Canada held its third Express Entry immigration draw of 2021 on January 20.
Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) invited 374 Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) candidates with a minimum score of 741. This cut-off score means that candidates only needed to obtain 141 Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points for their human capital characteristics. The other 600 points they obtained were by securing a provincial nomination.
Express Entry is the main way Canada welcomes skilled workers who want to obtain Canadian permanent residence. Under the 2021-2023 Immigration Levels Plan, Canada aims to welcome an average of 110,000 immigrants under Express Entry per year. IRCC uses Express Entry to manage skilled worker applications for the following three programs: Federal Skilled Worker Program, Federal Skilled Trades Program, and Canadian Experience Class.
The province of Ontario has issued 484 invitations to Express Entry candidates through two provincial immigration streams in the first draw of the year.
These two enhanced Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) are aligned with the Express Entry system. Candidates who received an NOI in this draw had to have Express Entry profiles that were created between January 13, 2020, and January 13, 2021.
The Skilled Trades Stream allows the OINP to search the Express Entry pool for candidates currently living in Ontario who have a minimum of one-year full-time work experience, or the equivalent in part-time work, in a skilled trade listed in Minor Group 633 or Major Group 72, 73, or 82 under Canada’s National Occupational Classification (NOC).
Saskatchewan held a new draw on January 7, inviting immigration candidates to apply for a provincial nomination for Canadian permanent residence.
The Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP) invited candidates from the International Skilled Worker category through two subcategories: Express Entry, and Occupations In-Demand. A total of 385 invitations were sent out to immigration candidates who had work experience in select occupations. A total of 148 were invited through the Express Entry sub-category, and 237 invitations went to Occupations In-Demand candidates.
In order to be invited in this draw, candidates from both sub-categories needed to have submitted Expression of Interest (EOI) profiles with the SINP. Regardless of the category, invited candidates needed an EOI score of at least 71 in order to be invited. This is the provincial requirement, not the Comprehensive Ranking System cutoff. Invited candidates all had Educational Credential Assessments.
Candidates in these programs, as well as some PNPs, are given a score based on the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS). These points are awarded based on the candidate’s human capital factors such as age, education, work experience, and language ability in English or French.
The points may be awarded to an individual, or a couple. Although Express Entry candidates do not need to have any experience in Canada, or even a job offer, though it may give them some extra points.
The highest-scoring candidates receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for permanent residence through regular Express Entry rounds of invitation. After they apply, IRCC will then make a final decision on their immigration application and send them a Confirmation of Permanent Residence if their application is successful. The last step for approved permanent residents is to make their landing in Canada, and apply for their PR card. At this point, they have officially immigrated to Canada, and can eventually apply for
It was the biggest year in the Express Entry system’s history despite the hits Canada took to immigration levels in 2020.
Canada finished off the year issuing 107,350 Invitations to Apply (ITAs) to Express Entry candidates. This was the highest invitation total since the Express Entry system was introduced in 2015 to manage the pool of candidates for Canada’s three Federal High-Skilled immigration programs the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) and Canadian Experience Class (CEC) as well as some of its Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP).
Canada’s immigration department, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) held 36 invitation rounds in 2020. This is 10 more than last year because in the early weeks of the pandemic IRCC was holding draws that only targeted CEC and PNP candidates. This was done in an effort to prioritize Express Entry candidates who were already in Canada.