Canada held another Express Entry round of invitations on August 20.
The latest Express Entry draw was the second one in two days and the 161st overall held by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
Invitations were issued to a total of 3,300 Canadian Experience Class (CEC) candidates. A Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 454 was enough to ensure an Invitation to Apply (ITA).
Today’s CRS cut-off score was nine points higher than the previous CEC-specific draw on July 23, which had a CRS cut-off score of 445. The increase in points is due to more candidates being entered into the pool over the past month after Canada held an all-program draw on August 5.
Find out if you are eligible for any Canadian immigration programs
IRCC has held these program-specific draws since the coronavirus pandemic caused Canada’s border to close in March. They have all taken place following Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)-specific draws, and the number of ITAs from the two draws combined add up to a round number.
Yesterday, IRCC held a program-specific draw with 600 PNP candidates receiving ITAs.
Express Entry is a system that the federal government uses to manage applications for Canada’s three main economic-class programs: the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) and the Canadian Experience Class (CEC).
Some provinces also have provincial programs that are aligned with the Express Entry system.
In the Express Entry system, candidates are ranked based on their CRS score that considers multiple factors including their age, work experience, education and proficiency in French or English. In some cases, the date and time at which the Express Entry profile was created is also a ranking factor.
