On March 15, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) issued whapping 7,000 invitations to candidates in the Express Entry pool. The draw was for all programs, which include Canadian Experience Class (CEC), the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) and the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP).
The cut-off score for Invitation to Apply (ITA) was 490. It is the same score as the last draw for all programs, which took place on January 18. Let’s look at the cut-off score and the number of invitations issued for the past 5 draws:
Date
February 1, 2023 (PNP only)
February 2, 2023 (FSW only)
February 15, 2023 (PNP only)
March 1, 2023 (PNP only)
March 15, 2023 (all programs)
Invitations issued
893
3,300
699
667
7,000
Cut-off score
733
489
791
748
490
Given the draw history, it is safe to say that IRCC does not want to invite CEC/ FSW applicants whose CRS score is much lower than 500. If your score is lower than 490, you need to find a way to increase their CRS score by:
- Boosting the language test results,
- Gaining more work experience, or
- Coming to Canada for study.
Otherwise, we do not anticipate you will be able to receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA) unless IRCC holds a special draw.
Let’s look at CRS score distribution of candidates in the Express Entry pool as of March 15, 2023:
CRS score range
601-1200
501-600
491-500
481-490
471-480
461-470
451-460
Total number of candidates
Number of candidates
784
3,216
2,603
12,183
20,833
16,836
13,371
245,121
Assuming IRCC would continuously issue the same or higher number of ITAs, the cut-off score is anticipated to be about the same in the next draw, possibly 490-495.
Hugh
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