Results of Canada’s express entry draw from July 16, 2020

In IRCC’s first Express Entry draw this week, the department has now issued 1,391 more Invitations to apply(ITAs to eligible candidates. Today’s draw saw IRCC inviting Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) candidates who all had a minimum Comprehensive Ranking SystemScore of 670 (CRS).

Note: CanadaVisa will update this article as needed if IRCC issues more ITAs in other draws this week.

Express Entry

Express Entry is the name given to IRCC’s application management system for economic immigration applications to three specific permanent residence (PR) programs. Express Entry is managed by three distinct programs:

Notably, IRCC has issued ITAs to immigration candidates through three different draw types as of June 2023. These three draw types include: 

The remainder of this post will describe the differences between each type.

General and Program-specific Draws for Express Entry

On the other hand, general and specific draws can both be grouped together, even though general draw targets candidates from all programs whereas program-specific draws are narrower. This is because both of these draw types focus on Canadian immigration candidates who have the highest CRS scores. 

Note: CRS scores allow IRCC’s Express Entry to rank candidates based upon their human capital values. Some of the factors that determine a candidate’s CRS score are their age, education, and work experience (among others). 

The following is a brief summary of the steps involved with obtaining an ITA as an Express Entry candidate who is eligible for general and program-specific draws: 

1. Confirm eligibility for at least one of the three programs managed by the Express Entry application management system
2. Create your online IRCC profile with IRCC and receive your official CRS score
3. You can find out if you receive an ITA by waiting for IRCC’s next round invitations.

Note: It is important to know that in order to understand, receive an ITA during an Express Entry draw, your individual CRS score must be higher than the department’s cut-off for that specific draw. ITAs are also the only way you, as an Express Entry candidate, will be allowed to submit an electronic Application for Permanent Residence (eAPR) to IRCC.