Maple News reports that on April 14, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) issued 266 invitations to apply for permanent residence through a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)-specific Express Entry draw.
To receive an invitation in this round, candidates needed a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 753. While this may seem unusually high, it reflects the boost PNP nominees receive — an automatic 600 points added to their base score upon nomination by a Canadian province or territory. Without the provincial nomination, the lowest-ranked invitee in this round would have had a base score of just 153 points.
This latest draw also followed the standard ‘tie-break’ rule. Only candidates who submitted their Express Entry profile before March 1, 2021, at 15:22:18 UTC, and met the minimum score were eligible for an invitation. This timestamp is used by IRCC to maintain transparency and fairness when multiple candidates have the same score.
So far in 2021, IRCC has issued 49,390 invitations — a dramatic increase compared to the same period last year. A significant contributor to this surge was a historic draw held on February 13, when IRCC invited over 27,300 Canadian Experience Class (CEC) candidates in one go — the largest Express Entry draw to date.
Canada is on a mission to meet its ambitious 2021 immigration target of 401,000 new permanent residents, approximately 108,500 of whom are expected to come through the Express Entry system. To accelerate progress toward this goal, the country has held 12 Express Entry draws so far this year, exclusively targeting candidates in either the CEC or PNP categories.
PNP-specific draws naturally set a higher CRS threshold due to the additional 600 nomination points. In contrast, CEC-only draws have seen lower cut-offs, opening up opportunities for candidates with more modest scores.
As Express Entry continues to be a central driver of Canada’s economic immigration strategy, Maple News will provide timely updates on evolving trends and policy changes that affect aspirants around the globe.