Express Entry February 19 – 4500 invited for Canada PR

4500 invited for Canada PR in Express Entry February 19 Draw

In the Express Entry February 19 draw, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has invited 4,500 – the largest number of candidates ever in one draw – to apply for Canadian permanent residence. The minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score required to receive an Invitation to Apply (ITAs) in the February 19 draw was 470, compared to the February 5 draw, which had a cut-off score of 472.

IRCC has now issued a total of 14,800 ITAs in 2020 through the federal Express Entry system. The IRCC has set higher Express Entry admissions targets for the years 2020 and 2021, with new permanent resident admissions through the three federal high-skilled programs slated to rise to 85,800 this year and 88,800 in 2021.

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.

The Express Entry immigration selection system

In order to enter the federal Express Entry pool, candidates must first meet the eligibility requirements for one of the three programs: the Federal Skilled Worker Class; the Federal Skilled Trades Class; and the Canadian Experience Class. 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.

A certain number of the highest-ranked candidates who have submitted their profiles into the pool are issued ITAs for Canadian permanent residence through regular draws which typically take place every two weeks. A candidate’s CRS score is based on factors such as age, education, skilled work experience and proficiency in English or French.

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

Candidates with scores below the latest 470 cut-off can improve their CRS scoring in a number of ways, particularly if they enroll in any of the provincial nomination programs that have Express Entry component. Express Entry candidates with a provincial nomination receive an additional 600 CRS points. If their provincial nomination is approved, the invited candidates will be issued an additional 600 Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points. The additional points place them in a favorable position to receive a federal Invitation to Apply (ITA) for Canadian permanent residence in a future IRCC) draws.

February 19, 2020 Express Entry Rounds of invitations results

Ministerial Instructions respecting invitations to apply for permanent residence under the Express Entry system – February 19, 2020

See full text of Ministerial Instruction

Number of invitations issued: 4,500

Rank required to be invited to apply: 4,500^th or above

Date and time of round:   February 19, 2020 at 13:19:54 UTC

CRS score of lowest-ranked candidate invited: 470

Tie-breaking rule:  January 13, 2020 at 10:52:52 UTC (This means that all candidates with a score of 470 who submitted their profile before this date and time received an ITA.)

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.

See previous Express Entry rounds

CRS score distribution of candidates in the Express Entry pool as of February 14, 2020

CRS score range	Number of candidates
601-1,200	536
451-600	21,116
401-450	41,490
441-450	9,681
431-440	9,561
421-430	6,590
411-420	7,267
401-410	8,391
351-400	49,558
391-400	8,517
381-390	10,566
371-380	10,342
361-370	10,308
351-360	9,825
301-350	27,668
0-300	3,674
Total	144,042

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 unbolded table numbers are a detailed breakdown of the bold number immediately above.

Top questions about Express Entry profiles

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