Express Entry
New Express Entry Draw For The Canadian Experience Class Candidates
Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has already begun hosting Express Entry draws regularly. This does not come as a surprise, considering that Canada wants to make up for the immigration losses suffered in 2020. The Immigration Levels Plan 2021-2023, which was introduced in late 2020, states that Canada aims to welcome a significantly larger number of people these few years.
On January 21, IRCC organized the Express Entry draw of this week alone. Canada uses the Express Entry pathway to manage applications from skilled workers. IRCC invited 4,626 candidates belonging to the Canadian Experience Class during the draw.
The recipients of the invitations are now eligible to become permanent residents in Canada. The minimum CRS score required for candidates to qualify for an invitation was 454. The last CEC-specific draw was hosted by Canada on January 7 and its cut-off score was 461.
Heightened need for immigrants
According to the 2021-2023 Immigration Levels Plan, Canada wants to welcome about 110,000 Express Entry applicants annually. While this seems like a huge feat, Canada did manage to almost reach this goal in 2020 by issuing 107,350 permanent residence invitations. If IRCC can pull this off in a year like 2020 that stunted immigration in a multitude of ways, there should be no problem hitting this target until 2023.
The swift return of program-specific draws is an indication that Canada will depend on inviting Express Entry candidates for meeting its goals. There hasn’t been an all-program draw in 2021 yet.
The Government of Canada has stressed time and again that immigrants will play a crucial role in facilitating the post-pandemic economic recovery in the country.
