Latest Express Entry Draw: Second-lowest CRS score ever for CEC candidates

Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) invites 6,000 express entry candidates in the latest rounds of invitations held on April 29.

Candidates with a minimum CRS score of 400 points were invited and who may be eligible for permanent residency under the Canadian Experience Class (CEC). This is the second-lowest score ever obtained for a specific CEC draw.

Under the tie-break rule, applicants with a minimum score of 400 were only invited if they submitted their Express Entry profile by April 24, 2021, at 15:24:49 UTC. The Tie-break rule is used whenever there is a tie between two or more candidates in the express entry pool.

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Focus on temporary residents

So far this year, IRCC has held only two types of program-specific express entry draws that targeted applicants who are likely already resident in the country. CEC applicants are particularly prevalent in Canada, IRCC estimates that around 90%.

The other group of candidates who have been invited through Express Entry this year is those who have already received a nomination under the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). TO get a provincial nomination, candidates need to meet the requirements like work or study experience, strong connection with the province, etc. As such, these applicants also have a high proportion of applicants already in the country.

Although the pandemic has slowed down invitations for outside Express Entry applicants, Canada has just experienced a record first quarter for the number of invitations to apply (ITAs) it has issued. With the latest draw, the total number of ITAs this year has come to 61,771. This year's number is significantly higher than the same period last year, in part because of the express entry draw on February 13.

On average, IRCC holds two rounds of invitations every two weeks, alternating between inviting express entry candidates with the provincial nomination and CEC candidates. PNP draws have higher CRS score requirements because of 600 CRS points awarded for provincial nomination. CEC draws tend to have lower score requirements, as there are fewer applicants from other programs managed by Express Entry competing for ITAs.

To meet its goal of welcoming 401,000 new immigrants by 2021, IRCC has created six new programs for essential workers and international graduate students. 90,000 new immigrants will be admitted as well as an unlimited number of essential workers with French language proficiency and graduates.