On March 1st, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) declared its sixth Express Entry draw of this year. Under this recent draw, IRCC has provided 667 invitations to apply (ITAs) where the minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score was set at 748. Since IRCC is focusing more on target-based program-specific draws to address specific immigration requirements, this was the third PNP-only draw of 2023. Until now, one more program-specific draw has taken place which was a Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP)-only draw.
Since the draws have been routinely held after the restrictions were lifted after the Covid-19 pandemic, in 2022, all the Express Entry draws included candidates from all programs. However, in 2023, only 2 all-program draws have been held wherein for each draw, 5,000 candidates were issued invitations to apply.
Moreover, to help applicants keep track of their applications, IRCC has launched an online application tracker with which one can monitor their Express Entry applications and act accordingly. The programs which can be monitored through this tracker include the Federal Skilled Workers Program (FSWP), the Canadian Experience Class (CEC), and the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP). After the candidate is issued an invitation to apply based on their profile from the Express Entry pool, they can apply which will be then approved by IRCC for permanent residency, depending on the success of their applications.