How did the Express Entry Program of Canada perform in 2019?

The Express Entry Program is the main immigration pathway of Canada for skilled foreign workers. Even though 2019 fell short of the record number of invitations issued in 2018, the year still saw 85,300 invites being issued for Canadian Permanent Residency.

The Express Entry Program was first introduced in 2015. There were 26 invitation rounds held in 2019. 24 of these rounds had draw sizes ranging from 3,200 to 3,900 invitations.

Since Canada had increased the admission target for 2019 and 2020, it was expected that 2019 would surpass the record number of invitations issued in 2018. One explanation for 2019 not exceeding 2018’s numbers was to keep the number low so that the processing time of 6 months for PR applications could be met.

Draw sizes in 2019:

2018 saw the draw sizes increase every two to three months from 2,750 to 3,900. In contrast, 2019 followed a much more predictable pattern with draw sizes being more or less the same. The last three months of 2019 saw draw sizes increase to 3,900 in October and then drop to 3,600 in November with December holding two draws issuing 3,200 invitations each.

Canada aspirants will now need to wait and watch how 2020 unfolds. Will Canada hold larger draws or more frequent ones to meet the increased intake target for 2020?

The Permanent Resident intake target for 2020 is 85,800 and 88,000 in 2021.

The intake target for Canadian Provincial Nominee Programs is 67,800 in 2020 and 71,300 in 2021.

With the Liberal Party led by Justin Trudeau coming back to power, the admission target will most likely rise for 2022 and 2023 as well.

Minimum required score:

Among all the 24 all-program invitation rounds held in 2019, the lowest minimum score required was 438 in the 30^th January draw. The highest minimum required score was 475 in the 30^th October draw.

Since its introduction, the lowest minimum required score of the Express Entry Program was 413 in 2017.

Record year for Canada’s PNPs:

Another factor that attributed to the high minimum required CRS score in 2019 was that an increasing number of EE candidates received a provincial nomination. This added 600 extra points to their CRS score.

2019 saw important developments in the Express Entry aligned Provincial Nominee Streams of Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Nova Scotia etc.

Ontario alone issued 8,996 invitations to Express Entry candidates in 2019 compared to 6,978 in 2018.

Y-Axis offers a wide range of Visa and Immigration products as well as services for aspiring overseas students including Study Visa for Canada, Work Visa for Canada, Canada Evaluation, Visit Visa for   Canada and Business Visa for Canada. We work with Regulated Immigration Consultants in Canada.

If you are looking to Study, Work in Canada, Visit, Invest or Migrate to Canada, talk to Y-Axis, the World’s No.1 Immigration & Visa Company.

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