Canada Invites 5,500 Express Entry Candidates to Apply for Immigration

Is Canada back to Status Quo?

On January 18 2023, Canada immigration conducted an Express Entry draw to match the size of the previous record-breaking all-program draw from January 11, 2023. This draw included candidates in all Express Entry programs: Federal Skilled Worker (FSW), Canadian Experience Class (CEC), and Federal Skilled Trades (FST). Five thousand five hundred lucky candidates were issued an Invitation to Apply (ITA) in the January 18 Express Entry draw to immigrate to Canada.

Eighty-two thousand eight hundred eighty people are expected to migrate to Canada through the regular Express Entry stream. Another 105,500 people are expected to migrate through the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) streams, including those related to Express Entry. This could be an important year for Express Entry and PNP invitations as IRCC needs to invite Express Entry applicants to meet its 2023 immigration target. We will be posting new draw scores on this page as soon as they become available.

Cut-off Mark for January 18 Express Entry Draw

The threshold for this draw using the Comprehensive Rating System (CRS) was 490 points, lower than the previous draw. When this draw was initially published on the IRCC website, the CRS threshold was erroneously listed as 507 points. IRCC has since then updated the threshold to 490.

Possible reasons for IRCC holding two draws in a row

Before the pandemic, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) generally conducted draws every week but has since moved to two week-schedule. While candidates in the pool are accustomed to this schedule, IRCC is under no obligation to adhere to it. IRCC may change the timeline without prior notice or explanation. Therefore, they provided no reason for the consecutive draw. However, one can assume that the back-to-back draw is related to the 7-week rest period due to glitches.

Express Entry draws resumed last week on January 11

On November 16, 2022, IRCC moved Canada’s entire immigration system, including Express Entry, to National Occupational Classification Codes 2021 (NOC Code 2021). After the change, on November 23, Express Entry applicants reported several glitches, including uninvited applicants who met the required score. IRCC may have paused the Express Entry lottery to address systemic issues before inviting new candidates.

Express Entry pool score distribution as of January 18, 2023

The chart below shows the recent distribution of candidates in the Express Entry pool. As of January 18, 2023, the Express Entry pool had 240,013 candidates looking to move to Canada. The score distribution and the population may change as people submit new profiles and other candidate profiles expire.

Fig: Bar charts showing the distribution of candidates in the Canada Express Entry Pool as of January 18, 2023, after a record-breaking 5,500 invitations.

About the Express Entry CRS

The Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) is a 1,200-point scale used to compare applicants for federal economic assistance to each other. It is part of the Express Entry system created in January 2015 to process Canadian permanent residency applications. This score will be used as a cut-off point in the Express Entry draw. It is designed to predict a candidate’s chances of economic success in Canada.

Eligibility to enter the pool

To enter the pool, applicants must meet the requirements of the Federal Skilled Worker Class, Canadian Experience Class, or Federal Skilled Occupations Class. Applicants receiving provincial nominations through one of the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) streams associated with Express Entry will receive an additional 600 CRS and ITA points on the following date.