Canada has just held an Express Entry draw inviting 341 candidates to apply for permanent residence.
The program specific draw saw invitations issued to Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) candidates.
This draw is the seventh PNP-only Express Entry draw since restrictions were introduced due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
Canada has been holding program-specific Express Entry draws for PNP and Canadian Experience Class (CEC) candidates because they are most likely to already be in the country.
The Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score cut-off was 743 in today’s draw, a significant drop from the previous PNP-specific draw which invited candidates with a CRS score of at least 757.
While these CRS cutoff scores may seem high, candidates who received invitations in today’s draw had received an additional 600 points for being nominated by one of the Canadian provinces.
Express Entry draws usually have much lower CRS cutoffs. The latest CEC draw, for instance, invited candidates with CRS scores as low as 440.
Canada’s PNPs have been active in May, with a dozen invitation rounds and more than two thousand candidates invited to apply for a provincial nomination for Canadian permanent residence. PNP invitations were issued all over the country including in Ontario, B.C. and Alberta.
June is also en route to being a busy month for PNPs, with Ontario, B.C. and Manitoba having already held draws and more than a thousand candidates being invited to apply for provincial nominations.
Since March, Canada’s Express Entry draws have been held sporadically. Previously, draws were held regularly every two weeks. Since Canada began holding program-specific draws, they have been occuring only days or even hours apart.
Canada has invited a total of 42,441 candidates to apply for permanent residence so far this year, as of June 10.
Even with travel restrictions in place, this number exceeds the number of invitations issued at the same time last year.
How do I get started?
You must first create an Express Entry profile. Express Entry is the system that Canada uses to manage permanent residence applications.
Candidates must be eligible for one of the following economic class programs:
Once you have created an Express Entry profile, you will be given a CRS score, based on multiple factors including your age, education, work experience and language proficiency.
Most Canadian provinces also have their own express entry-linked stream and use the Express Entry system to issue their provincial nominations.
The highest-ranked candidates in the Express Entry pool would be issued invitations to apply for permanent residence.