Saskatchewan held a new draw on February 25, inviting candidates to apply for a provincial nomination for Canadian permanent residence.
Candidates needed an Expression of Interest (EOI) score of at least 70 in order to be invited. They also needed work experience in one of the 70 in-demand occupations listed on the government webpage.
Some of the eligible occupations include medical administrative assistants, retail and wholesale buyers, and geological engineers among others.
The SINP uses the EOI system to select the candidates that have the most potential to succeed in the regional labour market. Candidates need to demonstrate their commitment to settling in Saskatchewan by showcasing their work experience, education, language ability, age, and connections to the province.
Eligible candidates are given a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score for their age, work experience, education, and language proficiency in English and French.
Express Entry candidates who receive a provincial nomination are given an additional 600 points toward their CRS score, and are effectively guaranteed an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for permanent residence in a subsequent Express Entry draw.
In order to be considered for a provincial nomination from PEI, Express Entry candidates need to create an EOI profile with the PEI PNP.
EOI profiles are given points based on the province’s unique points grid. The highest-scoring candidates are then invited to apply through monthly draws.
Eligible immigration candidates are given a score based on the CRS. Points are awarded for factors that the government has determined will help a prospective immigrant succeed in Canada’s labour market. These factors include a candidate’s age, education, work experience, language ability in English or French, and others.
About every two weeks, Canada’s immigration department, IRCC, holds Express Entry draws inviting candidates to apply for immigration. The highest-scoring candidates receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for Canadian permanent residence. If they are approved, they receive a Confirmation of Permanent Residence and their final step is to make their landing in Canada. After that they are officially permanent residents.
Ontario held a new draw on February 16, inviting 1,186 immigration candidates with work experience in the tech sector to apply for a provincial nomination.
The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) issued the invitations to Express Entry candidates with Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) scores between 453 and 467. The OINP issued invitations to candidates who may be eligible for a nomination under the Human Capital Priorities stream.
Invited candidates will need to demonstrate that they have eligible work experience in one of the targeted occupations, in order to get the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) nomination. These six occupations include the following:
Computer and information systems managers (NOC 0213);
The first surprise is the sheer size of the draw. Since its launch in 2015, the largest Express Entry draws ever have issued 5,000 permanent residence invitations. In other words, yesterday’s draw was nearly six times larger than the previous record.
Another major surprise is that IRCC decided to invite candidates with a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score as low as 75. This means they invited almost every Express Entry candidate that met the eligibility criteria of the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) program.
Express Entry is a competitive system and prior to COVID-19, IRCC would only invite candidates with the highest CRS scores. Right before the pandemic, a candidate typically needed a CRS of around 470 to receive a permanent residence invitation. Getting a CRS of 470 or above usually means you have several years of post-secondary training and perhaps multiple educational credentials, several years of professional work experience, and a strong command of English and/or Fr