Canada Invites 829 PNP Candidates Through Express Entry

In the latest Express Entry draw conducted on April 27, Canada invited 829 PNP candidates to apply for permanent residency after announcing to resume all draws by July.

All the invited candidates had a PNP nomination with a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of at least 772. The minimum score was comparatively high as Express Entry candidates automatically get additional 600 points after receiving a provincial nomination. Without the PNP nomination, the minimum score would be 172 base points.

IRCC to Resume FSWP and CEC Draws in July

Last week, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser announced to resume Express Entry invitations for Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) and Canadian Experience Class (CEC) by early July. Also, promised Express Entry applications will get back to the six-month standard processing time.

Before COVID19, Canada rarely held PNP-only draws. Canada would often invite the candidates with the highest CRS score to apply for immigration despite program eligibility.

Earlier, Canada focused on welcoming CEC candidates to fulfill its goal of inviting the highest number of immigrants during the travel restrictions. This strategy helped Canada in inviting 405000 permanent residents last year. Throughout the pandemic, IRCC has also focused on inviting PNP candidates to meet provincial immigration goals.

However, Canada’s immigration ecosystem has faced a major downtime as IRCC’s strategy resulted in huge backlogs. The lack of FSWP and CEC invitations resulted in record-low unemployment and record-high job vacancies.

The Federal Skilled Worker Program used to be the main source of foreign skilled workforce, but when IRCC decided to invite candidates through CEC resulted in a reduced flow of foreign skilled workers in Canada during the time of labour shortage.

2022 Overview of Express Entry

According to the latest update, Canada is going to conduct PNP draws for a while. On the other hand, they are also working towards improving the immigration system. Immigration Minister Sean Fraser did not mention when they will resume draws for the express entry candidates eligible for other programs, like CEC, FSWP, and FSTP. However, it is believed that the pause is temporary.

In a meeting with the Canadian Bar Association, Sean Fraser, Immigration Minister of Canada stated that IRCC is exploring the possibility of holding occupation-holding express entry draws to take care of labour needs. The immigration minister also announced a new level plan to pace up the process and invite more immigrants to Canada.