By inviting candidates from the Canadian Experience Class (CEC), Immigration on Saturday, 13th of February, 2021, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) keeps alive the vision of ensuring that the targeted number of immigrants with permanent residence is met leading up to 2023.
The latest figure of 27,986 invitations to apply (ITAs) is well over five times the highest (5000) ITAs permitted in a series of four draws held between the 18th of November and 23rd of December, 2020.
More so, the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) cut-off point (of 75) for this latest draw now registers the lowest ever allowed since the inception of the Express Entry draw in January 2015. It is, however, important to state that only those candidates, with a minimum score of 75, who had submitted their Express Entry profile before 12th of September, 2020 by 15:31 UTC were permitted – this was made possible through the implementation of the tie-break rule by IRCC.
In addition to the aforementioned figure of ITAs for the latest draw, 654 candidates for the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) had been invited on Wednesday, 10th of February, 2021. This brought the total number of ITAs received in a week to 27,986.
This epoch-making draw shows that IRCC is focused on issuing a substantial number of invitations for permanent residence as it strives to meet up the target for 2021 on the heels of the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, as the Canadian Immigration Minister, Marco Mendicino asserted, Canada is aiming to continually lure talents across the globe to provide sustainable support for the country’s economic recovery post-COVID-19. Hence, it is only logical that creditable immigrants already within the country be given the opportunity to perfect their permanent residence.
What is the Express Entry System?
The Express Entry system in Canada entails three different Federal High-skilled programs – the Federal High-skilled Work Program, the Federal Skilled Trades Program, and the Canadian Experience Class. So, it is basically for immigrants already residing in the country, and it is only those with proven eligibility for one of these programs that can qualify for the Express Entry draw.
Immigrants vying for a slot in this draw are assigned a CRS point which is generated based on factors such as education, age, language proficiency – either English or French – among other variables. That said, candidates coming through the provincial nomination program are usually given 600 additional CRS points – this somewhat assures PNP candidates of gaining entry into the draws.
Normally, IRCC does conduct the draws every two weeks, but before the one on the 13th of February, such draws have not been had in 2021. Rather, PNP and CEC candidates were, at various times, invited to partake in program-specific draws. The sequence of holding program-specific initiatives emerged with the lockdown and was took place for three months before IRCC returned to the all-program draws from September 2020 till the end of last year. Nonetheless, with Saturday’s draw, IRCC looks poised to fully resume the all-program draws as it anticipates the intake of new immigrants when travel recommences.
