Canada held its first Express Entry draw of the year today, and the first since November 23.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) issued invitations to 5,500 candidates with a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 507. Eligible candidates were invited from the Canadian Experience Class (CEC), Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) and the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP). All are programs that operate under the Express Entry system.
This draw marks an increase in the number of ITAs issued, and is the largest all-program Express Entry draw since they resumed last July. There were 750 additional invitations over the November 23 draw, which invited 4,750 candidates, as well as a higher CRS score than has been seen since the draw on September 28.
IRCC moved from categorizing skills as 0-D level to a system based on training, education, experience and responsibilities (TEER). The new TEER system has revised NOC 2016’s skill levels 0-E and created an equivalent five TEERS. Under NOC 2021, 16 new occupations are now eligible to apply for economic immigration programs managed by Express Entry, such as the FSWP or CEC. Â
Candidates who have a profile already submitted to the IRCC Express Entry pool were invited to switch their NOCs to the new NOC 2021 independently. The update must be done for each position (job) included in their IRCC profile. Failure to do so will disqualify candidates from receiving an Invitation to Apply (ITA).
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