In the latest immigration.ca livestream video, immigration lawyer Colin Singer analyzes Canada Express Entry in the first quarter of 2017.
The last three months have seen record numbers of Invitations to Apply (ITAs) and record low Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) scores.
“The number of invitations has far exceeded numbers of previous years,” immigration attorney Singer notes.
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“The growth in the number of invitations is quite striking.”
Singer explains how the first quarter of 2017 has seen 24,652 invites issued, compared with 9,465 in 2016 and 6,851 in 2015.
This means an average per draw of 3,522 invites in 2017, more than triple the 2015 average of 1,142. In 2016, an average of 1,352 invites was seen.
The increasing number of invites has been mirrored by the decreasing CRS score, although the decline is not as sharp as the increase.
The lowest CRS score in the first quarter of 2017 was 434, compared with 453 in 2016 and 473 in 2015.
Immigration lawyer Singer explains that the reasons for the differences are four-fold.
- Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada aims to receive near the upper target of its annual immigration levels for economic class immigrants.
- The government now has a much clearer picture of how ITAs relate to submitted applications. It has two years of data showing how many candidates received ITAs but failed to submit their applications. The relationship between ITAs, completed applications and immigrants arriving in Canada is a key driver when setting ITA numbers.
- The time it takes to complete an application from the date of an ITA, with the target being six months. As such, IRCC is aware it must issue a certain number of ITAs during specified quarters so that those invited arrive in the calendar year. This was also part of the reason behind the increase in ITAs at the end of 2016. These candidates would be counted against the 2017 immigration target.
- The backlog of applications that formed under the previous system before Express Entry began are now almost all cleared. This means that sometime soon every new federal economic class permanent resident must all come through Express Entry.
For more analysis of the Canada Express Entry System, watch the video here:
