3,300 CEC candidates invited in Express Entry Draw #161

Following the pattern of almost simultaneously held consecutive draws in the recent past, Canada has held another draw within a day of the previous one. Express Entry Draw #161 was held on August 20, 2020 at 11:10:05 UTC. This time 3,300 candidates with prior Canadian experience – that is, those eligible for the Canadian Experience Class [CEC] – were invited to apply for Canada permanent residence.

The previous Express Entry draw was held on August 19, 2020.

The latest CEC-specific follows the PNP-only draw held the previous day. Since March 18, the federal government of Canada has mostly been holding program-specific draws. While all-program Express Entry draws have been resumed, Canada continues with its trend of targeted draws.

As per Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada [IRCC], the “CRS score of lowest-ranked candidate invited” was 454. A tie-breaking rule of July 27, 2020 at 17:05:11 UTC was applied.

Express Entry candidates eligible for the CEC and with a ranking score – determined through the Comprehensive Ranking System [CRS] – of CRS 454 and above received invitations, provided they had submitted their profile before the tie-break applied.

The tie-breaking rule is frequently used by IRCC for determining the precedence of profiles if more than 1 candidates has the lowest score as required by the draw.

With the latest draw – the 28th Express Entry draw to be held in 2020 – a total of 65,750 Canada immigration candidates have been invited by IRCC to apply for Canada PR so far this year.

Even with the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada immigration has not been affected. A record 65,750 ITAs issued so far this year are more than the number of ITAs issued the same time in 2019 and 2018.

Express Entry profiles can be submitted even with the COVID-19 restrictions effective in Canada. In addition to accepting Express Entry profile submissions, IRCC continues with the processing of Canada PR applications as well.

IRCC has a standard processing of 6 months for Canadian permanent residence applications submitted through the Express Entry system.

Total 28 Express Entry draws held in 2020 so far.

Sl. No.	Draw No.	Date of Draw	Minimum CRS	ITAs issued
1	#134	January 8, 2020	473	3,400
2	#135	January 22, 2020	471	3,400
3	#136	February 5, 2020	472	3,500
4	#137	February 19, 2020	470	4,500
5	#138	March 4, 2020	471	3,900
6	#139 [PNP]	March 18, 2020	720	668
7	#140 [CEC]	March 23, 2020	467	3,232
8	#141 [PNP]	April 9, 2020	698	606
9	#142 [CEC]	April 9, 2020	464	3,294
10	#143 [PNP]	April 15, 2020	808	118
11	#144 [CEC]	April 16, 2020	455	3,782
12	#145 [PNP]	April 29, 2020	692	589
13	#146 [CEC]	May 1, 2020	452	3,311
14	#147 [PNP]	May 13, 2020	718	529
15	#148 [CEC]	May 15, 2020	447	3,371
16	#149 [PNP]	May 27, 2020	757	385
17	#150 [CEC]	May 28, 2020	440	3,515
18	#151 [PNP]	June 10, 2020	743	341
19	#152 [CEC]	June 11, 2020	437	3,559
20	#153 [PNP]	June 24, 2020	696	392
21	#154 [CEC]	June 25, 2020	431	3,508
22	#155	July 8, 2020	478	3,900
23	#156 [PNP]	July 22, 2020	687	557
24	#157 [CEC]	July 23, 2020	445	3,343
25	#158	August 5, 2020	476	3,900
26	#159 [FSTP]	August 6, 2020	415	250
27	#160 [PNP]	August 19, 2020	771	600
28	#161 [CEC]	August 20, 2020	454	3,300
Total ITAs issued in 2020 so far – 65,750.

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