Weekly Roundup – Draws, Trends and Update

Canada has crossed the number of 100,00 Invitations to Apply (ITA) issued in 2020. In this article, we will be talking about the two latest draws that took place on the 8th and 9th of December and the profiles of candidates who were issued ITA’s.

December 8th, 2020;

British Columbia (B.C.) invites 256 applicants to apply for Provincial Nomination of Canadian permanent residence. Applicants who were issued invitations in this draw were registered in the following streams:

• British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP)
• Skills Immigration (SI) – Entry-level & Semi-Skilled category also included.
• Express Entry BC (EEBC)

British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP) Express Entry streams are open to applicants who have their profile in the Federal Express Entry system. This system manages a pool of three main economic immigration programs:

• Federal Skilled Worker Class
• Federal Skilled Trades Class
• Canadian Experience Class

In order for you to be considered for BC PNP, you must have an indefinite, full-time job offer from an employer in the province. Furthermore, this employer must be forthcoming in supporting you through the application process.

Skilled Immigration (SI) is for applicants who fall under the category of skilled and semi-skilled workers. Applicants who were issued invitations through this stream needed to meet the high demand for “said” occupation in the province.

Express Entry BC (EEBC) is for applicants who are registered in the Federal Express Entry system and the BC Skills Immigration Registration System (SIRS).

The federal Express Entry is an application management system, where applicants who have their profiles in the system are awarded a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS)Score. They are scored on capital factors such as;

• Age
• Work Experience
• Education
• Language Proficiency (English or French)

* The benefit of being in the Express Entry system and receiving a Provincial Nomination is the extra 600 CRS points that are awarded to you on behalf of the Provincial Nomination. The added 600 CRS points guarantee your ITA in the next draw.

The minimum score requirements for the draw held on 8th December for the five categories of EEBC & SI are;

• EEBC: International Graduate – 97 points
• EEBC: Skilled Worker – 97 points
• SI: Entry-level & Semi-skilled worker – 77 points
• SI: International Graduate – 95 points
• SI: Skilled Worker – 95 points

Applicants who have received an invitation to apply from this draw will now have 30 calendar days from the date of receiving the ITA to submit a complete application through the BC PNP online registration system.

Please Note: An ITA does not guarantee your approval for nomination. immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC) has the final say in the matter at their sole discretion.

December 9th, 2020;

In this Express Entry draw, Canada invited 5,000 new immigration applicants to apply for permanent residence. Applicants who were issued invitations needed a CRS score of at least 469 to be eligible.

As explained earlier, applicants are awarded points based on capital factors. The applicant with the highest score receives an ITA. Then the applicant must provide proof for all the factors he/she has taken those points for. The IRCC will then start the process of verification, post the period of verification of your documents you will receive your permanent residence.

An example of an applicant would be:  My name is Kubeir, I’m 28 years old. I hold a Master’s Degree in Science and have been working as a software engineer for 5 years. I scored an overall band score of 8 in my IELTS exam. My CRS score of 470+ will qualify me for today’s draw even though I have never worked or studied in Canada.

Immigration Trends;

The draw held on 9th December brings the number of ITAs issued this year to 102,350.

British Columbia has invited 9,000 applicants so far this year. The number of ITA’s issued this year has hit a record high. Canada had already crossed their target when they hit 5,000 ITA’s issued on 18th November 2020. Canada also went on to set a new record where the number of ITA’s issued in a year crossed 100,000.

This change in numbers is in tandem with Canada’s Immigration Plan for 2021 onwards of welcoming 400,000 immigrants each year. The majority of the applicants are invited through the Express Entry system.

The CRS score requirement to be eligible for an ITA has been averaging above 470 so far for all programs. The CRS Scores for the last 8 draws are as follows:

From the table above we can see the CRS score has only fallen below 470 in the last two draws.

* Provincial Nomination programs are alternative pathways to permanent residence for Express Entry applicants who have a low CRS score. Therefore, PNP has more requirements as applicants who receive an ITA are awarded additional 600 CRS points.

Canada is seeing higher numbers of ITA and it is already setting records before the start of the year 2021. This can be seen as Canada’s show of commitment towards their new Immigration Plan for the coming years.

Congratulations to those who received their ITAs in any of the two draws, for the rest I hope the trends and data will guide you in taking steps to increase your CRS scores.

#foreverHopeful