12 June 2019 : Express Entry Draw # 119 | CRS cut-off drops to 465

The 119th draw for Express Entry permanent residence candidates happened on June 12, 2019. It has resulted in the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points requirement for receiving an invitation to apply (ITA) to decrease as compared to the previous all-program draw on May 29, 2019.

The CRS score of the lowest-ranked invited candidate was 465, with 3,350 ITAs issued in total.

As a bunch of candidates have the same 465 score, a tie-break rule is used: only candidates having their profile in the system since June 6, 2019 at 13:51:59 UTC will get an ITA.

When is the next draw?

There is unfortunately no way to tell when the next draw will take place. However, based on the data gathered since the beginning of Express Entry in 2015, there is a clear pattern on when the draws take place: on Wednesdays, every two weeks.

But as said before, it is only a pattern, and there have been deviations from it: some draws took place on Mondays or Tuesdays, and sometimes wait time between two draws is one or three weeks, instead of the usual two.

Immigration Plan for 2019-2021

On October 31, 2018, the government of Canada revealed its Immigration Plan for 2019-2021. The plan reiterates the country’s investment in increasing immigration targets for the period: approx. 256,000 new permanent residents over three years through the three Express Entry programs (FSW, CEC, and  FST), and an additional approx. 200,000 through the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP).

What’s an Invitation to Apply (ITA)?

An Invitation to Apply (ITA) is sent to the immigration aspirants in the Express Entry pool who are selected by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). ITAs are issued on a priority basis when a draw is conducted from the Express Entry pool, meaning that only those with the highest CRS scorewill receive an ITA.

Each Express Entry draw has a cutoff minimum score: only those who are assigned a CRS score above or equal to the cutoff score will receive the Invitation to Apply. For those who have a CRS score equal to that of the cutoff score, candidates who have been the longest in the pool will receive the ITA.

An ITA is not to be confused with eligibility to the three federal programs of Express Entry, or with a job offer from an employer or with the Provincial Nomination Programs.