787 PNP Candidates Invited In The Latest Express Entry Draw

Canada has so far invited 7,257 PNP candidates in 2022.

The Canadian government on April 13, invited 787 Express Entry candidates to apply for permanent residency.

Candidates with a provincial nomination under a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) and a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of above 782 points were invited to this draw. Since Express Entry candidates are automatically awarded 600 points once they secure a provincial nomination – the CRS cut-off score in this draw was relatively high. Without the nomination, the lowest-scoring candidates would have required a minimum CRS score of at least 182 points.

In the previous round of invitations – the IRCC, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada invited 919 Express Entry candidates with CRS scores of at least 785 points.

Express Entry in 2022

As of April 2022, IRCC has only managed to invite 6,470 Express Entry candidates to apply for Canadian immigration. This has been the slowest first-quarter start since the Express Entry was launched back in 2015.

This massive drop in EE invitations is a result of IRCC inviting PNP-only candidates since September 2021. The last Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) draw was held in December 2020.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, most draws were not program-specific. Candidates from any Express Entry linked program could be invited to apply.

Owing to the travel restrictions brought by the pandemic, Canada’s primary focus shifted towards its goal to invite record-breaking immigrants by transitioning a high number of temporary residents to permanent. This approach resulted in a massive backlog of Express Entry applications – especially overseas FSWP applications. This pile-up also sabotaged the standard processing times of six months to further exceed.

It is still unclear exactly how Canada plans on dealing with these backlogs and how they will impact its immigration targets. The immigration department however laid a statement to speed up application processing in 2022. However, aspiring applicants seeking to immigrate to Canada in 2022 should prepare themselves for these ongoing delays and possibilities of policy changes.

Understanding the Express Entry Program

Express Entry is the fastest and most popular pathway to permanent residence for immigrants seeking a new life in Canada.

Express Entry Program is an online system used by the Canadian government to organize and process applications for skilled workers who wish to immigrate to Canada and acquire Canadian permanent residence status. The system manages three main federal economic programs:

• Federal Skilled Worker (FSW)
• Federal Skilled Trades (FST)
• Canadian Experience Class (CEC)

The Express Entry Program does not require a job offer to apply, and the processing period has been cut to around 6 to 8 months, making it one of the easiest and quickest ways to get PR in Canada.

Tags: Canada immigration, Canadian immigration, CRS, express entry, express entry 2021, Express Entry draw, ita, permanent residency, PNP, pr, provincial nominee program