November 8, 2017 – Canadian immigration authorities conducted the 27^th round of invitations under Express Entry in 2017 and 77^th overall, with 2,000 candidates issued Invitations to Apply (ITAs) for permanent residence under all programs. The lowest Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score was 458, 22 points higher than the previous all-program draws.

The two previous Express Entry draws, numbers 75 and 76, held on November 1, 2017 were aimed only at Provincial Nominee Programs and the Federal Skilled Trades Program respectively.

What Has Changed?

The latest draw saw Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) change the format of how draws are conducted.  Under the new format, and unlike previous draws, immigration authorities can now set an exact number of invitations to be issued.  Where the number of candidates with the lowest score surpasses the number of invitations permitted, authorities will implement a tie-breaking mechanism to issue invitations based on a time-stamp-determined, first come, first served basis.

Thus, if more than one candidate has the lowest score, the cut-off is based on the date and time they submitted their Express Entry profiles.

For the latest draw, the first 2,000 profiles in the pool were eligible for an Invitation to Apply (ITA).  The cut-off score was 458.

Candidates with a score of 458 who did not receive an invitation, can expect to receive an invitation in future draws with similar or higher CRS cut offs.

Why this Change?

It appears IRCC is testing this new format, to allow for issuance of a specific number of (ITA’s) invitations to apply.  The new format allows immigration officials greater control to implement a more fine-tuned method for choosing an exact number of candidates to be issued an ITA.  The previous system did not allow this.

Despite the latest change, the current draw was the 25^th draw in 2017 under the Express Entry System where the lowest CRS score was well below 500. It was the 12^th draw since immigration authorities substantially modified the Express Entry Comprehensive Ranking System on June 6, 2017. The latest draw factors in all applications in the pool who received additional points under the recent changes.

IRCC has also published a revised breakdown composition of the Express Entry pool, as it appeared on October 26, 2017. It reveals many profiles in the 350-450 points range.  This emphasizes how important even 1-2 points can represent, when a draw takes place.

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Express Entry Pool Snapshot: October 26, 2017

CRS Score Range	Number of Candidates
601-1200	163
451-600	759
401-450	14,283
441-450	260
431-440	1,586
421-430	3,421
411-420	3,946
401-410	5,070
351-400	27,388
391-400	4,728
381-390	5,570
371-380	5,718
361-370	5,776
351-360	5,596
301-350	17,240
0-300	3,097
Total	62,930

Source: IRCC

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Express Entry is an immigration system implemented by Canadian immigration authorities (IRCC) on January 1, 2015 which manages skilled worker applications under Federal Economic programs. This includes the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Skilled Trades Program the Canada Experience Class and certain parts of the Provincial Nominee Program.

Stakeholders expect to see near 30 draws and up to 70,000 invitations issued in 2017, with a majority of draws featuring CRS scores well below 450 to enable Canadian immigration authorities to meet targeted annual immigration levels for 2017.

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Read More

2017 Express Entry 9-Month Review
2017 Express Entry 6-Month Review
2016 Express Entry Year-End report

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What This Means for Employers

Employers are encouraged to consider securing an LMIA or nomination under provincial nomination programs (PNP’s) to ensure long term retention of employees.

We provide Canadian employers with unparalleled immigration legal services and recruitment of foreign nationals through skilledworker.com. We bring approved candidates to Canada in the shortest time possible. Employers in a wide range of industries can directly benefit from our unique position as one of Canada’s leading online immigration firms in the industry to meet both their recruitment and immigration requirements.

Interested employers wishing to seek our assistance are invited to contact us here for further information.

What This Means for Candidates

It is expected that the majority of applicants to be issued (ITA’s) under Canada’s Express Entry Immigration system in 2017 will require a CRS score well under 450 points, enabling a significant number of applicants to receive permanent admission to Canada without a job offer or nomination under a provincial immigration program. However, securing an approved offer of employment is highly recommended. Watch our Facebook livestream video on how to find jobs in Canada from overseas.

Find out whether you qualify to Canada by completing our free online evaluation. We will provide you with your evaluation results within 1-2 business days.

Resources:

• Immigration.ca News Articles – A daily news source outlining the latest developments in immigration, employment and the economy with commentaries by Attorney Colin Singer.
• At skilledworker.com we are dedicated to developing long-term strategic alliances with client companies and candidates alike. We strictly adhere to our guiding principles of honesty, integrity and confidentiality.

Colin R. Singer is immigration counsel for www.immigration.ca and Managing Partner of skilled worker.com. He is one of Canada’s foremost senior corporate immigration attorneys. Colin is internationally recognized as an experienced and recommended authority on Canadian immigration and foreign recruitment. In addition to being licensed human resources professional, he is a licensed Canadian lawyer in good standing with the Quebec Law Society for more than 25 years and is authorized by the Canadian government in all immigration matters.

Interested employers: Kindly contact us here to receive further information.

Interested candidates: Find out whether you qualify to Canada by completing our free on-line evaluation. We will provide you with our evaluation within 1-2 business days.

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