Canada breaks Express Entry invitation record and drops minimum score to 2018’s lowest
By: ADMIN 2018-12-06
Canada set a new Express Entry invitation record Wednesday in a draw featuring the lowest
minimum score of 2018. The December 19 draw issued 3,900 invitations to apply for Canadian
permanent residence to Express Entry candidates with scores as low as 439.
Express Entry manages the pool of candidates for Canada’s three Federal High Skilled economic immigration programs — the Federal Skilled Worker Class, Federal Skilled Trades Class and Canadian Experience Class.
Eligible candidates are given a score under Express Entry’s Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) based on factors such as age, education, work experience and proficiency in English or French. This score determines their position in the Express Entry pool, and a set number of the highest-ranked candidates receive Invitations to Apply, or ITAs, through regular draws.
Today’s draw marks the first time in 2018 that the minimum score has dropped below 440. This is likely explained by the fact the Government of Canada maintained a large draw size while only allowing one week to elapse between draws from the Express Entry pool. The period between Express Entry draws is usually two weeks.
A shorter time between draws means fewer candidates have an opportunity to enter a profile in the Express Entry pool. When this is combined with a large draw size, the effect can be a reduced minimum score.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) used its tie-break rule in the December 19 draw. The time stamp used was February 6, 2018, at 19:31:37 UTC. This means that all candidates with a CRS score above 439, as well as those candidates with scores of 439 who entered their profile in the Express Entry pool before February 6, 2018, at 19:31:37 UTC, received an ITA in this invitation round.
The 3,900 ITAs in today’s draw bring the 2018 total to 89,800, which is the most ITAs issued in a single year through the Express Entry system. The previous record was established in 2017, when IRCC issued 86,023 ITAs.