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Canada has invited 3,000 Express Entry candidates to apply for Canadian permanent residence in a draw that took place on Wednesday, February 21. The cut-off Comprehensive Ranking Score for this draw was 442.

The total of 3,000 Invitations to Apply (ITAs) that were issued in this latest draw is also the same as the February 7 draw. This marks the second consecutive draw in which 3,000 candidates were invited to apply. Both these draws saw the number of ITAs issued increase by 250 over the previous five draws.

The cut-off score of 442 is the same as the previous draw, which took place on February 7.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) once gain employed its tie-break rule in this latest draw. In this case, the time and date of the tie-break was February 11, 2018, at 17:03:32 UTC. This means that all candidates with a CRS score above 442, as well as those candidates with scores of 442 who entered their profile in the Express Entry pool before this time, will receive an ITA.

 

This latest Express Entry draw follows a busy start of the year for Canada's Express Entry-linked Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs). A recent example is Ontario, which conducted its largest invitation round yet of 2018 through its .

This stream allows Ontario to search the Express Entry pool for candidates with a CRS score of at least 400, among other criteria. The February 13 draw saw Ontario issue Notifications of Interest (NOIs) to 488 Express Entry candidates.

Express Entry candidates who receive an NOI can apply for a provincial nomination by Ontario. If successful, they get an additional 600 points toward their  score, putting an invitation to apply for Canadian permanent residence well within reach.

Canada has set through Express Entry and its PNPs. Both were highlighted by Canada's Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Ahmed Hussen, in a recent update on the 2018 levels.

Hussen said Canada is planning to commit an additional $440 million to the planned increases in its immigration levels between 2018 and 2020.

In order to illustrate an example of the Express Entry candidate who would have received an ITA in today’s draw, here are two fictional examples:

Trisha is 31 years old and has been working as an IT consultant for three years. She holds a bachelor's degree, and has written the IELTS and scored an 8 in each category. While she has never worked or studied in Canada, she does have a sister who is a Canadian permanent resident residing in Vancouver. Her CRS score of 442 would have been sufficient to obtain an ITA in the most recent Express Entry draw.

Shaun is 36 years old, holds a masters degree and has an advanced English language proficiency. He has been working as a management consultant for five years, and has never worked or studied in Canada. His CRS score of 443 would have been sufficient to obtain and ITA in this latest draw.

"This latest draw is the second consecutive draw in which 3,000 candidates were invited to apply, up from 2,750 during each of the previous five rounds," said Attorney David Cohen, senior partner with the Canadian immigration law firm Campbell, Cohen.  "It will be interesting to see how many candidates IRCC will draw in upcoming invitation rounds given the higher admission targets for 2018 and 2019."

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