The Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship Canada or IRCC had issued almost 4,626 permanent residence invitations to the Canadian Experience Class candidates. The Comprehensive Ranking Score or CRS cut-off was set at 454.
Today’s CRS cut-off was set seven points lower than its previous CEC-specific draw that was held on 7th January. The latter had a CRS cut-off at 461. Since 2015, Express Entry has been Canada’s way of managing skilled worker applications.
As identified per IRCC’s 2021-2023 Immigration Levels Plan, it is looking forward to welcoming about 110,000 Express Entry immigrants annually. Canada came quite close to achieving this mark last year when it had an exceptional period for Express Entry.
It had sent out 107,350 invitations exclusively for permanent residentship.
The Canadian government continues stressing the fact that welcoming highly skilled immigrants during and after the COVID-19 pandemic will play a key role in supporting the economy.
Typically, there are two steps in the Express Entry procedure. First, the skilled worker candidates have to see if they are suitable for at least one of these programs:
- The Federal Skilled Worker Program
- The Federal Skilled Trades Program
- The Canadian Experience Class.
Candidates eligible for any of these programs will be permitted to join the Express Entry simply by submitting their profiles on the IRCC’s website. IRCC will be awarding them a Comprehensive Ranking System or CRS score based on criteria, including education, age, work as well as language experience, and other human capital factors.
In the next step, IRCC operates the Express Entry draws every two weeks to send out Invitations to Apply better known as ITAs for permanent residence to those candidates who are eligible per IRCC’s policy mandates and who meet CRS cut-offs.
Today’s draw marks the fourth this year. On 20th January, IRCC had held a draw for the candidates of the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP).
Candidates who receive a provincial nomination via Express Entry will get 600 more CRS points which guarantees that they will get an ITA. IRCC is yet to conduct its all-program draw for 2021.
The return to PNP- and CEC-specific draws is an indication that the IRCC will depend on Express Entry candidates presently in Canada to meet its immigration goals for this year. But at the same time, it appears that both FSWP, as well as FSTP candidates, will be taken into account for Express Entry draws this year, even during the ongoing pandemic.
Last year, IRCC had held CEC and PNP-specific draws when COVID-19 had begun but ended 2020 with several all-program draws thereby, allowing FSTP and FSWP candidates to obtain the ITAs.
The Hypothetical Case Saw a Candidate Receiving an ITA
Arjun is a 28-year-old Indian business analyst. He is single and holds a bachelor’s degree from his own country and a master’s from Canada. Arjun has been working in Canada for three years now.
He has received his IELTS scores that correspond to CLB 8 for writing and CLB 9 for reading, speaking, and listening. Arjun’s CRS score of 474 should have been sufficient to get him an invitation to today’s draw.
Get in touch with us on WhatsApp or Call us at 905-671-4442. You may even email us at info@immigrationterminal.ca if you have any queries about your Express Entry application.