Canada invited 2,000 Express Entry candidates to apply for permanent residence on September 14.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) invited Canadian Experience Class (CEC) candidates with scores of at least 462. Invited candidates now have 60 days to apply for permanent residency.

This draw comes later than expected, as this year IRCC has typically held a CEC draw after a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) draw. Usually, IRCC holds a PNP draw on Wednesdays followed by a CEC draw on Thursday. However, the CEC draw expected on September 2 did not come.

IRCC has now held the draw one day before the next PNP-specific Express Entry draw is expected to occur.

All hands on deck to process CEC applications

Although IRCC is backlogged, the department has pushed its resources to focus on processing CEC applicants, according to the government webpage. Currently, officers are finalizing CEC applications received in January. The department says all other Express Entry applicants can expect delays.

In order to meet its 2021 immigration targets amid travel restrictions, IRCC has focused its efforts on immigration applicants who are already in Canada.

The majority of CEC candidates in the Express Entry pool apply from inside the country, since Canadian experience is a key eligibility factor. CEC candidates must have at least one year of full-time Canadian work experience in a skilled occupation.

Express Entry invitations almost double 2020 levels

IRCC has nearly doubled the number of Invitations to Apply (ITAs) issued year-over-year. With more invitations comes a higher chance that IRCC will admit its target of 108,500 newcomers through the Express Entry system in 2021.

The minimum score requirements have been up and down due to the nature of CEC- and PNP-only draws. CEC draws typically have lower cutoffs because the draws are concentrated in the one group of applicants. They are not competing with others in the Federal Skilled Worker Program, for example. So, with bigger draw sizes, IRCC can invite more candidates, thus bringing the score down.

PNP candidates automatically get 600 points with their provincial nomination, so PNP draws will always be higher than any other type of Express Entry draw. PNP draws since June have ranged from the low 740s to 760.