August 5, 2020
Canada has held another all-program draw, inviting Express Entry candidates to apply for permanent residence.
Canada issued 3,900 Invitations to Apply (ITAs) for permanent residence in a draw held August 5. Candidates needed a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of at least 476 to be invited in this invitation round.
Express Entry is the application system that manages the pool of candidates for Canada’s three main economic immigration classes — the Federal Skilled Worker Program(FSWP), the Federal Skilled Trades Class (FSTC) and the Canadian Experience Class (CEC).
The highest-ranked candidates in the Express Entry pool are issued ITAs in regular invitation rounds.
Results: Rounds of invitations
Ministerial Instructions respecting invitations to apply for permanent residence under the Express Entry system #158 – August 5, 2020
No program specified.
Number of invitations issued: 3,900
Candidates from the Federal Skilled Worker Program, Federal Skilled Trades Program, Canadian Experience Class and Provincial Nominee Program were eligible for this round of invitations.
Rank required to be invited to apply: 3,900th or above
Date and time of round: August 5, 2020 at 13:10:05 UTC
CRS score of lowest-ranked candidate invited: 476
Tie-breaking rule: July 27, 2020 at 01:02:47 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.
The number of ITAs issued in 2020 was not affected by the temporary policy changes and remained constant throughout the year. The year began with two draws of 3,400 ITAs each in January, followed by one draw of 3,500 ITAs and a record-breaking 4, 500 in February. Since March, IRCC held 21 draws and issued close to 40,000 ITAs.
Rounds of invitations under Express Entry
Candidates are ranked under a points-based system called the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS). The highest-ranking profiles are selected from the Express Entry Pool and receive an invitation to apply for permanent residence.
| CRS score range | Number of candidates |
|---|---|
| 601-1200 | 519 |
| 501-600 | 390 |
| 451-500 | 22,271 |
| 491-500 | 239 |
| 481-490 | 647 |
| 471-480 | 5,065 |
| 461-470 | 7,940 |
| 451-460 | 8,380 |
| 401-450 | 40,843 |
| 441-450 | 8,065 |
| 431-440 | 9,076 |
| 421-430 | 7,422 |
| 411-420 | 7,691 |
| 401-410 | 8,589 |
| 351-400 | 49,241 |
| 301-350 | 25,635 |
| 0-300 | 3,262 |
| Total | 142,161 |
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.
Is Canada still issuing Express Entry invitations despite COVID-19?
Canada is still issuing Express Entry invitations. Since March, most Express Entry draws were restricted to candidates in the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) or those with provincial nominations. However, in July, Express Entry resumed all-program draws.
Is Canada still processing Express Entry applications during COVID-19?
Yes. Canada is still processing immigration applications for Express Entry, but processing delays should be expected.