Canada invites fresh 5,000 Express Entry candidates for permanent residency

The Canadian government in its latest draw invited another 5,000 immigration candidates to apply for its permanent residency, making it a total of 102,350 issued year-to-date.

Invited candidates needed a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of at least 469 in order to be invited, the same as required in the last round in November.

• In case of a tie between candidates, IRCC applied the tie-breaking rule. This indicates that candidates who had a CRS score of 469 or more, needed to have submitted their Express Entry profile before June 4, 2021.
• This is the second time in a row that the CRS requirement has dipped to 469. The CRS requirement had typically hovered above 470 for all program draws.

The number of ITAs issued to date is the highest it has ever been. Canada surpassed its ITA target on November 18, when a record-breaking 5,000 ITAs were issued. There has also never been a single year where the number of ITAs issued surpassed 100,000.

The large number of invitations is in line with Canada’s commitment to welcome over 400,000 new immigrants in 2021, most of which will be coming through the Express Entry system.

This has now served as an opportunity for Nigerian youths who will be seeking to travel out for academic and work purposes, especially at a time when strike actions have disrupted academic activities in the country and unemployment rate skyrocketed as a result of covid-19 lockdown.

Samuel Oyekanmi, Nairametrics.