With the latest Express Entry draw held on 12th December 2018, the Government of Canada inched towards transcending the record for ITAs issued every year through the Express Entry, an online system that manages applications for permanent residence from skilled workers. The 3900 invitations issued during the December 12 draw makes the total number of ITAs issued in 2018 to 85,900; which is very close to 2017’s record yet only 123 away from the last year’s record of 86,023.
The Canadian federal department Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) hold an Express Entry invitation round every two weeks, which means there is a possibility for 2018 to break the previous year’s record. The Express Entry system supervises the pool of applicants for Canada’s three Federal High Skilled economic immigration programs: The Federal Skilled Worker Class, Federal Skilled Trades Class, and Canadian Experience Class.
A Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) allots points to applicants based on certain factors like education, work experience, age and proficiency in English or French. CRS provides additional points for arranged employment, a sibling living in Canada or a nomination through an Express Entry-linked Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) stream. This ranking score then ascertains their spot in the Express Entry pool, and the highest ranked ones are issued ITAs through regular draws from the pool. The most valuable factor under the CRS is having a provincial nomination as it awards the candidate an additional 600 points. The minimum score for ITA in 2018 including all factors was 440-445.
If there are two or more candidates with the same CRS score, the tie-break procedure ranks them by the date and time their profiles were first submitted to the Express Entry pool. It gives priority to the one whose profile has been in the pool for the longer period of time. The tie-break rule on December 12 used the time-stamp of 28th of November 2018, at 09:51:43 UTC. This means that applicants with CRS score of 445 or above who submitted their profile in the Express Entry pool before November 28, 09:51:43 UTC received an ITA in this draw.
Since there is a possibility of another draw by the end of December, it is down to the wire to see if IRCC will break set a new ITA record for the year 2018. It sure has been a very eventful year for Express Entry system and reach a record number would make it all the more important.
Check Your Eligibility