Aligning with Canada’s National Francophone Immigration Week, the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced an all-program Express Entry draw. This includes candidates in the Canadian Experience Class (CEC), Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) and the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP).
From this Express Entry draw onwards, French-speaking applicants are now eligible for additional Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points. French language skills can now increase an applicant’s score by 25 points, up from 15. Bilingual applicants can now get 50 points, up from 30. Typically, Express Entry draws are announced every two weeks but there was a delay in this draw to update certain profiles to reflect the new changes in points.
Today’s Express Entry draw (166) was held at 12:17:58 UTC. 4,500 candidates with a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 478 received an invitation to apply (ITA). The CRS score increased by 7 points compared to the previous all-inclusive draw held on October 14th, 2020.
Today’s large draw brings the total number of ITAs issued in 2020 to 87,350. This signifies that despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of Canada is committing to immigration by continuing to select skilled workers for permanent residence.
IRCC applied its tie-breaking rule with the timestamp of October 26, 2020, at 22:44:19 UTC. This means that if more than one eligible candidate had the minimum CRS score, only those who submitted their Express Entry profiles before this date and time received invitations.
If you have any questions about express entry, permanent residence, provincial nominations or COVID-19 please contact us directly.
