Canada’s Express Entry draw no. 160 welcomes 600 candidates

In its 160th Express Entry draw, Canada invited 600 immigration candidates to apply for permanent residence (PR). The draw was held on August 19, 2020.

The candidates chosen in the draw had CRS (Comprehensive Ranking System) scores of 771 points. These candidates had to possess a provincial nomination from a Canada PNP (Provincial Nominee Program) to get selected. These candidates will get an extra 600 CRS points automatically added to their original CRS score.

This draw was the third round of sending ITAs (Invitation to Apply) for Canadian PR in August 2020. 250 more ITAs were issued to Express Entry candidates who were nominated via the Federal Skilled Trades Program draw conducted on August 6, 2020. This rare draw required its candidates to have a minimum CRS score of 415.

In an all-program draw held on August 5, 2020, Canada also issued 3,900 ITAs. Those went to candidates holding a score of 476.

The pattern of draws Canada is adopting right now indicates a possible CEC (Canadian Experience Class) draw to be held next.

Express Entry is an application system for immigration Canada uses to manage a candidate pool for its main economic immigration classes. These are:

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

ITAs are issued to candidates scoring the highest ranks in the Express Entry draw in invitation rounds conducted regularly.

This draw was the 27th one conducted in 2020. The total number of ITAs issued in 2020 as yet thus comes to 62,450. This is a new record for this date. The impressive feat has been achieved even with the tough challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the pandemic, the Canadian government is making concerted efforts to meet its immigration targets for 2020.

The minimum score of 771 for this round of draw was in fact the highest CRS cut-off score this year. A large number of candidates present in the Express Entry pool could have contributed to this.

Even the time gap between draws influences the number of candidates in a draw. The shorter the interval between draws, the fewer will be the candidates taking part in the draw. This is because it takes time for candidates to enter a profile in the Express Entry pool.

The tie-break implemented by IRCC (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada) used the timestamp of July 24, 2020, at 11:29:33 UTC. So, candidates with over 771 as CRS score and candidates with a score of 771 with their profiles entered in the Express Entry pool before the above-said timestamp received an ITA in this draw.

A tie-break comes handy when there is more than one candidate with the same CRS score. The tie-break will help in ranking the candidates. In the case of inviting for PR, the CRS score is the primary factor that decides which candidate has to be invited.

Each eligible candidate for each program is issued a score based on Express Entry’s CRS. The CRS gives points for factors like age, work experience, education, and English or French language proficiency.

To be eligible under the Express Entry system, a candidate needn’t have a job offer. Nevertheless, a candidate with a job offer gets additional points from the CRS.

There’s a set number of candidates having the highest scores who are issued ITAs for PR. The standard PR application processing time set by the Canadian government is 6 months. This is applicable to applications filed via the Express Entry system.

If you are looking to Study, Work, Visit, Invest or Migrate to Canada, talk to Y-Axis, the World’s No.1 Immigration & Visa Company.

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