Canada resumed all-program Express Entry draws on July 6 and is now issuing invitations to apply to Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) candidates and Canadian Experience Class candidates.

Canada’s first all-program Express Entry draw since December 2020 has issued 1,500 invitations to apply (ITAs) for permanent residence. 

Candidates needed a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of at least 557 to be invited in the July 6 invitation round.

Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada has temporarily paused draws for the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) and the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) since December 2020. Draws for Canadian Experience Class (CEC) were put on hold in September 2021.

Invitation rounds for all programs were put on hold due to a backlog of permanent resident status applications caused by border closures and restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Today's draw was smaller than previous all-programs invitation rounds that usually average around 3,000 to 5,000 ITAs.

This is the 226th draw since the 2015 launch of Express Entry and brings the total number of ITAs issued this year to 12,289.

Today's minimum score of 557 is much higher than the previous round of invitations for all programs, held in 2020, where scores were around 470.

The higher CRS cutoff was due to the fact that FSWP candidates again received ITAs. Given the length of time since the last draw for FSWP candidates, the pool had a larger number of candidates with a high CRS score.

IRCC used its tie-break rule in today’s draw. The timestamp used was November 13, 2021 at 02:20:46 UTC. This means that all candidates with a CRS score above 557, as well as those candidates with scores of 557 who entered their profile in the Express Entry pool before the selected date and time, received an ITA in this invitation round.

About Express Entry

The Express Entry system is Canada’s primary source of skilled foreign workers. It was introduced in 2015 to manage the pool of candidates for three of Canada’s three federal high-skilled immigration programs — the Federal Skilled Worker Program, Federal Skilled Trades Program, and Canadian Experience Class.

Eligible candidates for each program are issued a score under Express Entry’s Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS), which awards points for factors such as age, education, skilled work experience, and proficiency in English or French.

While a job offer is not required in order to be eligible under the Express Entry system, the CRS does award additional points to candidates who have one.

A set number of the highest-scoring candidates are issued an invitation to apply for Canadian permanent residence (ITA) through regular draws from the pool, which typically take place every two weeks.

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