Y-Axis Immigration Services

Sign up for free

expert consultation

Down Arrow

I accept the Terms & Conditions

Icon
Don' know what to do?

Get Free Counseling

Posted on December 31 2020

The year that was: 2020 in Express Entry

profile-image
By  Editor
Updated January 18 2024

2020 might have been an unprecedented year in more ways than one. For the Express Entry system of Canada, however, 2020 has been a record-breaking year despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A total of 37 Express Entry draws were held by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada [IRCC] in 2020.

As many as 107,350 invitations to apply were issued by IRCC, a record in itself when compared to the statistics of previous years.

Canada’s Express Entry in 2020
Draws held 37
ITAs issued 107,350

 According to Statista, “Canada’s appeal as an immigration destination has been increasing over the past two decades, with a total of 284,387 people immigrating to the country Between July 1, 2019 and June 30, 2020.”

 Statista is a leading provider of consumer and market data.

Between July 1, 2019 and June 30, 2020, there were an estimated 127,191 immigrants to Ontario, making it the most popular immigration destination out of any province.

Number of immigrants arriving in Canada in 2020, by province or territory of residence

Province / Territory Number of Immigrants
Ontario 1,27,191
British Columbia 44,899
Alberta 35,519
Quebec 33,295
Manitoba 14,789
Saskatchewan 13,364
Nova Scotia 6,239
New Brunswick 4,909
Prince Edward Island 2,082
Newfoundland and Labrador 1,564
Yukon 336
Northwest Territories 161
Nunavut 39
 Note. – The release date of the demographics is September 2020. As the time period for each year is from July 1 to June 30, the data for 2020 reflects new immigrants arriving in Canada between July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020.

A majority of the foreign-born individuals in Canada had India as their source country. In 2019, Indians were the biggest recipients of Canadian permanent residence visas.

Canada had initially announced the intention of welcoming 341,000 immigrants in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic affected the outcome to a certain extent.

While the 2020-2022 Immigration Levels Plan was announced on March 12 this year, coronavirus-related travel restrictions were imposed by the Canadian government a week later, that is, on March 18.

Despite the COVID-19 situation, regular draws – both federal draws through the Express Entry system as well as provincial through the Provincial Nominee Program [PNP] – continued to be held throughout 2020. However, while Express Entry Draw #138 held on March 4 was an all-program draw, the next all-program draw was held much later, on July 8 [Draw #155].

All the draws held in the interval were program-specific draws, alternating between the PNP and the Canadian Experience Class [CEC]. The reason behind the shift in focus was that CEC and PNP applicants were more likely to have already been within Canada, thereby unaffected by the travel restrictions.

Since September 2020, all the Express Entry draws held have been all-program draws.

The last 4 Express Entry draws in 2020 have had 5,000 ITAs issued in each draw.

The minimum Comprehensive Ranking System [CRS] required in all-program draws ranged from 468 on one hand to 478 on the other.

The minimum CRS cut-off in PNP-specific draws is usually in the 650+ range. A provincial nomination alone fetches 600 CRS points for an Express Entry candidate that is nominated by any province or territory for Canadian permanent residence. 

