Express Entry Draw #230 | 2,750 Invited Through All Programs

The CRS in Express Entry Draw # 230 has decreased from 525 to 516 in Wednesday’s draw. A total of 2,750 Invitations To Apply (ITA) were issued which is in line with the overall gradual cutoff score decrease.

Express Entry Draw 230
Date of Draw: August 31, 2022
Number of Invitations Issued: 2,750
Minimum CRS:  516
Program Specified: Non-specified
Tie-breaking rule:  April 16, 2022

What is Express Entry? 

Express Entry is a system used by Canada to manage applications for permanent residency. The Express Entry system manages three main programs: 

• Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSW);
• Federal Skilled Trades Program (FST); and
• Canadian Experience Class (CEC)

CRS Cut-Off Score Gradually Decreasing 

As we have seen with previous Express Entry draws, the CRS score is continuing to gradually decrease since resuming all-program draws on July 6th. Since all program draws resumes,  7,500 candidates have been issued ITA, and that number is expected to grow.

The number of candidates invited has been increasing each draw while the CRS cut-off score has been steadily decreasing as the backlog of applicants in the system is being processed. The most recent draw saw a 9 point decrease from 525 to 516 in the previous draw. An additional 2,750 applicants were issued ITAs in the 230th draw.

The CRS score is likely to continue to decrease in subsequent draws. Beginning in the first quarter of 2023, Canada will begin inviting candidates based on groupings. This will likely result in a much lower CRS cut-off.

Bill C-19, which was announced earlier this year, will allow the immigration minister to invite candidates based on groupings rather than based only on CRS scores. Groupings may include a combination of work experience in an in-demand occupation or set of occupations, language proficiency, and educational background. Because candidates will be ranked against others in their grouping rather than the entire Express Entry pool, the CRS cut-off is likely to be much lower compared to the general draws that we have been seeing recently. 

Updates to the Immigration System Announced Last Week

The pool of candidates remains uncharacteristically high due to a record backlog. The backlog is a product of the COVID-19 pandemic, staff shortages, and aging technology among other factors. On August 24th, the IRCC announced further updates to Canada’s immigration systems to help reduce application backlogs and more readily meet servicing standards. The updates included aiming to hire a total of 1,250 new employees by late fall to speed up processing capacity as well as launching a dedicated page on the IRCC site to track the reduction progress in the backlog as well as post monthly updates. 

The IRCC stated that they are aiming to process about 80 percent of new applications within their service standard. Currently, for certain programs, over half of the applications are in backlog. Servicing standards vary depending on the program but Express Entry’s service standard for permanent residence applications is within six months. According to the new IRCC webpage, 53 percent of permanent residence applications exceed the six-month expectation and are currently in backlog.

Continued efforts are expected to reduce the number of applications in backlog in the next few months significantly. By the end of 2022, the IRCC plans to welcome over 431,000 new permanent residents to Canada. That target will likely be met by the end of the year, with 275,000 new permanent residents, as of July 31st having already arrived.

What to Expect from the Next Express Entry Draw

According to IRCC, all-program Express Entry draws will continue to be held on a bi-weekly basis. Following this schedule, the next anticipated all-program Express Entry draw will be September 14th, 2022. 

The CRS cut-off will likely continue to slowly decline as the IRCC continues to work to address backlog issues.

Interested in learning more about your options to immigrate to Canada through the Express Entry system? Complete our free online assessment today for a full evaluation of your immigration options!