Canada Express Entry – Get an ITA even without a job offer

Canada is a popular destination for migrants. In stark contrast to its neighbouring U.S., Canada has friendly immigration laws in place.

Since 2015, Canada has an online points-based system for granting the Permanent Residency status to those found eligible. Referred to as Express Entry, this system evaluates eligibility on the basis of certain criteria. Points are awarded on factors of age, education, qualification, skills in the English language, and if the spouse is willing to travel alongside the applicant.

All those applicants that secure 67 out of a total 100 are considered to be eligible for Express Entry. Eligible profiles are then placed together in the Express Entry pool.

As per the Express Entry year-end Report 2018, as on January 3, 2019, the Express Entry pool contained 94,977 profiles.

CRS score distribution of profiles in the Express Entry pool on January 3, 2019, by gender:

CRS Score Range	Men	Women	Unspecified	Total
>1000	15	20	0	35
950 - 999	40	45	0	85
900 - 949	47	36	0	83
850 - 899	13	7	0	20
800 - 849	6	2	0	8
750 - 799	7	3	0	10
700 - 749	4	0	0	4
650 - 699	1	1	0	2
600 - 649	1	1	0	2
550 - 599	8	1	0	9
500 - 549	63	38	0	101
450 - 499	974	709	1	1,684
400 - 449	17,934	13,240	7	31,181
440 - 449	434	341	0	775
430 - 439	5,700	4,066	3	9,769
420 - 429	3,562	2,751	1	6,314
410 - 419	3,923	2,932	2	6,857
400 - 409	4,315	3,150	1	7,466
350 - 399	21,524	16,046	4	37,574
390 - 399	4,089	3,115	0	7,204
380 - 389	4,224	3,237	0	7,461
370 - 379	4,761	3,441	1	8,203
360 - 369	4,243	3,213	1	7,457
350 - 359	4,207	3,040	2	7,249
300 - 349	12,942	8,166	2	21,110
340 - 349	3,844	2,717	1	6,562
330 - 339	3,342	2,093	1	5,436
320 - 329	2,607	1,624	0	4,231
310 - 319	1,878	1,058	0	2,936
300 - 309	1,271	674	0	1,945
250 - 299	1,493	809	0	2,302
200 - 249	397	99	0	496
150 - 199	157	33	0	190
100 - 149	47	16	0	63
<100	17	1	0	18
Total	55,690	39,273	14	94,977

Once a part of the Express Entry pool, the candidate profiles are ranked based on certain criteria and awarded the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score.

While the total stands at 1200, the CRS cut-off is not constant. Profiles that get the requisite CRS score are then sent an Invitation to Apply (ITA).

A job offer from a Canada-based employer might give you the necessary confidence. But, it is not a pre-condition for getting an ITA.

According to the Express Entry year-end report 2018, only some profiles in the Express Entry pool had valid job offers. Out of the total 89,800 who received an ITA, only 9,308 had a job offer.

Despite not having a job offer, many received an ITA. How? You might ask.

This is where we must understand the working of the National Occupational Classification (NOC).

Canada uses the NOC for the purpose of classification of occupations or jobs, based on work that a person does, and job duties.

The main job groups as per the NOC are –

• Skill Type 0 for management-related jobs

• Skill Level A for professional jobs requiring a university degree
• Skill Level B for skilled trades and technical jobs that need training or a college diploma
• Skill Level C for intermediate jobs needing job-specific training or high school
• Skill Level D for labour jobs

The NOC assigns a 4-digit unique code to each of the occupations. For example, while software engineers have NOC Code 2173, University professors and lecturers have been assigned NOC Code 4011.

As per the Express Entry year-end Report 2018, the top occupations that received ITAs were related to business and financial services, as well as information technology.

Among men, software engineers and designers made up 9% of the 52,472 that got an ITA. In women, ITAs issued to NOC Code 2173 were 4% of the total 37,322. 

Invitations issued in 2018 by occupation, women:

Occupation	Number	%
1241 Administrative assistants	1,734	5%
2171 Information systems analysts and consultants	1,592	4%
2173 Software engineers and designers	1,552	4%
1123 Professional occupations in advertising, marketing and public relations	1,243	3%
1111 Financial auditors and accountants	1,225	3%
1221 Administrative officers	952	3%
4011 University professors and lecturers	944	3%
0124 Advertising, marketing and public relations managers	873	2%
2174 Computer programmers and interactive media developers	870	2%
1122 Professional occupations in business management consulting	783	2%
Other	25,554	68%
Total	37,322	100%

Invitations issued in 2018 by occupation, men:

Occupation	Number	%
2173 Software engineers and designers	4,574	9%
2171 Information systems analysts and consultants	3,837	7%
2174 Computer programmers and interactive media developers	2,580	5%
1111 Financial auditors and accountants	1,258	2%
1112 Financial and investment analysts	1,190	2%
2132 Mechanical engineers	1,167	2%
1122 Professional occupations in business management consulting	1,132	2%
0213 Computer and information systems managers	1,077	2%
4011 University professors and lecturers	998	2%
2133 Electrical and electronics engineers	925	2%
Other	33,734	64%
Total	52,472	100%

Do keep in mind that a job offer gets you 50 CRS points. Nevertheless, you do not have to give up on hopes for an ITA if you do not have a job offer.

Simply being in the Express Entry pool gets you added on to the Canada Job Bank. Even if you don’t have a job offer as of now, you might get one in the near future. Or, you might just get lucky and get an ITA minus the job offer! Fingers crossed!

Y-Axis offers a wide range of Visa and Immigration products as well as services for aspiring overseas students including Study Visa for Canada, Work Visa for Canada, Canada Migrant Ready Professional Services for Express Entry Full Service, and Education Credential Assessment. We work with Regulated Immigration Consultants in Canada.

If you are looking to Study, Work in Canada, Visit, Invest or Migrate to Canada, talk to Y-Axis, the World’s No.1 Immigration & Visa Company.

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