In an all-program draw, Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) issued 3,500 invitations to apply (ITAs) to candidates. The Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) minimum qualifying score was 486. Candidates from the Canadian Experience Class (CEC), the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), and the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) are considered in an all-program draw.
This Express Entry draw comes after three consecutive lotteries in which 7,000 candidates were invited. The CRS cut-off score for the most recent draw on March 29 was 481, the lowest since December 2020.
Already in 2023, more ITAs have been issued than in the entirety of 2022.
The IRCC unveiled its most ambitious Immigration Levels Plan to date in November of 2017. The plan specifies three-year immigration goals for permanent residents across all business sectors. This year, 82,880 people will obtain permanent resident status through Express Entry; by 2025, that number will increase to 114,000.
A record-breaking month for Express Entry
March was an unprecedented month in the history of Express Entry. IRCC issued 21,667 ITAs in four separate lotteries. This was the second-highest monthly total since January 2015, when Express Entry was introduced. The record for the most candidates invited in a single month was established in February 2021, when IRCC invited 27,332 candidates for the Canadian Experience Class in a single draw.
Today’s draw follows three lotteries that were the second-largest in the history of Express Entry. The first was on March 15, when 7,000 candidates with a CRS score of 490 were invited.
Typically, Express Entry lotteries occur on Wednesdays every two weeks. However, a little over a week later, on March 23, IRCC invited an additional 7,000 candidates with an even lower CRS score of 484.
On March 29, another 7,000 candidates (with a minimum CRS score of 481) were randomly selected. This totals 21,000 candidates invited over the course of three consecutive weeks. The remaining 667 candidates were invited on March 1 via a lottery that targeted only Provincial Nominee Program candidates.
PGWP extension accessible beginning on April 6
The large all-program draws could be advantageous for candidates in the CEC, many of whom have expressed growing concern as their Post-Graduation Work Permits (PGWPs) are expiring soon.
To assist PGWP holders, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser recently announced that, beginning April 6, PGWP holders will be eligible to petition for an 18-month extension of their open work permit.
PGWPs are one-time, unrestricted work permits for international graduates of Canadian postsecondary institutions. If a candidate’s PGWP expires before receiving an ITA, they can no longer petition for permanent residence. Finding a replacement work permit or acquiring a visitor record can be costly and time-consuming.
Few CEC candidates received ITAs between November 2022 and February 2023 due to a six-week unplanned draw hiatus followed by four programme-specific draws that did not target CEC candidates.
What is Fast Track Entry?
Express Entry is a programme for application administration that was launched in 2015. It was created to objectively evaluate high-skilled economic immigrants based on criteria including occupation, work experience, age, language proficiency, education, and other human capital factors. The Comprehensive Ranking System is used to rate and evaluate these factors.
The higher a candidate’s CRS score, the greater their likelihood of receiving an Invitation to Apply for permanent residence.
After receiving an ITA, candidates have sixty days to submit their final application to IRCC. An officer will then evaluate the candidate’s application and determine whether permanent resident status is granted.
