Express Entry Draw Number 147 and 148
April 12, 2021
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On the 13th and 15th of May 2020, Canada held it’s 147th and 148th Express Entry draws respectively, inviting another 3,900 applicants to apply for permanent residency in Canada. The first draw was exclusively for applicants who had received provincial nominations. A total of 529 candidates with a provincial nomination, which is worth 600 points on your Comprehensive Rankings Score (CRS), were sent Invitations to Apply (ITA) for permanent residency. The cutoff CRS score for this draw was 718 points, which means only 118 points came from the Human Capital Category out of a possible 600! What this comes down to is that a provincial nomination is a hot ticket.
Once you earn one, you are just about guaranteed an invitation to apply for permanent residency. In the ongoing fashion, the much larger second draw focused on the Canadian Experience Class (CEC), one of three Express Entry programs. And in an ongoing fashion, the cut-off CRS score continued to be lower. 3,371 CEC Express Entry applicants were issued ITA’s a cut-off score of 447 points. Counting these latest Express Entry draws, this brings the total number of ITA’s issued to 38,200 for 2020. The Immigration, Refugees Council Canada (IRCC) has stayed true to its goal of inviting 85,800 skilled and qualified immigrants to immigrate to Canada in 2020, which is exceptional considering the condition the global migration system has been in this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Let’s first take a quick look at how the Provincial Nomination Program works, and then we will look at the Canadian Experience Class program, it’s requirements and which option may be the smartest path to becoming a permanent resident in Canada.
Provincial Nomination Program
You can apply for a provincial nomination by creating an expression of interest in a particular province that you wish to live and work in on your Express Entry profile. If your skillset and/or qualifications matches up with the province’s labour demands, they will issue you with a provincial nomination, which will contribute 600 points out of the overall 1,200 points available on your CRS score, pushing you to the very top of the Express Entry pool and into a much smaller group awaiting the next Express Entry draw. You can improve your chances of earning a provincial nomination by:- Creating an Expression of Interest (EOI) in the right province - different provinces have different human capital requirements while some provinces have immigration streams dedicated to certain professions. Know if a province needs you before you create your EOI.
- Make sure your profile is complete and that you highlight the best parts of yourself - don't make false claims, when it comes to work experience and/or qualifications. If you are invited to apply you will need to back up your application.
The Canadian Experience Class Program
The differentiating factor between the Canada Experience Class and the other two immigration programs in the Express Entry system is that applicants must have at least 1 year of work experience in Canada within the last three years. The work can be in a part-time position, but must then equal one years’ full time work experience. Additional eligibility requirements include:- The position must fall within the NOC 0, A or B (Managerial jobs, professional jobs and technical jobs or skilled trades);
- You must be able to prove you met or currently meet the requirements of the positions as specified;
- You must score a minimum of 7 on the Canadian Language Benchmark tests for NOC 0, A or a 5 for NOC B positions;
- There is no education requirement, however you can increase your CRS score by attending a post secondary school in Canada or having your foreign credentials assessed; and
- You must be admissible to Canada.