By Canadian Immigrant News |
Last month saw the Government of Canada more than double the number of invitations to apply for permanent residence that it issued to Express Entry candidates in October 2017, leaving it less than 12,000 invitations away from last year’s record-setting annual total.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) issued 11,700 Invitations To Apply (ITAs) over the course of three draws last month, more than twice the 5,558 ITAs issued in October 2017.
October’s total pushed the number of ITAs issued to Express Entry candidates in 2018 to 74,200, leaving IRCC just 11,823 invitations away from tying 2017’s Express Entry record of 86,023 ITAs.
The federal Express Entry system manages the pool of candidates for Canada’s three Federal High Skilled economic immigration programs — the Federal Skilled Worker Class, Federal Skilled Trades Class and Canadian Experience Class.
Eligible candidates are given a score under the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) that determines their position in the Express Entry pool, and a set number of the highest-ranked are issued ITAs through regular draws from the pool.
Introduced in January 2015, Canada’s Express Entry system is now the main driver of economic immigration to the country.