Posted on February 25 2019

Canada issues 3350 invitations in the latest Express Entry draw

By
Anshul Singhal
, Editor

Updated July 25 2023

In the latest Express Entry draw held on 20^th February, Canada issues 3,350 invitations to candidates to apply for PR. Till now, IRCC has issued 14,500 invitations in 2019. This is the biggest start that the Express Entry system has seen since it was introduced in 2015. There was a 70% increase in the number of invites as compared to the number issued during the same time in 2018. 2018 saw the Express Entry system issue a record number of invitations at 89,800. In the February 20^th draw the minimum CRS score was 457 which increased by 19 points as compared to the last draw on 30^th January. This can be attributed to the fact that there was a gap of 3 weeks between the two draws. Additional time between draws helps the EE pool replenish itself with high-scoring candidates. The January 30^th draw was held just a week after the previous draw on 23^rd January. Hence, the minimum CRS dropped to 438. The February 20^th draw also saw IRCC use its tie-break rule. The time stamp used was 6^th December 2018 at 12:38:11 UTC, as per CIC News. This meant that all candidates scoring 457 and above who submitted their profiles in the EE pool before the selected time and date were issued an invite. The Express Entry system manages Canada’s economic migration programs:

The Federal Skilled Worker Program
The Federal Skilled Trades Class
Canadian Experience Class

Candidates need to submit an online application which is then scored using the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS). The highest ranking applicants receive invitations in the various draws conducted by IRCC. Applicants who have received an invitation can then submit their PR application to IRCC.