Canada is Moving to In-Demand Express Entry Invitation Rounds coming July

The last all-program Express Entry invitations round was held in December 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, IRCC had put draws targeting FSW on hold.

Even after lifting most of the travel restrictions, IRCC continued to pause all-program EE draws as they were processing a considerable application backlog.

But as per the federal government of Canada, the upcoming all-program FSW and CEC Express Entry draw will happen in early July. In line with the composition of Comprehensive Ranking Scores in the Express Entry pool of candidates, the draw is expected to be occupation-specific. 

What is the in-demand occupation Express Entry draws?

An occupation in-demand EE draw is when the Canadian government selects applicants based on their experience and job skills instead of their CRS score alone. The upcoming draws are expected to help the Canadian government fill vacant job positions more effectively compared to the current system.

Candidates' CRS score distribution

The number of applicants in the Express Entry pool has substantially increased since the global pandemic. The numbers have grown from 147,000 in Dec 2020 to more than 200,000 as of April 2022.

The last EE draw that targeted FSW and CEC candidates was held in Dec 2020; where, 5,000 ITAs were issued to applicants with a CRS score requirement of 468 points.

If the IRCC is planning to open a similar draw this time, then there would be more than 32,000 invitations issued. Even if the CRS score requirement were as high as 501 points, the number of ITAs issued would exceed 10,000.

If we look back, the IRCC had previously held an unexpectedly large EE draw and issued over 27,000 ITAs; however, this primarily contributed to the current application backlog and is unlikely to happen anytime soon.

This means that if IRCC were to open an all-program EE draw, even with a very high cut-off, the number of ITAs issued would likely be far greater than what the IRCC is capable of processing currently.

Will the CRS cut-off go above 501?

As per the internal memo issued in Nov 2021, IRCC has expressed concern over the number of high-ranking applicants in the pool. As per the memo, the cut-off score would likely increase above 500 and remain high irrespective of whether ITAs are issued at a slow pace or continue to be paused.

In fact, in a Jan 2022 interview with the Canadian Bar Association, Canada's Immigration Minister, Hon. Fraser confirmed that Canada plans to move to occupation in-demand EE draws in 2022.

For this reason, we expect that in the upcoming all-program EE draws, and the IRCC is most likely to target occupations instead of the CRS score alone.

For more such Canadian immigration updates or to find out your eligibility to apply for Canada PR Visa this year, you may talk to our team of advisors at Visas Avenue on Toll-Free No. 78-18-000-777.

- Rajneesh Kumar