Express Entry draw: 557 PNP candidates invited

Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) invite 557 express entry candidates with provincial nominations in the latest program-specific express entry draw held on May 12.

Express Entry applicants needed a score of at least 752 to receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA). They must also have previously received a nomination from a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). Every time someone gets a Provincial Nomination through an Express Entry PNP, they automatically get 600 points added to their score. This is why the score requirement was so high. Without the nomination, the candidate with the lowest score would have scored 152.

IRCC publishes a time limit for the tie-break rule as an administrative requirement, whether or not there is a tie. In the new draw, applicants with the minimum score were only invited if they had submitted their Express Entry profile by April 29, 2021, at 10:18:12 UTC.

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Since the start of the year, Canada has only invited Express Entry applicants through the PNP and the Canadian Experience Class (CEC). This is large because COVID-related travel restrictions do not allow approved permanent residents to come to Canada from abroad, and the government aims to admit a record number of new immigrants over the next three years.

In 2021 alone, Canada is expected to welcome 108,500 new immigrants through programs managed by Express Entry. To date, IRCC has invited 62,328 Express Entry applicants to apply for permanent residence.

PNP and CEC specific-draw have very different CRS requirements. Indeed, PNP candidates have the price of 600 points attached to their score. CEC applicants are invited in large numbers and they do not compete for invitations from other programs, so there is more room for IRCC to invite lower-rated applicants.