Back in 2015, Canada introduced its Express Entry system. It organizes immigration applications for three federal immigration programs, namely Federal Skilled Worker (FSW), Federal Skilled Trades (FST), and Canadian Experience Class (CEC)

Each immigration candidate submits their Express Entry profile to a pool of candidates. The Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) ranks each applicant based on the CRS score out of 1200. 

Canada conducts an Express Entry draw after around every 2 weeks, and the lowest CRS Cut Off score is selected. Each candidate with more score than the CRS Cut Off gets an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for Canadian permanent residence.

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On 10th November 2021, IRCC conducted its usual Express Entry draw for Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) candidates, with a CRS Cut Off score of 685. A total of 775 candidates got an ITA for permanent residence. 

All of the selected candidates originated from the PNP, i.e., each candidate had received a nomination from the Provincial Nominee Program before. Every provincial nominee gets a 600 points award when they apply. Hence, the lowest-scoring candidate would have scored only 85 points if we take away the bonus points of PNP. 

The first PNP-only draw was held back in March 2021 — and since then, this score, i.e., 685 have been the second-lowest to date. Since the effects of COVID-19, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has been only drawing PNP draws. With the massive continuous reduction in the CRS Cut Off scores, we expect to see more and more candidates getting invited for Canadian permanent residence.