Up until today, the Express Entry program has made 35 rounds of invitations for Permanent Residency. Immigration, Refugee & Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is making on average 2 rounds per month.

The CRS (comprehensive ranking system) score of ‘lowest-ranked candidate invited’ reached 450 in the September 17^th, 2015 & October 2^nd, 2015 rounds, however, the number of invitations issued during these rounds was 1545 & 1530 respectively. Similarly, the CRS score of ‘lowest-ranked candidate invited’ was 453 in the February 24^th, 2016 round and the number of invitations issued in this round was 1484.

The lowest score went down in these rounds because the number of invitations were far more than in other rounds. The latest score on June 1^st, 2016 was 483 and only 762 invitations were issued.

In other words, when the IRCC selects a larger number of profiles from the applicants in the pool, the CRS score goes down. The Provincial Nominees and those who receive validated job offers after LMIA (Labour Market Impact Assessment) get a bonus of 600 CRS points. These people are guaranteed an invitation to apply for permanent residency as the CRS score of ‘lowest-ranked candidate invited’ remains below the 600 mark.

Ontario’s Express Entry program picks up applicants that have a CRS score of 400 and above but the applicant must have a Canadian Bachelor’s degree or equivalent. This is a huge benefit for those who live in Ontario. Similarly, there are Express Entry programs of other provinces who are helping those who live in those respective provinces. 

However, as Immigration is a Federal subject, thus dealt by the Federal Government, provinces have to negotiate their respective yearly quota. Once that is filled up, they must ask for more or wait for next year’s quota. As a result, most of the provinces end up reaching capacity quite early in the year. Currently, Ontario has already filled up its quota and their Express Entry program is on temporary hold.

It is important to note that once the provincial quotas get filled, it can result in the CRS score of ‘lowest-ranked candidate invited’ to get even lower for a few months until the new quota can be used by the provinces. 

Nonetheless, when the previous backlog of applications received prior to Express Entry get processed, and IRCC begins selecting from the current pool in each round, this score will hopefully become more achievable for many genuine applicants. Therefore, it will benefit those who are not able to reach the present score due to age restrictions or not having completed a Masters Degree but are really good in the trade or work they are doing.  

This was your man Jag with the latest in Immigration and Real Estate worlds

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Jagpreet Puri is a Registered Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC) and Real Estate Consultant and is working with a Commercial Brokerage in Ontario