With CRS Score As Low As 303 Express Entry Candidates Invited By Alberta For Provincial Nomination

Province of Alberta has released details about to provincial nomination draws that were held on July 17th and on July 24th that issued a total 471 Notification of Interest (NOIs) to express entry candidates to apply for provincial nomination.

In the provincial draw of July 17th, 251 NOIs were issued to express entry registered candidates with CRS starting from 400 points.

After one week, another draw was held on July 24th, where 220 NOIs were issued. Express Entry candidates with CRS score as low as 303 were given the 220 NOIs.

Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP) has a stream – Alberta Express Entry Stream that allows the province of Alberta to search for the skilled candidates in the federal government’s express pool. Selected candidates must be able to meet the requirements of the stream only then they will be invited for the provincial nomination.

The very first step to applying for a provincial nomination through express entry linked provincial nomination stream is to create an express profile in the express entry program.

Express entry is a point-based program that manages the profiles of the candidates who have registered under Canada’s three major skilled economic immigration programs:

• Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP)
• Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP)
• Canadian Experience Class (CEC)

Eligible candidates for these programs are then submitted in the express pool, where they are given the CRS (Comprehensive Ranking System) score based on the factors like age, work experience, language proficiency, etc.

For an express entry candidate, to land a provincial nomination certificate, it awards them with 600 CRS points effectively making sure that the candidate is able to get the ITA to apply for Canada PR Visa.

Calculate your CRS score for Canada Immigration with our CRS calculator.

Through regularly held express draw, generally held in the time interval of two weeks, Invitation to Apply (ITA) are issued to higher-ranked candidates in the express pool. Through ITA, candidates are able to apply for Canada PR Visa to the Immigration, Refugees & Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

Now, to be eligible for Alberta Express Entry Stream, having a job offer is not required. But Alberta gives priorities to the immigrants that are having work experience in an occupation that supports the province’s economic development and diversification priorities. Priority is given to candidates with:

• A job offer and/or work experience in Alberta
• A degree from a Canadian post-secondary institution and a valid job offer; OR
• A parent, child or sibling already living in Alberta

There are some other factors that can decrease the chances of a candidate’s getting an Invitation, such as:

• The express entry expiry date is within three months of the draw
• Certain occupations such as those listed in Alberta Opportunity Stream Ineligible Occupations List

When comparing the CRS score of the candidate invited through express entry draws and candidates invited through Alberta’s provincial draw, there is a big difference in the CRS score cut-offs.

For AINP, July 10th, 425 is the maximum so far in the AINP draws. But is much below than the CRS score cut-off score for Express draw, which was 459 points. Lowest CRS cut-off for all program express draw in 2019 so far was 438 points. While the province of Alberta has selected express entry candidates with CRS score as low as 300 points. On three occasions of the provincial draw, minimum CRS requirement was of 301 points and on one occasion, Alberta held a draw which had the CRS cut-off score set at 302 points.

Reference is taken from CIC news.