Canada through its immigration department Immigration, Refugees, Citizenship of Canada (IRCC) runs Express Entry pool draws (generally called rounds of invitations) to invite eligible candidates to apply for permanent residence. These draws are based on the comprehensive ranking score (CRS). The invited applicants get a time of 60 days to apply for the PR.
How Does Express Entry Pool Selection Work?
IRCC ranks the interested candidates in the Express Entry pool using a points-based system called the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS). For the invitation round, IRCC:
- chooses the type of round to release,
- decides the number of candidates who are invited,
- identifies the highest-ranking candidates from the pool who are eligible for the chosen round type,
- invites invited candidates to apply for permanent residence in the time of 60 days.
Types of Rounds of Invitations
There are different rounds of invitation run by IRCC, these are:
1. General rounds of invitations
This general round of invitations is the most practiced one. In this process, IRCC invites top-ranking candidates in the pool who are eligible for 1 of the 3 programs managed through Express Entry. These programs are:
2. Program-specific rounds of invitations
Introduced in the recent past, is the program-specific rounds of invitations. In this stream, IRCC invites top-ranking candidates who are eligible for a specific Express Entry program. This could be for example a round specifically for the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). If this is the case, only those candidates would be invited who are eligible for the PNP (provincial nominee program).
3. Category-based rounds of invitations
For category-based rounds of invitations, the Minister establishes a category to meet a specific economic goal. IRCC then invites top-ranking (based on CRS) candidates in the pool who are eligible for this category. The currently exercised categories are:
- French-language proficiency
- Healthcare occupations
- Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) occupations
- Trade occupations
- Transport occupations
- Agriculture and agri-food occupations
Category-based selection is done to meet a specific economic goal. IRCC invites interested candidates to apply for the PR based on selection criteria such as:
- educational background,
- skills to communicate in a specific official language,
- professional work experience in a specific occupation (that is chosen by the IRCC).
Express Entry Step by Step-by-Step Guide to Category-Based Selection
1- Show your interest
If you are interested, you should create an online Express Entry profile in your IRCC Secure Account.
2- Placement in Express Entry pool
If you’re eligible for one of the programs under Express Entry:
IRCC will place you in the Express Entry pool.
3- Check your Comprehensive Ranking System score
While your Express Entry profile is in the pool, IRCC will assign you a score based on your points in the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS). You can view your score in your IRCC account
4- Identification of candidates eligible for a category
IRCC identifies candidates in the pool, based on their profile, who are eligible for a specific category the Minister established.
5- Ranking of Profile
Your Express Entry profile is ranked as an eligible candidate based on your CRS score.
6- Round of invitations
In all round types, IRCC invites eligible candidates with the highest CRS scores to apply to an economic immigration program. Important to remember is that in category-based rounds, candidates must also be eligible for a given category to be invited.
7- Applying for permanent residence
If you receive an invitation to apply, you have 60 days to apply for a specific program in Express Entry.
8- Decision
IRCC makes a decision based on program eligibility, the accuracy of the information in your profile, category eligibility, and whether you’re admissible to Canada.