All invited candidates had previously received a nomination from a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) and had a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) of at least 772. Without the nomination, the lowest-scoring candidates would have had 172 base points.
In the previous invitation round, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) invited 787 PNP candidates with scores of at least 782.
FSWP and CEC draws to resume in July
Canada’s Immigration Minister Sean Fraser announced last week that Express Entry invitations for Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) and Canadian Experience Class (CEC) candidates will resume by early July. Also, the majority of new Express Entry applications will once again be processed within the six-month service standard.
In the early days of the pandemic, IRCC focused on inviting CEC candidates to achieve its goal to admit a record-high number of immigrants in a single year amid travel restrictions. This strategy enabled Canada to land a record 405,000 permanent residents last year.
IRCC has also focused on inviting PNP candidates throughout the pandemic to support provincial immigration goals.
The downside to IRCC’s strategy is it resulted in backlogs within the immigration system, including Express Entry. As such, IRCC has not invited FSWP candidates since December 2020. CEC candidates have not been invited since September 2021.
The lack of FSWP and CEC invitations comes at a time when Canada is dealing with record-low unemployment and record-high job vacancies.
In the meantime, IRCC is looking to land 55,000 Express Entry permanent residents in 2022, which is about half of its 2021 target.
