Canada invites 500 skilled trades workers with low CRS score

New Express Entry skilled trades draw invites candidates with scores as low as 357

In the second Federal Skilled Trades-specific Express Entry draw to be held in 2019, the Government of Canada invited 500 Federal Skilled Trades Class candidates with Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) scores as low as 357 to apply for Canadian permanent residence. The Express Entry draw was held October 16.

The cut-off score of 357 was 81 points lower than the lowest cut-off score this year in an all-program Express Entry draw, which was 438.

The Federal Skilled Trades Class is open to foreign nationals with a certificate of qualification that proves they are qualified to work in an eligible skilled trade in Canada or if they have an eligible offer of employment in Canada. It is one of the three economic immigration programs managed by the federal Express Entry system. The Express Entry system allows Canada to actively recruit, assess and select skilled immigrants under the three Federal High Skilled economic-class immigration programs: the Federal Skilled Worker Class; the Federal Skilled Trades Class; and the Canadian Experience Class.

In order to enter the federal Express Entry pool, candidates must first meet the eligibility requirements for one of the three programs. The first step is to create an Express Entry profile. A job offer is not required to enter or be selected from the Express Entry pool. The highest-ranked candidates are invited to apply for Canadian permanent residence during regular draws from the pool.

Find out if you are eligible to enter the Express Entry pool.

Program-specific Express Entry Draws

The October 16 draw was specific only to the the Federal Skilled Trades Class. Unlike all-program invitation rounds, which draw from the entire Express Entry pool and tend to result in higher cut-off scores, program-specific draws tend to accommodate lower CRS cut-off scores because they target a smaller pool of candidates.

The various Canadian provincial and territorial immigrant nominee programs also search in the federal Express Entry pool to find qualified skilled candidates for residency in their respective provinces. These provincial nomination programs also tend to have lower CRS requirements compared to all-program federal draws.

Results: October 16 Rounds of invitations

Ministerial Instructions respecting invitations to apply for permanent residence under the Express Entry system – October 16, 2019

Federal skilled trades

See full text of Ministerial Instruction

Number of invitations issued: 500

Rank required to be invited to apply: 500^th or above

Date and time of round: October 16, 2019 at 12:56:58 UTC

CRS score of lowest-ranked candidate invited: 357

Tie-breaking rule: March 4, 2019 at 20:36:42 UTC

• 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.

Candidates from the Federal Skilled Trades Program, were eligible for this round of invitations.

See previous Express Entry draws

CRS score range	Number of candidates
601-1,200	509
451-600	9,632
401-450	40,506
441-450	8,833
431-440	9,981
421-430	6,670
411-420	7,061
401-410	7,961
351-400	45,580
391-400	8,008
381-390	9,741
371-380	9,491
361-370	9,414
351-360	8,926
301-350	25,879
0-300	3,775
Total	125,881

The numbers in this table reflect the total number of people in the pool overall, a few days before an invitation round. The score distribution may change as people submit new profiles and other profiles expire.

The table numbers in italics are a detailed breakdown of the bold number immediately above.

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