Canada distributes another 4,200 ITAs during Express Entry draw

Canada organized its 163rd Express Entry draw on September 16 in order to issue more invitations to immigration candidates. They will now be able to submit their application for permanent residence. This was the second all-program draw in the space of two weeks. This slowly emerging pattern is congruent with the pre-pandemic invitation rounds when all-program draws were organized once in a fortnight.

Details of the draw

During the new Express Entry round, candidates with Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) scores of 472 or above where given invitations. There was a drop of three points as compared to the previous all-program draw, and it also turned out to be the biggest drop ever since Canada restored all-program draws in July.

A total of 4,200 candidates received Invitations to Apply (ITAs) for permanent residence in Canada during the draw. The draw matched the 4,200 ITAs that were distributed during an Express Entry round held on September 2 and is hence tied at the second place for the biggest draw ever. Canada seems to be increasing the number of invitations slowly as the pandemic is slowly coming under control. This is an indication of Canada’s dedication to inviting high levels of immigrants in the future.

Tie-break rule

IRCC took advantage of the tie-break rule for the draw. The timestamp used for the draw was March 9, 2020, at 13:03:40 UTC. All the candidates who scored 472 or above got an ITA in this invitation round if they had registered their profile in the Express Entry pool prior to the selected date and time. The tie-break rule is used to determine the ranking of the candidates alongside the CRS score. However, the CRS score is always the primary factor when picking candidates who would be invited to apply for permanent residence.