When 2022 first began, the Express Entry (EE) had been inviting Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) candidates only to apply for permanent residence (PR) to Canada. Draws were conducted biweekly as a routine but the number of invitations had been few, never surpassing 1,100 candidates each round. Coupled with the fact that PNP candidates have 600 points added to their Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) profiles, the cutoff prior to July 2022 has been standing between 674 and 808 points.
Then in the summer of 2022 (July 6, 2022 round, see green dotted line in the graph below), EE began to invite candidates from all the other programs too, including Federal Skilled Worker (FSW), Federal Skilled Trade (FST), and Canadian Experience Class (CEC) candidates. The number of invitations has risen to 1,500 and the CRS score floor has dropped to 557 points.
Table 1 - Express Entry draw results since January 2022 (Left axis: CRS score cutoff; Right axis: Number of invitations issued)
More than three months have passed since EE resumed to a normal selection process and the CRS has finally dropped to below 500 points in the October 26 round. The number of invitations at 4,750 is also higher than the level before COVID-19, despite the fact that during COVID-19 there were sporadic invitations as many as 27,000 in one round with the effort to catch up with the IRCC's Immigration Plan's quota.
As the Canadian government removed all travel restrictions in October 2022 and the year nearly comes to an end, candidates are reminded to submit their Express Entry profiles as soon as possible. Although the Express Entry invites candidates with the highest points, those with the same scores marginally on the CRS floor are selected on a "first-come, first-serve" basis. Complete our self-assessment or contact our Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC) for more information.
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