Canada holds a huge CEC draw with a low CRS score required for PR Visa

Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) invite more than 6,000 express entry candidates to apply for Canada PR Visa in the latest program-specific express entry draw held on June 10.

Candidates need to have at least 368 points to get an invitation in this latest express entry draw. The new draw targeted applicants eligible for permanent residency in the Canadian Experience Class (CEC). Invited applicants have at least one year of qualified work experience in Canada, as this is a key CEC eligibility requirement. Applicants also have at least intermediate language proficiency in English or French.

Under administrative requirements, IRCC has published a cut-off time for the tie-breaking rule, whether or not there has been a substantive tie. In the new draw, applicants with the minimum score were only invited if they had submitted their Express Entry profile by April 28, 2021, at 05:45:14 UTC.

Canada held CEC-only draws with historically low cut-off points. The last CEC draw has the CRS score cut-off at 380 points. At the time, this was the lowest for a CEC-only draw since the record-breaking February 13 draw. CEC applicants with scores as low as 75 were invited to this draw.

Focus still in Canada despite the talks of easing travel restrictions

Since the start of the year, Canada has given priority to applicants most likely to already live in the country. With the current travel restrictions in place, applicants who were approved overseas after March 18, 2020, cannot travel to complete their permanent residency.

Canadian government officials have not given a firm date on whether to reopen the border to international travel but said the easing of restrictions will be phased. Vaccinated travelers will need to go for a 14-day quarantine.

Even amid travel restrictions, Canada plans to admit a record number of new immigrants over the next three years. In 2021 alone, 108,500 new immigrants are expected to go through programs managed by Express Entry.

The large number comes from the historic February 13 draw in which IRCC invited all eligible CEC applicants to the pool - a total of 27,332 people. About 87 percent of those invited that day applied for permanent residence before the 90-day deadline.

These two program-specific express entry draws have different CRS score requirements. Indeed, PNP candidates automatically obtain 600 points added to their score. There is no competition among the CEC candidates for invitations from other programs. As a result, IRCC removes more of the top, allowing cut-off scores to dip into lower levels.