Latest Express Entry Draw under Canadian Experience Class Sets Lowest CRS Cut-off Since 2017

Under the Canadian Experience Class stream of the federal Express Entry System allows foreign skilled workers who have at least one year of work experience in Canada to permanently live and work in Canada. In the latest Express Entry draw held on 11th June 2020, 3,559 qualified candidates under this stream – who scored 437 or more points under the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) – received invitations to apply for permanent residence to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

Considering the high number of aspirants invited, this was the largest CEC stream-specific draw held by IRCC since 1st May 2020, and the second-largest draw held since the Canadian government imposed measures to address the COVID-19 pandemic in mid-March. Invited candidates had CRS scores as low as 437 points – which is the lowest CRS score cut off for a CEC-specific draw since 2017, and the lowest cut-off among all draws held in 2020.

There are three federal Express Entry streams, each of which have different eligibility criteria. Qualified aspirants can submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) under the stream that they are eligible for. The CRS allocates points out of 1200 to each candidate, based on several selection factors. The highest-scoring candidates who meet the minimum point requirement of cut-off receive invitations to apply for permanent residence through regular invitation rounds or ‘draws’.

In recent months, the CRS score cut-offs have been consistently low as IRCC is prioritizing applications of candidates under the CEC and various Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) in light of the current global travel restrictions, since these applicants are more likely to already be living in Canada. The CRS cut-off has been successively decreasing with each of the past seven CEC draws held since 4th March 2020. Over the last two months, IRCC has held 13 CEC and PNP draws, despite the challenges posed by the pandemic.

To choose between candidates who have the same score, IRCC applies a tie-breaking rule, wherein the candidate who submitted their EOI first is invited. In the latest Express Entry draw, only candidates who submitted their EOIs on or before 25th May 2020 at 00:31:43 UTC received invitations. With this draw, the total number of invitations issued by IRCC so far in 2020 has reached 46,000 – which is higher than the number of invitations issued by this time in 2019 and 2018.