CRS drops 2 points from earlier all-program draw under Express Entry

Canada decided to organize a new all-program draw in order to allow more Express Entry candidates to submit their applications for permanent residence. This recent draw included candidates from the Foreign Skilled Worker Program since they have been largely excluded ever since the country started targeting candidates belonging to the Provincial Nominee Program and the Canadian Experience Class after the pandemic broke out.

The draw that was held on August 5 led to the distribution of 3,900 Invitations to Apply (ITAs) for permanent residence. The candidates who succeeded in obtaining an invitation during the round had a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 476 or more.

How has IRCC been organizing draws?

IRCC has been distributing about 3,900 ITAs via Express Entry almost every two weeks this year. They had to opt out of all-program draws in the period between March 18 and July 8 because of the lockdown restrictions. They began holding draws for candidates belonging to two specific programs for a while, but that changed last month.

IRCC organized an all-program draw on July 8, and then switched to program-specific draws again on July 22 and July 23. This suggests that IRCC might be planning to alternate between these two kinds of draws until the situation comes back to normal.

The total number of ITAs distributed in 2020 was not influenced by temporary policy changes and it has stayed the same for the better part of the year.

Canada kicked off the year with two draws of 3,400 ITAs each and followed it up with a draw that issued 3,500 ITAs. February witnessed a record-breaking draw that led to the issuance of 4, 500 invitations. IRCC has hosted 21 draws since March and invited almost 40,000 candidates.