On April 13, 2022, Canada conducted its 220th Express Entry draw. The most recent draw offered 787 invites to applicants with a minimum CRS score of 782.
Canada invited 787 Express Entry applicants to apply for permanent residence on April 13.
All invited applicants were previously nominated by a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) and have a CRS of at least 782.
The minimum score requirement was particularly high due to the automatic 600-point boost that Express Entry applicants receive when they earn a provincial nomination. Without this, the least scoring candidate applicants would have a base point of 182.
Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) previously invited 919 PNP applicants with a minimum score of 785 to apply.
The 2022 year has started slowly.
Canada invited just 6,470 Express Entry applicants to apply for immigration in the first quarter of 2022. The first quarterly was the slowest as Express Entry commenced in 2015.
The total decline in invites is due to IRCC no longer accepting Canadian Experience Class (CEC) applicants in September 2021. Additionally, there have been no Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) draws until December 2020.
Before the epidemic, most draws were not program-specific, which meant that applicants from any Express Entry system were eligible to apply.
However, due to COVID-19-related travel limitations, Canada has chosen to prioritize reaching its record-breaking immigration objectives by converting a large number of temporary residents to permanent residents.
This approach increased the number of Express Entry applications, particularly FSWP applications, frequently submitted by international candidates. Due to the backlog, processing durations have significantly exceeded the technical standards of six months.
Internal briefing documents later showed that IRCC restricted Express Entry draws for non-PNP systems till the backlog was halved and processing standards returned six months.
Minister of Immigration Sean Fraser has indicated that skilled worker draws might start as early as this springtime but has not given a precise timeline.
Will Express Entry draws for occupations start this spring?
Canada’s immigration minister stated in a March 10 discussion with ApplyBoard that Federal Skilled Worker draws might begin as early as this springtime.
When all Express Entry draws begin immediately, the CRS cut-off will exceed 500 due to the pool’s size. It would create an extremely homogeneous group of migrants unlikely to meet Canada’s labor market demands. As a result, Canada is expected to shift to occupations with high demand.
It was verified during a discussion with the Canadian Bar Association on January 20. Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said that Canada is considering shifting to occupation-based Express Entry draws in 2022.
This was reaffirmed in Canada’s recently issued 2022 budget. According to the budget, the Canadian government would modify the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to strengthen Canada’s capacity to choose talented people effectively from the pool.
Canada continuously invests in resources that enable IRCC to process applications more effectively, as seen by the 2022 budget. It will assist the government in reducing the backlog and eventually allowing for the restart of all-program Express Entry draws.
Understand Express Entry
Express Entry is an immigration system launched on January 1, 2015, by the Canadian immigration authorities (IRCC) to manage skilled worker applications through Federal Economic programs.
It involves the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Federal Skilled Trades Program, the Canada Experience Class, and certain elements of the Provincial Nomination Programs.
Stakeholders think that Canada will continue to issue large numbers of invites as it works toward 411,000 permanent legal residents by 2022. CRS scores are difficult to forecast during the Corona Virus crisis using program-specific draws.
After the coronavirus outbreak in March 2020, Canada adopted program-specific draws for applicants in the Canadian Experience Class and Provincial Nominee Program. It resulted in a large increase in the number of individual draws compared to prior years.
Express Entry ranks applicants’ profiles using a point-based approach called the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS). Candidates who get the highest scores get an Invitation to Apply (ITA), after which they can apply for permanent residency.
Following the candidate’s application, an IRCC official evaluates it and reaches a decision. The officer will seek biometric information and may schedule an interview or ask for more documentation.
IRCC sends a Confirmation of Permanent Residence upon approval of the application (COPR).
Permanent residents who have been approved can then finish the landing procedure. If they are not in Canada at their arrival, they can use pre-arrival programs to help them with the first steps toward moving to Canada.
Who was invited to Express Entry Draw?
Here is an example involving someone invited to a new Express Entry draw.
Chloe is 39 years old, has a bachelor’s degree, and has spent the last six years working as a construction manager. She is fluent in English and has never been employed or studied in Canada. She joined the Express Entry pool with a Composite Ranking System (CRS) score of 386.
Chloe was just nominated for a provincial nomination. Her updated CRS score of 986 would have qualified her for an ITA in the newly announced Express Entry draw.
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