Canada holds biggest ever Express entry draw with 4,500 ITAs issued

Canada’s new Express Entry draw marks the largest draw ever. A total of 4,500 Express Entry candidates were invited with a minimum score of 471 in the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS).

The CRS score cut-off is the same as the Express Entry draw before September 30. Since September 2, IRCC has held express entry draws of 4,200 every two weeks. The Immigration Department has not conducted a draw of this size since February.

Express Entry is an application management system for three federal economy class programs: the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Federal Skilled Trades Program, and the Canadian Experience Class.

Applicants to these programs, as well as some Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs), receive a score based on the CRS. Points are awarded to the express entry profile based on the candidate’s human capital factors such as age, education, work experience, and English or French language skills.

Top-rated applicants receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for Canadian Permanent Residence as part of an Express Entry invitation round. In today’s draw, Canada invited the top 4,500 applicants to apply for permanent residence.

In the event of a tie between the candidates, IRCC applies the tie-breaker rule. Thus, for this draw, applicants who had a CRS score of 471 or higher, had to have submitted their Express Entry profile before September 1, 2020, at 12:11:23 UTC to receive an invitation.

This year, the CRS requirement has typically exceeded 470 for all draws in the program. The Federal Skilled Trades Only Program draws on August 6 invited tradespeople with CRS score 415, and previous draws in the Canadian Experience Only category have fallen into the 440s. PNP Only draws have higher requirements because Express Entry applicants who receive a provincial nomination automatically receive an additional 600 CRS points. PNPs provides an alternative pathway to PR Visa to Express entry candidates who have a lower CRS score.

With the latest express entry draw the total number of ITAs issued in 2020 to 82,850. Canada is on the right track to meet the target set by IRCC in March for the number of ITAs issued in this year. This year promises to be another record year for Express Entry, as the number of ITAs issued to date is the highest ever.

At the end of the month, Canada will announce the new immigration levels. The immigration level plan will show the admission targets for all classes between the years 2021 and 2023. These levels will give us a snapshot of the number of immigrants Canada expects to admit through Express Entry next year.

Reference is taken from CIC News