Express Entry Draws in 2020
Sl. No. Draw No. Date of Draw Minimum CRS ITAs issued For details
1 #134 January 8, 2020 473 3,400 Canada invites 3400 in the first Express Entry draw of 2020
2 #135 January 22, 2020 471 3,400 Canada invites 3400 in second Express Entry draw of 2020
3 #136 February 5, 2020 472 3,500 New Express Entry draw invites 3500 candidates for Canadian PR
4 #137 February 19, 2020 470 4,500 Canada invites 4500 in the largest ever Express Entry draw
5 #138 March 4, 2020 471 3,900 Latest Express Entry draw invites 3900 for Canada PR
6 #139 [PNP] March 18, 2020 720    668 --
7 #140 [CEC] March 23, 2020 467 3,232 Canada issues 3,232 invitations in the latest CEC-specific draw
8 #141 [PNP] April 9, 2020 698    606 CRS drops by 22 points in latest EE draw
9 #142 [CEC] April 9, 2020 464 3,294 Government of Canada issued 3,294 ITAs in latest draw
10 #143 [PNP] April 15, 2020 808     118 Latest PNP-specific draw by Canada invites 118
11 #144 [CEC] April 16, 2020 455 3,782 Canada: Latest EE draw has lowest CRS of the year
12 #145 [PNP] April 29, 2020 692    589 Canada invites provincial nominees with the lowest CRS in 2020 so far
13 #146 [CEC] May 1, 2020 452 3,311 Canada Express Entry latest draw has CRS drop further
14 #147 [PNP] May 13, 2020 718    529 Canada invites 529 PNP candidates in latest draw
15 #148 [CEC] May 15, 2020 447 3,371 Canada Express Entry: Lowest CRS in 2020
16 #149 [PNP] May 27, 2020 757    385 Another targeted Express Entry draw by Canada invites 385
17 #150 [CEC] May 28, 2020 440 3,515 CRS drops further in the latest Express Entry draw
18 #151 [PNP] June 10, 2020 743    341 Canada invites 341 EE candidates with provincial nomination
19 #152 [CEC] June 11, 2020 437 3,559 Canada invites with lowest CRS requirement for CEC since 2017
20 #153 [PNP] June 24, 2020 696    392 392 PNP candidates invited in Express Entry latest draw
21 #154 [CEC] June 25, 2020 431 3,508 Canada’s Express Entry invites with the lowest CRS in 2020 so far
22 #155 July 8, 2020 478 3,900 Canada resumes all-program Express Entry draws
23 #156 [PNP] July 22, 2020 687    557 557 PNP candidates receive ITAs in latest Express Entry draw
24 #157 [CEC] July 23, 2020 445 3,343 3,343 CEC candidates receive ITAs in latest draw
25 #158 August 5, 2020 476 3,900 3,900 ITAs issued in another all-program Express Entry draw
26 #159 [FSTP] August 6, 2020 415  250 Rare FSTP-specific Express Entry draw held by Canada
27 #160 [PNP] August 19, 2020 771 600 Canada invites 600 PNP candidates to apply for permanent residence
28 #161 [CEC] August 20, 2020 454 3,300 3,300 CEC candidates invited in Express Entry Draw #161
29 #162 September 2, 2020 475 4,200 Canada holds largest EE draw since February this year
30 #163 September 16, 2020 472 4,200 Latest all-program Express Entry draw issues 4,200 ITAs
31 #164 September 30, 2020 471 4,200 Third consecutive all-program Express Entry draw held by Canada
32 #165 October 14, 2020 471 4,500 Latest Express Entry draw invites 4,500 to apply for Canada PR
33 #166 November 5, 2020 478 4,500 Canada invites 4,500 to apply for permanent residence
34 #167 November 18, 2020 472 5,000 Canada holds the largest Express Entry draw ever
35 #168 November 25, 2020 469 5,000 Express Entry: Another 5,000 invited in all-program draw
36 #169 December 9, 2020 469 5,000 Canada invites another 5,000 to apply for PR
37 #170 December 23, 2020 468 5,000 CRS drops to 468 in latest Express Entry draw
Total ITAs issued in 2020 so far – 107,350.  

According to the 2021-2023 Immigration Levels Plan announced on October 30, 2020, Canada intends welcoming over 4 lakh immigrants a year in the near future.

Grappling with a low birth rate on one hand and an aging workforce on the other, Canada relies on immigration to a great extent for fixing the potential gap in the labour force.

Incidentally, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], India produces the highest number of highly educated migrants.

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

If you found this blog engaging, you may also like …

500,000 immigrants working in Canada are trained in STEM fields

Tags:

Share

Options for you by Y-Axis

phone 1

Get it on your Mobile

mail

Get News Alerts

contact 1

Contact Y-Axis

Latest Article

Related Post

Trending Article

Italy Student Visa Rules

Posted On December 11 2024

Italy announces new student visa rules from 2025