Maple News reports that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) issued 462 invitations to Express Entry candidates on July 21, targeting those nominated through a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). This draw marks a significant step in Canada’s efforts to meet its 2021 immigration targets.
Due to the PNP nomination, successful candidates received an automatic 600 Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points in addition to their core scores. This boosted the minimum CRS cutoff to 734 in this round. Without the nomination, the lowest core score among invited candidates would have been just 134 points.
The IRCC also implemented the tie-break rule for this draw, selecting candidates who submitted their profiles before April 11, 2021 at 10:56:32 UTC in the event of identical scores. Although few ties occur, this rule ensures fairness when invitations are issued close to the cutoff threshold.
Compared to the previous PNP-only draw, which invited 627 candidates and had a higher cutoff of 760, this latest selection had fewer invitations but a lower CRS requirement. This offers a positive indication for future candidates, as score trends become more accessible.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, IRCC has focused primarily on PNP and Canadian Experience Class (CEC) draws. These groups are more likely to already reside in Canada, allowing the federal government to meet its immigration goals despite border restrictions.
As Canada gradually lifts pandemic-related travel limitations, the government announced plans to reopen its borders to fully vaccinated U.S. travelers in August and to wider international travelers in September. However, direct flights from India remain suspended until at least August 21.
Canada’s ambitious 2021 immigration plan targets 401,000 new permanent residents, with approximately 108,500 expected via Express Entry programs. So far this year, IRCC has issued 94,304 Express Entry invitations—nearly double the number by the same time in 2020. This surge includes the unprecedented February 13 draw where all 27,332 eligible CEC candidates were invited. IRCC later confirmed that about 87% of them applied within the 90-day submission period.
Notably, score thresholds differ widely between PNP and CEC draws. PNP candidates benefit from the 600-point nomination bonus, resulting in higher overall CRS scores. Meanwhile, CEC-specific draws tend to have lower cutoffs, as they target candidates not in competition with other immigration streams.
With borders reopening and processing capacity improving, Maple News anticipates continued momentum in Express Entry draws, especially for in-country candidates aligned with national immigration objectives.