Express Entry Invites CEC candidates with CRS score as low as 431 for Canada PR Visa

Today’s express entry draw led 3,508 immigrants and their families to apply for permanent residence in Canada. Canada has now issued over 30,000 ATIs to Express Entry applicants despite border restrictions against Coronaviruses in mid-March.

Invitations to apply (ITA) for permanent residence in Canada have been sent to applicants for the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) program with Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) scores as low as 431.

It was the lowest CRS for CEC candidates since the May 31, 2017 draw in Canada, with a CRS of only 413 points.

Today’s draw follows 392 ITAs issued to Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) applicants yesterday, bringing the total of ITCs issued in the past two days to 3,900.

Canada’s Express Entry system manages applicant profiles for three of Canada’s major economy class immigration programs – the Federal Skilled Worker, the Federal Skilled Trades, and the Canadian Experience Class (CEC).

Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) have targeted CEC and PNP candidates in the past three months because they are more likely to be already in Canada and less likely to be affected by current restrictions due to the coronavirus outbreak.

CRS cutoff scores for CEC applicants have decreased with each CEC draw since the introduction of travel restrictions.

The draw saw the tiebreaker rule implemented on April 3, 2020, at 12:56:32 p.m. UTC. This means that all applicants with a CRS of 431 points who submitted their profile before this date and time received an ITA in this round of invitation.

The cut score for today’s draw of 431 was 6 points lower than the cut score for the last CEC Express Entry draw, which was 437 points.

There has been a significant downward trend in CRS thresholds since the start of the pandemic, and given that they have decreased with each CEC draw in the past few months, it appears that scores may continue to lower.

All applicants eligible for Express Entry receive a CRS score which is based on factors such as age, education, qualified work experience, and proficiency in English or French.

Unlike the invitation rounds of all programs, which originate from the entire Express Entry pool and tend to result in higher cutoff scores, niche draws for a specific cohort such as CEC candidates can produce lower cutoff scores since they target a smaller pool of candidates.

Although IRCC has not yet provided information on the date of the next FSW draw, potential applicants for Canadian immigration are encouraged to continue submitting profiles to the Express Entry pool. This not only ensures that they will be in the system if a draw is held, but also that they will be visible to the provinces and territories of Canada when they issue provincial nominations related to Express Entry.

Candidates who obtain a nomination in a Canadian province or territory receive an additional 600 points for their CRS score, thereby increasing their chances of being included in a subsequent Express Entry draw.

So far in 2020, Canada has issued 49,900 ITAs. It was the 21st series of Express Entry invitations in 2020 and the 154th in total.

Given Canada’s higher admission targets for its three federal specialized immigration programs in 2020 and 2021, IRCC is expected to organize more frequent and larger draws in the weeks and months to come.

Reference is taken from CIC News