Last May 13, Canada invited over 529 Express Entry candidates to apply for permanent residency, bringing the total number of invited immigration candidates to 34,829 this 2020. 

In this latest Express Entry draw, only candidates who received a nomination from a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) were invited. Because these candidates received an additional 600 points from the PNP nomination, the minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score for this cut off was 718. Without the provincial nomination, these candidates would have only had a score of 118.

This PNP-specific draw follows a recent trend from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), where draws have been alternating between provincial nominee candidates and candidates from the Canadian Experience Class (CEC).

Since Canada closed their borders to prevent the spread of the coronavirus last March 18, IRCC has been holding these specific draws in order to invite candidates who are more likely to already be in Canada.

Despite travel restrictions and the general uncertainty of these times, due to the new trend of conducting targeted Express Entry rounds, there have been more ITAs issued this year than the same time in 2019 and 2018. 

Compared to the 31, 250 ITAs at this time in 2019, Canada remains on track to send out 85, 800 Express Entry ITAs this 2020, with 34, 829 ITAs issued so far.