In the last three of 2022, Canada recorded high PNP draws results, only 6470 Express Entry candidates were invited. All those candidates are PNP (Provincial Nominee Program) candidates. This is the smallest first quarter of Express Entry result ever had in Canada.
Q4 was the smallest first quarter in 2021, only 4735 PNP candidates were invited by Canada.
In the first seven draws of 2022, there were a lot of record-breaking PNP draws were held. 1082 Candidates were issued for ITA invitation to apply on February 16 which is the largest PNP draw ever had.
Why are there so few Express Entries?
The drop in invitations is the result of a backlog in the PR application of the Express Entry program. In September 2021 IRCC stopped the draws for CEC (Candian experience class) candidates because the backlog in applications had extended by more than six months from the expected processing time. In December 2020 IRCC paused the draws for FSWP candidates. Most Express Entry draws were not held due to the pandemic. Only a few CEC and PNP draws were held in 2020.
In March 2020, IRCC operations were stopped all around the world. At the same time, Canada closes their border to international travelers. Even Express Entry draws were also held by IRCC. After a few months of restrictions on travel, IRCC invited only PNP and CEC candidates. It was resumed for FSWP between August and December 2020.
According to IRCC’s internal communication, the backlog was increased because Canada focused on the transformation from temporary residents to permanent residents. An immigration program Temporary resident to permanent resident (TR2PR) is created by IRCC and invited a number of CEC candidates.
To return the estimated processing time and process the backlog, IRCC has stopped all the draws. Now there are no invitations and applications are coming, So the IRCC department can focus on clearing the backlog.
Express Entry Prophecy
Immigration Minister of Canada Sean Fraser has suggested that Express Entry draws for Skilled workers will resume as early as the spring, but there is no confirmed date for it. According to IRCC inventory data between 28 February and 15 March, 4101 FSWP applications were processed by IRCC. Many FSWP immigrants were already landed in Canada in 2022. As of mid-march, there are 4100 more backlogs left to be processed.
10400 more CEC backlog data is left to be processed. 4751 CEC backlogs were processed in 42 days by IRCC. It is suggested by the department that the CEC backlog end by this spring at this rate.
