In yet another surprise Express Entry draw, IRCC issues second largest number of invitations to CEC candidates.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) just did it again. Following on the heels of the historic Saturday February 13, 2021 draw, IRCC held its second largest Express Entry draw on the evening of Friday April 16, 2021.
It was completely unplanned and entirely unexpected.
With the weekend just around the corner, 6,000 Canadian Experience Class candidates received invitations to apply for their permanent residency.
In order to qualify, candidates were required to meet a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 417 and as per the tie-break rule, they had to have submitted their profiles by March 1, 2021 at 19:53:46 UTC.
This draw shows yet again the federal government’s determination and commitment to meeting the immigration targets outlined for 2021 to support Canada’s economic growth.
This has been a particularly busy week for IRCC as another Express Entry draw had been held on Wednesday April 14, 2021 for PNP candidates. A total of 266 invitations were issued during draw.
On Wednesday, IRCC also announced the launch of six new permanent residence streams, which will be launched in May 2021. The new streams will help approximately 90,000 temporary residents currently living in Canada, become permanent residents.
These temporary residents include essential workers, international graduates and francophones, to name a few.
Challenges of the pandemic
With the pandemic, unsurprisingly, the last year has seen a steep decline in immigration numbers since people cannot come into the country or cross borders to complete their landing.
As a result, the federal government has been exploring other creative ways to reach its desired target of 401,000 newcomers in 2021.
Aside from the Express Entry draws held by IRCC, Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) draws have been taking place weekly all across Canada, which is helping to increase the immigration numbers.
IRCC is likely focusing on issuing as many invitations as possible in the first half of the year, so applications for permanent residency can be processed before the end of the year.
Hypothetical example of a candidate
Michel is a 36 years old man from France.
He is project manager and has been working full time at Pratt & Whitney in Toronto for the last two years under temporary resident status with authorization to work.
He is fluent in English and French and has a CRS score of 620.
Given his background, his language abilities, his eligibility under the CEC program and his CRS score, he would be a shoo-in to receive an invitation for the Express Entry draw.