654 Express entry candidates with PNPs issued ITAs

Canada invites 654 express entry candidates to apply for Canada PR Visa on February 10, 2021. Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) invited applicants with a minimum 720 points.

Only candidates who had received a nomination from a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) were invited to the last draw, which is why the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) limit was so high. Applicants who have received nominations from a PNP aligned with Express Entry automatically get 600 points added to their overall score.

Today's CRS score cut-off was 21 points lower than the previous PNP-specific invitations series held on January 20, 2021.

Express entry program is an application management system that manages the profiles of the skilled immigrants under three federal immigration programs: FSW, FST, and CEC.

Applicants to these programs, as well as some PNPs, receive a score based on the CRS. These points are awarded based on the candidate's human capital factors such as age, education, work experience, and language skills in English or French.

Points can be awarded to one person or a couple. Express Entry applicants do not need to have Canadian experience to be invited to apply for permanent residence. They don't need a job offer, but it can give them extra points.

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Higher ranked profiles in the express entry pool are issued ITAs for PR Visa through frequently held express entry draws. Once you submit your PR Visa application to IRCC, they will make a final decision and send CoPR on your application if it is successful.

If there is a tie between two or more profiles in the pool, IRCC uses their tie-break rule. In the last draw, applicants who had a CRS score of 720 or higher, must have submitted their Express Entry profile by August 14, 2020, at 6:51:00 UTC to receive an invitation.

2020 has been a record-breaking year for Express entry programs despite the COVID-19. In the end, Canada had issued 108,350 ITAs to Express Entry applicants. This year is expected to be even more important as IRCC raised its immigration targets to compensate for the reduced number of new permanent residents admitted to Canada last year.

IRCC has now issued 10,654 ITAs in four program-specific draws to begin 2021.

The year 2021 is expected to see further increases as IRCC raised its immigration targets to offset the reduced number of new permanent residents admitted to Canada last year. IRCC should also rely more on potential immigrants and skilled workers already in Canada to achieve these goals, in part due to ongoing coronavirus measures and current challenges associated with border closures and restrictions.

IRCC has yet to hold a draw for all programs in 2021.

Canada is expected to welcome 401,000 new immigrants this year, of which 108,500 will be assigned to a program managed by Express Entry. Canada will increase the rate of admission in the coming years over the next three years, 110,500 in 2022 and 113,750 in 2023.