Canada Invites 3000 Express Entry candidates to apply

Canada Invites 3000 Express Entry candidates to apply

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has invited 3000 candidates in the Express Entry pool to apply for Canadian permanent residence. The Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of the lowest-ranked candidate issued an Invitation to Apply (ITA) was 439.

All candidates with a score above 439 were invited to apply. While some candidates with a score of 439 received ITAs, IRCC said a tie-break procedure was necessary, meaning only those candidates with a CRS score of 439 who entered their profiles in the Express Entry pool prior to a specified date and time were invited to apply.

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Today’s cut-off CRS score of 439 is 19 points lower than last week’s draw, which had a cut-off score of 458.

It is interesting to note that this latest draw was the fourth in three weeks, which has only happened once before since Express Entry was introduced. Canada announced new three-year immigration targets on Nov. 1  and more frequent draws could have the effect of increasing the number of ITAs issued and lowering the CRS cut-off score as candidates with higher scores are removed from the pool.

Under its recently announced Immigration Levels Plan, Canada is planning to welcome nearly one million new permanent residents between 2018 and 2020. Nearly 250,000 of those newcomers to be admitted through programs managed under the Express Entry system, namely: the Federal Skilled Worker Class (FSWC), the Federal Skilled Trades Class (FSTC), and the Canadian Experience Class (CEC). The number admitted through these programs is set to increase year-on-year.

This latest draw was the 78th draw to take place since the Express Entry system was introduced on Jan. 1, 2015, and the 28th since the start of 2017.  So far this year, 80,523 ITAs have been issued.
With fluctuating CRS thresholds, it is helpful to look at which sorts of candidates are receiving ITAs following the latest draw.
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