Canada holds second all-program draw in two weeks

Canada held its 163rd Express Entry draw, inviting immigration candidates to apply for permanent residence on September 16.

The new Express Entry round issued invitations to candidates with Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) scores of 472. This is three points less than the previous all-program draw, the biggest drop since all-program draws resumed in July.

A total of 4,200 Invitations to Apply (ITAs) for Canadian permanent residence were issued this draw, which is the second all-program draw Canada has held in two weeks. This pattern is more congruent with pre-coronavirus invitation rounds where all-program draws were held every two weeks.

This draw matches the 4,200 ITAs issued in an Express Entry round on September 2, which ties it for the second-biggest draw ever. The biggest draw issued 4,500 ITAs on February 19. The large number of invitations being issued by Canada is a  strong indication that it remains committed to welcoming high levels of immigrants in 2021 and beyond.

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 Program (FSTP)  and the Canadian Experience Class (CEC).

The highest-ranked candidates in the Express Entry pool are issued ITAs in regular invitation rounds.

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 brings the total number of ITAs issued this year to 74,150 a new record for this date.

IRCC used its tie-break rule in today’s draw. The timestamp used was March 9, 2020, at 13:03:40 UTC. This means that all candidates with a CRS score above 472, as well as those candidates with scores of 472 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.

The following is a hypothetical scenario of candidates who would be successful in today’s draw:

Anthony and Selma are married and are 34 and 31 respectively. They each speak English at a high level. Anthony holds a bachelor’s degree and Selma holds a master’s. They have each been working as accountants for four years. They entered the Express Entry pool with Selma as the principal applicant. Their CRS score of 472 would have been high enough to obtain an ITA during the September 16 Express Entry draw.