The highest-ranked candidates in the Express Entry pool are issued invitations in regular invitation rounds.
Today’s draw was the 27th draw of 2020 and brings the total number of invitations issued this year to 62,450, a new record for this date. This means that despite the current coronavirus pandemic, the federal government is still working towards its immigration targets for 2020.
Today’s minimum score of 771 was the biggest CRS score cutoff of the year. It could be partly due to a large number of candidates being in the Express Entry pool.
The time between draws is a crucial factor that can have an impact on the CRS cut-off score. Shorter intervals between draws mean a lesser number of candidates have time to enter a profile in the Express Entry pool.
IRCC used its tie-break rule in today’s draw. The timeframe used was July 24, 2020, at 11:29:33 UTC.
This means that all individuals with a CRS score above 771, as well as those with scores of 771 who entered their profile in the EE pool before the selected date and time, received an invitation in this invitation round.
The tie-break rule is used to rank applicants who have the same CRS score. A candidate’s CRS score remains the major factor in selecting candidates to be invited to apply for Canadian permanent residence.
Eligible candidates for each program are awarded a score under Express Entry’s CRS, which allot points for factors such as age, work experience, education, skills, and proficiency in English or French.
While a job offer is not required in order to be eligible under the Express Entry system, the CRS does award extra points to candidates who have one.
A specified number of the highest-scoring candidates are granted an invitation to apply for permanent residence through regular draws from the pool, which normally take place every two weeks.
Canada has a processing standard of six months for permanent residence applications lodged through the Express Entry system.
