October sets new record in number of Express Entry ITAs issued

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) issued a whopping 11,700 Express Entry ITA Invitations to Apply (ITAs) in just one month in October 2018. The number has set a new October record as the number of Express Entry ITAs issued in October 2017 was mere 5558. With more than double the number of ITAs issued in last month, IRCC Express Entry is only 11,823 invitations away from reaching its 2017’s record of 86,023 ITAs. If IRCC Express Entry continues to hold regular draws till the end of this year maintaining the draw size of 3900 ITAs or more, it will end up in tying or surpassing last year’s total. For 2019, IRCC has set an admission target of 81,400 new permanent residents for its Federal High Skilled immigration category. For 2020, the target is 85,800 and for 2021, it is 88,800.

Relevance of economic immigration to Canada

As per the updated immigration plan of Canada, majority of new admissions to Canada in the next three years will be through economic immigration. It is estimated that immigration through the various economic immigration programs of Canada will amount to almost 60 per cent of the total new admissions to Canada during this period. Among these, Federal High Skilled and Canada’s Provincial Nominee Program alone will be responsible for a total of 44 per cent admissions over the next three years.

Canada Express Entry

Canada introduced Express Entry system in January 2015 with an aim to manage applications for economic immigration to the country. It manages immigration through Canada’s three Federal High Skilled economic immigration programs — the Federal Skilled Worker Class, Federal Skilled Trades Class and Canadian Experience Class. Based on a set of eligibility factors, the candidates of these programs are awarded a score under the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS). The highest scoring candidates are invited to apply for permanent residence in Canada through the Express Entry draws that are conducted regularly.
Most of the provincial nominee programs also have streams aligned to the Express Entry system. The candidates nominated by provinces receive 600 additional CRS points that put them in a better position to obtain Express Entry ITA.
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