• Posted 20-Dec-2021

Express Entry: Canada holds biggest PNP draw in 2021

Express Entry is the application management system for Canada’s three most popular immigration programs: the Canadian Experience Class, the Federal Skilled Worker Program, and the Federal Skilled Trades Program. PNP candidates in the Express Entry pool have already qualified for one of these programs.
Canada is aiming to welcome the highest levels of immigration in its history to support its post-COVID economic recovery. Under its 2021-2023 Immigration Levels Plan, Canada is seeking to welcome over 400,000 new immigrants per year.Nearly 60 per cent of these new arrivals will come to Canada as skilled workers. Express Entry is the main way that Canada processes skilled worker applications.
On December 10, 2021, Canada announced a fresh batch of invitations to Express Entry candidates. The most recent Express Entry draw targeted those who had received a provincial nomination certificate. Canada invited around 1,032 candidates with a minimum CRS score of 698 to apply for permanent residence.The Provinces continueto invite foreign workers directly from the Express Entry pool, notwithstanding the suspension of all-program draws. Under the Express Entry procedure, Canada has welcomed nearly 14,000 PNP candidates this year. While Canada suspends all program draws, provinces continue to use the Express Entry pool to pick nominated applicants to satisfy local labor market needs.
Candidates nominated through an Express Entry-aligned nominee scheme earn 600 points added to their CRS score. As a result, the CRS cut-off for PNP-specific withdrawals is often substantially higher than the CRS cut-off for draws for other federal programs.The lowest-ranking contender had a CRS score of 98 prior to winning a provincial nomination.
Since Express Entry was launched in 2015, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has only held 38 PNP-only draws. Most times they render less than a thousand invitations, except for this draw and the June 23 draw when 1,002 were invited.IRCC has only been holding PNP draws since September. This is now the seventh such draw in a row. In the previous Express Entry draw, IRCC invited 613 candidates with scores of at least 737.
Since Express Entry was launched in 2015, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has only held 38 PNP-only draws. Most times they render less than a thousand invitations, except for this draw and the June 23 draw when 1,002 were invited.
IRCC has only been holding PNP draws since September. This is now the seventh such draw in a row. In the previous Express Entry draw, IRCC invited 613 candidates with scores of at least 737.
Throughout the year, IRCC has only held Express Entry draws that target candidates from the PNP and Canadian Experience Class (CEC).
The strategy was supposed to allow IRCC to focus on admitting immigration candidates who were likely already in the country. Candidates who were applying for Canadian immigration from abroad were not allowed to cross the border for the purpose of activating their permanent residency status until June.However, an IRCC briefing note reveals that focusing on inland candidates, as well as creating the Temporary Residence to Permanent Residence (TR to PR) pathway created a large backlog of candidates.