Canada held their first all-program express entry draw since the start of the pandemic

Canada has resumed the Express Entry draws for all programs and is now issuing invitations to apply to applicants for the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP).

The first Express Entry All Programs in Canada draw since March 4 issued 3,900 invitations to apply for permanent residence. Applicants needed a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of at least 478 to be invited to the July 8 invitation round.

Since the coronavirus was labeled a pandemic and Canada introduced a travel restriction to prevent its spread, Express Entry draws have been limited to Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) and Canadian Experience Class applicants (CEC). This left candidates for the FSWP and the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) in limbo.

Most CEC applicants are already in Canada and are therefore not affected by Canada’s current travel restrictions. PNP applicants also continue to be invited to allow the provinces to meet their labor market needs. It is important to note, however, that even when Canada excluded candidates for the FSWP and the FSTP, some of the CEC and PNP candidates invited to the previous draws were also outside Canada.

Today’s draw was the same size as the previous round of invitations to all programs held on March 4, which issued 3,900 ATIs.

This is the 22nd draw in 2020 and brings the total number of ITAs issued this year to 53,800, a new record for this date.

Today’s minimum score of 478 points was seven points higher than the previous March 4 all invitation round, which had a cutoff score of 471 points.

The higher CRS threshold is a function of the FSWP candidates who again secure the ITAs. Given the length of time since the last draw with FSWP candidates, today’s draw presented ITAs to candidates with higher CRS scores who would have otherwise been invited in the previous months if the coronavirus pandemic had not affected IRCC express entry policies.

IRCC used its tiebreaker rule in today’s draw. The timestamp used was February 11 at 13:08:31 UTC. This means that all applicants with a CRS score greater than 478, as well as candidates with scores of 478 who entered their profile in the Express Entry group before the selected date and time, received an ITA during this invitation round.

The Express Entry system is the primary source of skilled foreign workers in Canada. It was launched in 2015 to manage the candidate pool for three of Canada’s three highly skilled federal immigration programs – the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Federal Skilled Trades Program, and the Canadian Experience Class.

Eligible applicants for each program receive a score under the Express Entry Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS), which assigns points for factors such as age, education, skilled work experience and proficiency in English or French.

Although a job offer is not required to be eligible under the Express Entry system, CRS allocates additional points to applicants who have one.

A number of successful applicants receive an invitation to apply for permanent residence in Canada through regular pool draws, which usually take place every two weeks. The Government of Canada has a standard of processing six months for applications for permanent residence filed through the Express Entry system.

Reference is taken from CIC News