Canada held a new Express Entry draw on May 27, inviting candidates who had previously been nominated by provinces. In the May 27 invitation round, a total of 385 Express Entry candidates were issued Invitations to Apply (ITAs).
Summary of the draw
Draw date: May 27, 2020.
Draw number: 149
Program: PNP
Number of candidates invited: 385
Tie-breaking Rule: before April 27, 2020, 10:19:01 UTC (candidates who submitted their profiles before this time and date have received ITAs)
Applicants of the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) in the Express Entry system receive an extra 600 points on top of their original human capital score. That is why for this draw the minimum requirement for the Comprehensive Ranking score was 757. If we exclude the additional points from the provincial nomination, the invited candidates would have had a human capital score of 157 only.
This is the sixth PNP only draw from the Federal Express Entry system, since special steps for coronavirus took effect on 18 March. Canada has been holding express entry draws targeting PNP and Canadian Experience Class (CEC) candidates alternatively since the outbreak.
Generally, targeting CEC candidates have a much lower threshold on CRS. The last CEC-only draw invited candidates with CRS scores of at least 447, the lowest threshold since January 2019 for such candidates.
Dates of the draws often became more erratic. Earlier this year, all-program draws covering applicants from the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP), and the CEC, occurred every two weeks. Currently, Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), is holding the specifically targeted draws which may happen in days or hours apart.
Immigration goals so far are on track to surpass the rates of last year. Despite travel restrictions in effect, this year there were still more ITAs released than in 2019 at the same time. As of today 27 May, a total of 38,585 Express Entry applicants have been invited to apply for permanent residence.
