The Government of Canada issued 4,200 invitations to apply for Canadian permanent residence to Express Entry candidates in a draw held September 2.

Federal Skilled Worker Program candidates were among today’s successful candidates. The latest Express Entry draw was the third all-program draw since March 18 and the 162nd overall held by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

The minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score in this latest invitation round was 475, a decrease of 1 point over the previous all-program draw held August 5.

The 4,200 invitations to apply for permanent residence is the most issued in an Express Entry round since 4,500 were issued prior to the coronavirus pandemic during the February 19, 2020 invitation round.  The large number of invitations issued today is a strong indication that Canada remains committed to welcoming high levels of immigration in 2021 and beyond.

IRCC has been issuing 3,900 invitations to apply for permanent residence (ITAs) through Express Entry every two weeks for most of 2020 but has been alternating between all-program and program-specific draws. In today’s draw, 300 more invitations were issued to immigration candidates.

Express Entry is the application system that manages the pool of candidates for Canada’s three main economic immigration classes — the Federal Skilled Worker Program(FSWP), the Federal Skilled Trades Class (FSTC)  and the Canadian Experience Class (CEC).

A set number of the highest-ranked candidates are invited to apply for Canadian permanent residence through regular draws from the pool. These invitation rounds typically take place every two weeks and the vast majority involve candidates from all three Express Entry-managed categories.

Today’s draw was the 29th draw of 2020 and brings the total number of ITAs issued this year to 69,950 a new record for this date.

IRCC used its tie-break rule in today’s draw. The timestamp used was September 2, 2020, at 14:17:32  UTC. This means that all candidates with a CRS score above 475, as well as those candidates with scores of 475 who entered their profile in the Express Entry pool before the selected date and time, received an ITA in this invitation round.

The tie-break rule is used to rank candidates who have the same CRS score. A candidate’s CRS score remains the primary factor in selecting candidates to be invited to apply for permanent residence.

Factors that can affect the cut-off CRS score include the size of the draw (larger draws can produce a lower minimum CRS score) and the time between draws (shorter periods between draws can help to lower the CRS score).

Eligible candidates for each program are issued a score under Express Entry’s CRS, which awards points for factors such as age, education, skilled work experience and proficiency in English or French.

While a job offer is not required in order to be eligible under the Express Entry system, the CRS does award additional points to candidates who have one.

The Government of Canada has a processing standard of six months for permanent residence applications filed through the Express Entry system.

Here is a hypothetical example of  an Express Entry candidate who would have obtained an ITA in today’s draw:

Kiara is 30 years, has a Master’s degree and advanced English language proficiency. She has been working as an accountant for four years. While Kiara has never worked or studied in Canada, her CRS of 476 would have been high enough to obtain an ITA during the September 2^nd Express Entry draw.