All the 940 candidates who won invitations for permanent residence in Canada during the June 9 Express Entry draw were already nominated by the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) provides candidates with a high advantage of extra 600 points. Since the entry score for a permanent residence this year was only 711, the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) candidates only needed to score 111 to attain the required points for permanent residence.
The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) tie break rule this year was a cut-off time. The program, therefore, gave priority to those candidates who had submitted their applications before February 16, 2021, at 09:06:30 UTC. The tie break is an administrative requirement, and it applies whether there was a tie or not. As for this year’s tie break rule, not all candidates who scored the minimum of 711 points were accepted into the program.
Canada had invited 500 candidates with a higher cut off of 713 points in the previous PNP-only draw. Compared to this draw, the invites number was almost double during the previous round, and the cut off was two points higher.
Effects of the Pandemic on the 2021 Express Entry draws
Due to the ongoing pandemic, this year’s IRCC Express Entry draws only target candidates already living in the country. Nevertheless, the strategy works perfectly in meeting Canada’s immigration targets for the year. The other reason for targeting candidates already in the county was to avoid travel restrictions. Service closures in other countries was also a contributing factor towards phenomena since they immensely affected international applications.
Since the beginning of this year, 75,713 candidates have won permanent residence in Canada. Surprisingly, this number is higher than that of 2020, and it could have been due to the 27,332 principal applicants invitations issued on February 13. According to the IRCC, 87% of the principal applicants admitted this year met the 90-day application timeline.
