Express Entry Draw took place on December 16

Toronto

According to Campbell Cohen Canada Immigration Lawyer, the latest Express Entry draw for immigration to Canada has resulted in 1,936 candidates in the pool with a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 497 being issued an Invitation to Apply (ITA). The previous draw took place on November 30 and only issued the Invitation to Apply to candidates with a provincial nomination, the December 16 draw was not program specific; all candidates in the pool with at least 497 CRS points received an ITA, regardless of the program they were eligible under or whether or not they had a provincial nomination certificate.

This is the second draw that has taken place since changes to the system were implemented on November 19, it is the first non-program-specific draw since that date. Therefore, it is viewed by many stakeholders as the first indication of how the distribution of candidates in the CRS may have been affected by those changes, which included the awarding of points to former international students in Canada and a substantial decrease in the number of CRS points that may be awarded for a job offer.

However, the number of candidates who may claim points for a jov offer has increased. The requirements surrounding the job offer have been relaxed to include many candidates holding an employers-specific work permit in Canada, such as a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) work permit or a work permit issued to Intra-company transferees.

Consequently, it was expected that the CRS cut-off point in the first non-program-specific draw after the changes have come into force may actually go up to allow for the fact that more candidates with jov offers may claim additional points. This has turned out to be the case, as the CRS cut-off point has increased to 497 from 470 (ignoring the inervening program-specific draw, held on November 30)

Once this initial group of candidates has exited the pool, however, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) expects the CRS cut-off point to decrease. Stakeholders should note IRCC's desired and expected outcome of the recent changes, which state that candidates without a job offer are likely to have a better chance of receiving an ITA. indeed, at the recent Annual Immigration Law Summit, held this past November  in Toronto, an IRCC representative stated that 'A reduction of points to candidates with arranged employment means the CRS cut-off will decline.'