June 28, 2017 – Canadian Immigration authorities conducted the 16th round of invitations under Express Entry in 2017 and 66th overall, inviting 3409 applicants for permanent residence, under all programs. The lowest Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score was 449, a significant increase from previous draws.

It was the 15th draw in 2017 under the  Express Entry System where the lowest CRS score was well below 500. It was the 1st draw since immigration authorities substantially modified the Express Entry Comprehensive Ranking System on June 6, 2017. The latest draw factors in all applications in the pool who received additional points under the recent changes.  Future draws will likely see a return of declining scores.

Express Entry is an immigration system implemented by Canadian immigration authorities ("CIC") on January 1, 2015 which manages skilled worker applications under Federal Economic programs. This includes the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Skilled Trades Program the Canada Experience Class and certain parts of the Provincial Nominee Program.

Stakeholders expect to see near 30 draws and up to 70,000 invitations issued in 2017, with majority of draws featuring CRS scores well below 450 to enable Canadian immigration authorities to meet targeted annual immigration levels for 2017.

Read our 2016 Express Entry Year-End report, here.

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The content of this article reflects the personal insight of Attorney Colin Singer and needs no disclaimer