IRCC reveals Canada Express Entry yearly report for 2021

Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada has published the yearly Express Entry report for the year 2021. The report includes data for the period from January 2021 to December 2021. It offers vital insights into immigration trends and is highly valuable for aspirants keen on the next Express Entry draw 2023.

A total of 114, 431 ITA - Invitations to Apply for a Canada PR Visa were offered in 2021. Through these ITAs the total number of people who gained PR status was 155, 810 inclusive of principal and accompanying applicants.

440,000 plus profiles submitted in Express Entry

A total of 443,004 profiles were submitted in Express Entry in the whole of 2021 which was an increase of 23% in comparison with 2020.  74% of the total profiles submitted were qualified for a minimum of one program under Express Entry and roughly 26% were considered ineligible. Of the total submissions, around 77% of females qualified for a minimum of one program under Express Entry in comparison with 71% of males.

Most people in Express Entry had CRS scores in the range of 351 and 400

31% of all the qualified candidates had a CRS score in the range of 351 and 400 points. The following were the other common score ranges among the qualified candidates:

·         401-450:27% of profiles

·         451-500:21% of profiles

·         301-350:16% of profiles

The CRS cut-off score range for PNP-specific draws was between 813 to 682 points. It decreased to the range of 462 and 75 points for CEC-only draws.

The number of ITAs offered increased by 6%

In 2021 a total of 114,431 ITAs were offered in Express Entry draws that were program-specific. It was a hike of 6% over 2020. 64% of the total ITAs beneficiaries were in the age group 29 to 20 years corresponding to Canada’s inclination to welcome youth.

Nil all-program draws were conducted

The ITAs offered in 2021 were only to candidates in 2 programs CEC (87% of ITAs and 17 draws) and PNPs (13% of ITAs and 25 draws). There were no ITAs offered to FSTP or FSWP candidates.

Most ITA recipients were employed in Food Services, Retail, and Admin

Food Service Supervisor was the most universal primary occupation of recipients of ITAs in 2021. They received a total of 13, 097 ITAs. In this category, 60.4% of the recipients were females.

The top 5 occupations of the ITA recipients along with their NOC codes and total ITAs received are as follows:

The majority of ITA recipients had citizenship in India, China, and Korea

The data from the 2021 annual report reveals that the top nations of citizenship among the recipients of ITAs have also altered in recent years. The top slot in the last 3 years has been occupied by India. The second on the list for 2020 and 2021 was the People’s Republic of China. The citizens of Nigeria occupied the third position in 2020 while the third rank in 2021 was obtained by citizens of the Republic of Korea.

80% of Express Entry applications processed in 9 months

For a majority of the potential immigrants to Canada, the processing times of the applications are a prime concern. 80% of the total Express Entry applications were processed in 9 months in 2021. This was the same as for the year 2020. For PNP it was 21 months, 26 months for FSWP applications and for FSTP it was 23 months.

The majority of Express Entry PR holders planned to settle in Ontario

96, 935 of the total applicants for Canada PR Visa under Express Entry indicated that they wanted to settle in Ontario. The next two renowned destinations for immigration candidates were British Columbia province (35,735) and Alberta province (12,082). Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut the 3 territories in Canada were the least preferred destinations (187).

The immigration statistics for Quebec are not included here.

Express Entry trends in 2022 and 2023

All program draws that were paused in January 2021 were resumed by IRCC in July 2022 (for FSTP and FSWP) and for CEC in September 2021.

IRCC plans to progress further from the conventional method of prioritizing candidates based on their CRS scores in 2023.   It has announced the launch of targeted draws this year. The selection of candidates in these draws will be according to precise individual traits like language skills, occupation, and age.