IRCC Releases Annual Report Express Entry for 2021

IRCC releases an annual report that is an overview of candidates who got into the Express Entry pool, the processing time, and who received Canadian permanent residence in 2021.

Immigration, Refugees, Citizenship and Canada (IRCC) releases an annual report every year on Express Entry - a federal government’s immigration pathway to welcome foreign-skilled workers who are eligible for permanent residence.

Express Entry was launched in 2015 with three different immigration programs: the Canadian Experience Class (CEC), Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) and also manages the Provincial Nominee Program.

Express Entry Report for January to December 2021

IRCC issued 1,14,431 invitations to apply (ITAs) for Canadian PR. The ITAs including the principal applicants and family members, 1,55,810 people acquired permanent residence in Canada. The high number of new immigrants is despite pausing the CEC, FSWP, and FSTP programs and only inviting the provincial nominees throughout 2021.

Highlights of Express Entry 2021

• