Immigration Canada recently had a draw in which Express Entry candidates were invited to send in their application for permanent residence. This draw, held on March 8th, saw 671 candidates offered an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for permanent residence. All of them were from the PNP category with nominations from respective provinces.

Candidates with a minimum score of 739 were invited in this draw. Provincial nomination can add up to 600 points to a candidate’s overall Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score. This means that before their provincial nomination, candidates only needed a score of 139. A candidate’s score is based on factors such as age, education, work experience, and language ability in French and/or English.

This draw selected Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) candidates since they have proven to be beneficial for provincial labour markets and economies. Many foreign workers have a tendency to settle in Canada’s larger cities, like Vancouver or Toronto. PNPs prompt candidates to consider the province’s smaller towns and rural communities and distribute the benefits more.

Candidates with the minimum score of 739 were only considered for this draw if they had submitted their profile by February 16th, 2021 at 19:10:25 UTC, according to the tie-break rule. The tie-break rule was introduced in March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and has been used in Express Entry draws since. This rule is used to rank candidates who have the same score. Candidates are ranked by the date and time their profile was submitted for consideration. Profiles that have been in the pool for longer will be considered first.  

So far this year, Canada has extended 38,657 Invitations to Apply. This is three times the number issued around the same time last year. These numbers are promising, since Canada is working towards the ambitious goal of accepting 401,000 newcomers in 2021. The majority of these will be accepted through the Express Entry system. This draw comes just a little over three weeks after the historic February 13 draw in which 27,332 applicants were invited.