The year that was: 2020 in Express Entry

2020 might have been an unprecedented year in more ways than one. For the Express Entry system of Canada, however, 2020 has been a record-breaking year despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A total of 37 Express Entry draws were held by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada [IRCC] in 2020.

As many as 107,350 invitations to apply were issued by IRCC, a record in itself when compared to the statistics of previous years.

Canada’s Express Entry in 2020
Draws held	37
ITAs issued	107,350

 According to Statista, “Canada’s appeal as an immigration destination has been increasing over the past two decades, with a total of 284,387 people immigrating to the country Between July 1, 2019 and June 30, 2020.”

 Statista is a leading provider of consumer and market data.

Between July 1, 2019 and June 30, 2020, there were an estimated 127,191 immigrants to Ontario, making it the most popular immigration destination out of any province.

Number of immigrants arriving in Canada in 2020, by province or territory of residence

Province / Territory	Number of Immigrants
Ontario	1,27,191
British Columbia	44,899
Alberta	35,519
Quebec	33,295
Manitoba	14,789
Saskatchewan	13,364
Nova Scotia	6,239
New Brunswick	4,909
Prince Edward Island	2,082
Newfoundland and Labrador	1,564
Yukon	336
Northwest Territories	161
Nunavut	39
Note. – The release date of the demographics is September 2020. As the time period for each year is from July 1 to June 30, the data for 2020 reflects new immigrants arriving in Canada between July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020.

A majority of the foreign-born individuals in Canada had India as their source country. In 2019, Indians were the biggest recipients of Canadian permanent residence visas.

Canada had initially announced the intention of welcoming 341,000 immigrants in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic affected the outcome to a certain extent.

While the 2020-2022 Immigration Levels Plan was announced on March 12 this year, coronavirus-related travel restrictions were imposed by the Canadian government a week later, that is, on March 18.

Despite the COVID-19 situation, regular draws – both federal draws through the Express Entry system as well as provincial through the Provincial Nominee Program [PNP] – continued to be held throughout 2020. However, while Express Entry Draw #138 held on March 4 was an all-program draw, the next all-program draw was held much later, on July 8 [Draw #155].

All the draws held in the interval were program-specific draws, alternating between the PNP and the Canadian Experience Class [CEC]. The reason behind the shift in focus was that CEC and PNP applicants were more likely to have already been within Canada, thereby unaffected by the travel restrictions.

Since September 2020, all the Express Entry draws held have been all-program draws.

The last 4 Express Entry draws in 2020 have had 5,000 ITAs issued in each draw.

The minimum Comprehensive Ranking System [CRS] required in all-program draws ranged from 468 on one hand to 478 on the other.

The minimum CRS cut-off in PNP-specific draws is usually in the 650+ range. A provincial nomination alone fetches 600 CRS points for an Express Entry candidate that is nominated by any province or territory for Canadian permanent residence. 

Express Entry Draws in 2020
Sl. No.	Draw No.	Date of Draw	Minimum CRS	ITAs issued	For details
1	#134	January 8, 2020	473	3,400	Canada invites 3400 in the first Express Entry draw of 2020
2	#135	January 22, 2020	471	3,400	Canada invites 3400 in second Express Entry draw of 2020
3	#136	February 5, 2020	472	3,500	New Express Entry draw invites 3500 candidates for Canadian PR
4	#137	February 19, 2020	470	4,500	Canada invites 4500 in the largest ever Express Entry draw
5	#138	March 4, 2020	471	3,900	Latest Express Entry draw invites 3900 for Canada PR
6	#139 [PNP]	March 18, 2020	720	668	--
7	#140 [CEC]	March 23, 2020	467	3,232	Canada issues 3,232 invitations in the latest CEC-specific draw
8	#141 [PNP]	April 9, 2020	698	606	CRS drops by 22 points in latest EE draw
9	#142 [CEC]	April 9, 2020	464	3,294	Government of Canada issued 3,294 ITAs in latest draw
10	#143 [PNP]	April 15, 2020	808	118	Latest PNP-specific draw by Canada invites 118
11	#144 [CEC]	April 16, 2020	455	3,782	Canada: Latest EE draw has lowest CRS of the year
12	#145 [PNP]	April 29, 2020	692	589	Canada invites provincial nominees with the lowest CRS in 2020 so far
13	#146 [CEC]	May 1, 2020	452	3,311	Canada Express Entry latest draw has CRS drop further
14	#147 [PNP]	May 13, 2020	718	529	Canada invites 529 PNP candidates in latest draw
15	#148 [CEC]	May 15, 2020	447	3,371	Canada Express Entry: Lowest CRS in 2020
16	#149 [PNP]	May 27, 2020	757	385	Another targeted Express Entry draw by Canada invites 385
17	#150 [CEC]	May 28, 2020	440	3,515	CRS drops further in the latest Express Entry draw
18	#151 [PNP]	June 10, 2020	743	341	Canada invites 341 EE candidates with provincial nomination
19	#152 [CEC]	June 11, 2020	437	3,559	Canada invites with lowest CRS requirement for CEC since 2017
20	#153 [PNP]	June 24, 2020	696	392	392 PNP candidates invited in Express Entry latest draw
21	#154 [CEC]	June 25, 2020	431	3,508	Canada’s Express Entry invites with the lowest CRS in 2020 so far
22	#155	July 8, 2020	478	3,900	Canada resumes all-program Express Entry draws
23	#156 [PNP]	July 22, 2020	687	557	557 PNP candidates receive ITAs in latest Express Entry draw
24	#157 [CEC]	July 23, 2020	445	3,343	3,343 CEC candidates receive ITAs in latest draw
25	#158	August 5, 2020	476	3,900	3,900 ITAs issued in another all-program Express Entry draw
26	#159 [FSTP]	August 6, 2020	415	250	Rare FSTP-specific Express Entry draw held by Canada
27	#160 [PNP]	August 19, 2020	771	600	Canada invites 600 PNP candidates to apply for permanent residence
28	#161 [CEC]	August 20, 2020	454	3,300	3,300 CEC candidates invited in Express Entry Draw #161
29	#162	September 2, 2020	475	4,200	Canada holds largest EE draw since February this year
30	#163	September 16, 2020	472	4,200	Latest all-program Express Entry draw issues 4,200 ITAs
31	#164	September 30, 2020	471	4,200	Third consecutive all-program Express Entry draw held by Canada
32	#165	October 14, 2020	471	4,500	Latest Express Entry draw invites 4,500 to apply for Canada PR
33	#166	November 5, 2020	478	4,500	Canada invites 4,500 to apply for permanent residence
34	#167	November 18, 2020	472	5,000	Canada holds the largest Express Entry draw ever
35	#168	November 25, 2020	469	5,000	Express Entry: Another 5,000 invited in all-program draw
36	#169	December 9, 2020	469	5,000	Canada invites another 5,000 to apply for PR
37	#170	December 23, 2020	468	5,000	CRS drops to 468 in latest Express Entry draw
Total ITAs issued in 2020 so far – 107,350.

According to the 2021-2023 Immigration Levels Plan announced on October 30, 2020, Canada intends welcoming over 4 lakh immigrants a year in the near future.

Grappling with a low birth rate on one hand and an aging workforce on the other, Canada relies on immigration to a great extent for fixing the potential gap in the labour force.

Incidentally, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], India produces the highest number of highly educated migrants.

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

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