Express Entry Invites 3,300 in Canadian Experience Class draw

In the latest Express Entry draw held August 20, 2020, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) invited a total of 3,300 Canadian Experience Class draw candidates to apply for Canadian permanent residence. The draw saw one of the lowest minimum Comprehensive Ranking Score (CRS) requirements since October 2019 – at 454 points. The previous day IRCC also invited 600 candidates nominated into the Express Entry pool via Provincial nominee programs to apply for Canadian permanent residence.

IRCC is continuing to hold regularly scheduled Express Entry rounds of invitations after putting special measures in place to contain the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. We except that despite the ongoing pandemic, Canada’s government will hit its immigration targets for 2020. The August 20 draw was the 27th draw of 2020, bringing the total number of ITAs issued this year to 62,450.

Canadian Experience Class Draw

The Canadian Experience Class draw is open to foreign nationals with at least one year of work experience in Canada, among other criteria. The Canadian Experience Class is one of three Federal High Skilled immigration programs managed by the Express Entry system. The other two are the Federal Skilled Worker Class and the Federal Skilled Trades Class. The Express Entry system allows Canada to actively recruit, assess and select skilled immigrants under the three Federal High Skilled economic-class immigration programs.

IRCC 2020-2022 Immigration Levels Plan

IRCC has now issued a total of 62,450 invitations in 2020 through the federal Express Entry system. 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.

IRCC admitted a total of 341,000 newcomers in 2019.  It is targeting the admissions of 341,000 immigrants in 2020, an additional 351,000 in 2021, and another 361,000 in 2022.

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 although additional CRS points are awarded to those who already have a job.

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 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.

Illustration:

Rohan holds a bachelor’s degree and has high English language proficiency. He has been working in Ontario as a network engineer for a little over a year. Rohan’s CRS score in the federal Express Entry pool is 445 – not enough to receive an ITA based on the August 20th draw cut-off mark of 454. However, on July 11, Rohan was issued a notification of interest from Ontario’s Human Capital Priorities Stream thereby enabling Rohan to apply for a provincial nomination through the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP). As a result, Rohan’s CRS score increased by 600 points to 1045 and he received an Invitation to Apply for permanent residence during the August 20 federal Express Entry draw.

August 20, 2020 Express Entry Rounds of invitations results

Ministerial Instructions respecting invitations to apply for permanent residence under the Express Entry system – August 20, 2020

Provincial nominee Program

See full text of Ministerial Instruction

Number of invitations issued: 3300

Rank required to be invited to apply: 3300^th or above

Date and time of round: August 20, 2020 at 11:10:05 UTC

CRS score of lowest-ranked candidate invited: 454

Tie-breaking rule: July 27, 2020 at 17:05:11 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.

See previous draws

CRS score distribution of candidates in the Express Entry pool as of August 18, 2020

CRS score range	Number of candidates
601-1200	462
501-600	284
451-500	22,385
491-500	217
481-490	409
471-480	4,302
461-470	8,506
451-460	8,951
401-450	41,235
441-450	8,602
431-440	9,246
421-430	7,241
411-420	7,606
401-410	8,540
351-400	48,929
301-350	25,401
0-300	3,316
Total	142,012

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.

Top questions about Express Entry profiles

• What do I do if I lost my GCKey username or password?
• What do you mean by Primary Occupation?
• What is a personal reference code for Express Entry? Where can I get a one?
• My personal reference code is not working. What should I do?
• Where can I find my Express Entry profile number and/or Job Seeker validation code?
• How do I find my National Occupation Classification (NOC) code?

See all questions about Express Entry draws