IMPACT – MEDIUM

What is the change? Canada has conducted its 16th Express Entry draw of the year, issuing 3,409 invitations to apply for permanent residency. The lowest qualifying score was 449.

What does the change mean? The number of invitations issued in Wednesday’s draw was lower than it has been in most draws this year, and the minimum qualifying score was up significantly compared with draws in April and May. This is likely because of two factors: (1) a change in the scoring system that awards more points to Francophone immigrants and those with siblings in Canada; and (2) the fact that nearly a month has passed since the last Express Entry draw, leaving more applicants in the pool. Draws had been conducted roughly every two weeks for most of 2017.

Background: There have been 16 draws so far this year:

Date Invitations Score
Jan. 3 2,902 468
Jan. 11 3,334 459
Jan. 25 3,508 453
Feb. 8 3,664 447
Feb. 22 3,611 441
March 1 3,884 434
March 24 3,749 441
April 5 3,753 431
April 12 3,923 423
April 19 3,665 415
May 4 3,796 423
May 17 3,687 415
May 25* 143 775
May 25** 400 199
May 31 3,877 413
June 28 3,409 449

*PNP nominees only

**Federal Skilled Trades Program applicants only.

BAL Analysis: The minimum score was up by 36 points from the last draw, but on the whole this year, Canada continues to issue a high number of invitations to apply for permanent residence. Canada has issued 51,305 Express Entry invitations so far in 2017, compared with 33,782 in all of 2016 and 31,063 in 2015.

This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice group and our network provider located in Canada. For additional information, please contact your BAL attorney.

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