IRCC may be returning to a time where PNP-specific pulls are followed the next day by draws candidates at the Canadian Expertise Class

Canada held another Express Entry draw January 7, the second invitation round held in 2 days.

Invitations were issued to a total of 4,750 Canadian Expertise Course (CEC) candidates. A Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 461 was enough to guarantee an Invitation to Apply (ITA).

Outcomes of the draw were released today, January 8, 2021. Two days ago, Canada kicked off the new year issuing invitations to Express Entry candidates who have provincial nominations.

A total of 250 candidates were encouraged by Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) from the January 6 draw plus they had a minimal score of 813.Express Entry Canada newest draw invites candidates .

Candidates that have received nominations in an Express Entry-aligned Provincial Nominee Program (PNPs) mechanically get 600 points added to their overall score, which is the reason why the score requirement is relatively high in comparison to additional rounds of invitation.

It could still be too early to tell whether IRCC will return to organizing just program-specific draws, as it did last year in the midst of the pandemic and if Canada first closed its borders . 

IRCC was holding CEC program-specific attractions between March and August. They would take place soon after PNP-special draws, and the amount of ITAs from the two draws combined usually added up to a round number. Near the end of 2020, IRCC returned into all-program draws, with some of the greatest amounts of invitations issued and gradually decreasing CRS cut-off scores.

Express Entry is a method that the federal government uses to manage software for Canada’s three primary economic-class applications: the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), the Federal Skilled Trades Class (FSTC) along with the Canadian Expertise Course (CEC).

Most provinces also have immigration streams which are coordinated with the Express Entry system.

From the Express Entry system, applicants are ranked according to their CRS score that considers multiple factors including their age, work experience, education and proficiency in English or French. In some cases, the time and date where the Express Entry profile was made is also a ranking factor.

Contrary to all-program invitation rounds, which draw from the entire Express Entrance pool and tend to result in higher cut-off scores, program-specific pulls like the one especially targeting CEC candidates now can create lower cut-off scores given they demand a smaller pool of applicants.

Now’s draw saw that the tie-break rule implemented. The tie-break rule is used to rank candidates who have the exact same CRS score (in the cut-off) depending on the time and date the profile was made.

The tie-breaking principle for the attraction was implemented for September 12, 2020, in 20:46:32 UTC. It follows that candidates using a CRS score of 461 were just invited if their profile has been filed before this date and time.

This draw brings the total number of invitations issued in 2021 up to now to 5,000.

Canada has targeted the coming of some 110,000 Express Entry immigrants each year under its 2021-2023 Immigration Levels Plan.

Candidates who would like to submit their Express Entrance profile may nevertheless do so despite any coronavirus-related restrictions in place. IRCC continues to accept submissions into the Express Entry system.

ο Reference taken from CIC News