The Government of Canada conducted its first Express Entry draw of 2019 on January 10, issuing 3,900 invitations to apply for Canadian permanent residence to candidates with scores of 449 or above.

The draw was the largest yet for a first draw of the year through the Express Entry system, which was introduced in 2015 to manage the pool of candidates for Canada's three Federal High Skilled economic immigration categories.

Candidate profiles are assigned a score based on the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS), which awards points for factors including age, education, work experience and proficiency in English or French.

The highest-ranked candidates are then drawn from the pool through regular invitation rounds and issued an invitation to apply (ITA) for Canadian permanent residence.

Under Canada’s new multi-year immigration levels plan, the federal government plans to welcome more Federal High Skilled candidates as permanent residents in 2019 than it did last year. Canada has an admissions target of 81,400 through these programs for 2019, compared to 74,900 last year.

The vast majority of candidates admitted to Canada through the Federal High Skilled category have their applications for permanent resident status processed through the Express Entry system.

Today’s minimum score of 449 was 10 points higher than the previous invitation round on December 19, a result of the three weeks that elapsed between draws.

Longer periods between draws mean more candidates can enter the Express Entry pool or take steps to increase their existing scores.

IRCC used its tie-break rule in the January 10 draw. The time stamp used was January 2, 2019, at 11:40:53 UTC. This means that all candidates with a CRS score above 449, as well as those candidates with scores of 449 who entered their profile in the Express Entry pool before the selected date and time, received an ITA in this invitation round.

Invited candidates have 60 days from the date of receiving their ITA to submit a complete Canadian permanent residence application to the Government of Canada.

For details on previous Express Entry draws, consult this table.

For further details on the January 10 draw, please read the latest article on CICNews.com.

Find out if you are eligible to enter the Express Entry pool by completing a free assessment form.

Express Entry quick facts, from January 1, 2015 to January 10, 2019

• Launch date: January 1, 2015
• First draw from the pool: January 31, 2015
• Most recent draw from the pool: January 10, 2019
• Minimum CRS points required for selection in the Federal Skilled Trades Class (FSTC): 199 (May 26, 2017)
• Minimum CRS points required for selection in the Federal Skilled Worker Class (FSWC): 413 (May 31, 2017)
• Minimum CRS points required for selection in the Canadian Experience Class (CEC): 413 (May 31, 2017)
• Largest number of invitations to apply issued in any one draw: 3,923 (April 12, 2017)
• Fewest invitations to apply issued in any one draw: 143 (May 26, 2017. Note: This draw invited candidates with a provincial nomination only.)
• Largest decrease in CRS points required between two consecutive draws: 273 (from May 22, 2015, to June 12, 2015, draws)
• Smallest decrease in CRS points required between two consecutive draws: 0 (on three occasions)
• Longest gap between dates of two consecutive draws: 35 days (from April 17, 2015, to May 22, 2015, draws)
• Shortest gap between dates of two consecutive draws: 5 days (from May 26 to May 31, 2017)
• Total number of ITAs issued in 2015: 31,063
• Total number of ITAs issued in 2016: 33,782
• Total number of ITAs issued in 2017: 86,023
• Total number of ITAs issued in 2018: 89,800
• Total number of ITAs issued in 2019 (to date): 3,900
• Total number of ITAs issued since system was launched: 244,598