Ottawa goes on immigration blitz, lowers cut-off score Bookmark Please log in to listen to this story. Also available in French and Mandarin. Log In Create Free Account
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Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Ottawa has made it easier for thousands of immigrants living in Canada to become permanent residents, a sign that policy makers are focused on hitting an aggressive target for 2021 after last year’s intake fell way short because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Immigration Canada invited 27,332 people to apply for permanent residency through Express Entry, a system designed to approve applications in six months or less. The candidates were part of the Canadian Experience Class category, which requires immigrants to have at least one year of recent work experience in the country.
British Columbia invited 494 immigration candidates in two separate Provincial Nominee Program draws held on February 16, 2021.
A total of 459 invitations went to candidates from the Skills Immigration (SI) and Express Entry BC (EEBC) streams of the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP). More specifically, invitations were issued to candidates in the Skilled Worker, International Graduate as well as Entry Level and Semi-Skilled sub-categories of SI and EEBC streams.
The minimum scores for this draw ranged between 85 and 104 points.
Another 35 invitations were issued to candidates who work as retail and wholesale trade managers as well as restaurant and food service managers. The province said it conducted this draw because “both occupations have a high number of registrants within the BC PNP Skills Immigration Registration System.”
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
Manitoba invites 296 immigration candidates in new PNP draw cicnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from cicnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.