The Government of Canada issued a record high number of invitations to apply for Canadian permanent residence over the months of July, August and September of 2018. Introduced in 2015, the Express Entry system manages the pool of eligible candidates in Canada’s three main economic immigration classes — Federal Skilled Worker Class, Federal Skilled Trades Class and the Canadian Experience Class.
Candidates in all three classes are assigned a score based on Express Entry’s Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) and a set number of the highest-ranked are issued an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for Canadian permanent residence through regular draws from the pool.
Monthly ITA records set in July, September
Overall, Express Entry issued 22,800 ITAs in the third quarter of 2018 — the most ITAs issued in a third quarter since Express Entry’s introduction. Where IRCC (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada) issued 7,500 ITAs of in June. This trend continued in July, when the 7,500 invitations issued eclipsed Express Entry’s previous July high of 3,202 ITAs set in 2017.
August was the only month in the third quarter that did not establish a new monthly ITA record. The 7,500 ITAs issued fell short of the 9,290 ITAs issued in August 2017. IRCC followed August with another record-setting month in September, when 7,800 Express Entry candidates were invited to apply for Canadian permanent residence. This included 3,900 ITAs issued on September 5 — the most ITAs issued in a single draw involving all three federal economic classes so far in 2018.
CRS minimums: 440 to 445
The minimum CRS scores in the seven all-class draws that were held over the third quarter ranged from a high of 445 to a low of 440 — the lowest minimum score of 2018. Of those seven draws, six had a CRS cut-off score between 440 and 442.
Express Entry candidates can improve their ranking in a number of ways, including a provincial nomination that results in 600 additional CRS points. Express Entry-linked Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) also had an active third quarter of 2018, and new streams were introduced in Nova Scotia and Alberta.
Large draws
IRCC maintain the trend of standardized draw sizes for all-program invitation rounds that have been the case over the course of 2018. Each of the four invitation rounds held over the course of July and August saw a total of 3,750 ITAs issued. This trend was established in December 2017.
