Canada invites 1,002 PNP candidates with a CRS of at least 742.
Canada invited 1,002 immigration candidates to apply for permanent residence in the latest Express Entry draw.
All invited candidates had previously received a nomination from a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). This is why the score cut-off was relatively high at 742, because all PNP candidates in the Express Entry pool automatically get 600 points added to their score.
As per administrative requirements, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) published a cutoff time for the tie-break rule, whether or not there was any actual tie. In the new draw, candidates who had the minimum score were only invited if they submitted their Express Entry profile before February 18, 2021 at 04:04:56 UTC.
In the previous PNP-only draw, Canada invited 940 PNP candidates to apply for permanent residence, and the score requirement was 711 points. It was the biggest draw of its kind, ever.
Domestic candidates prioritized
Throughout the pandemic, IRCC has been holding only PNP- and Canadian Experience Class (CEC)-specific draws. This is because these candidates are more likely to already be living in Canada. Up until June 21, approved permanent residents could not travel to Canada to complete their landing and activate their status.
Although Canada’s travel restrictions are to starting to scale back, the border is still closed to non-essential travel and the flight ban from India has been extended another month.
Despite the ongoing pandemic, the federal government is planning to admit record-breaking numbers of new immigrants over the next three years. In 2021 alone, 108,500 new immigrants are supposed to come through Express Entry-managed programs.
This year, Canada has invited almost twice as many Express Entry candidates as we saw at the same time last year. The large number comes from the historic February 13 draw where IRCC invited every CEC-eligible candidate in the pool, a total of 27,332 people. About 87 per cent of those invited that day applied for permanent residence before the 90-day deadline, according to an IRCC email.
PNP-only and CEC-only draws have very different score requirements. This is because PNP candidates automatically get 600 points added to their score. CEC candidates are not competing for invitations from other programs. As a result, IRCC takes more off the top allowing for cutoff scores to dip into the lower levels.
