On February 2, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) issued its fourth Express Entry draw of 2023. In this draw, IRCC provided 3,300 candidates with invitations to apply (ITA). The minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score for this draw was 489. However, the unique thing about this draw was that the invitations were issued only to eligible candidates from the Federal Skilled Worker Program. It has made the draw historically one of a kind since the launch of Express Entry in 2015.
Minimum CRS Score drops by 2 points in the recent Express Entry draw!
The fourth draw is the second program-specific draw of 2023 since the last draw, which applied only to the candidates with provincial nominations. However, that draw was not unique, as a similar kind of draw only catered to the candidates with PNP nominations was also held in June 2022. In this case, the candidates already nominated by PNP get an additional 600 CRS points for their Express Entry applications. Otherwise, usually, Express Entry draws issue ITAs for candidates across all programs.
IRCC Held the Second Express Entry Draw of 2023 Inviting 5,500 Candidates
Canada focusses its Immigration Policies to have target specific immigration
These program-specific draws are the result of the royal assent of Bill C-19, which focuses more on target-specific immigration to tackle the labor crisis in specific industries in the country. In this case, the CRS scores are not prioritized so that immigration can resolve Canada’s particular economic and labor gaps. These new categories of evaluation include educational and occupational background, as well as language ability.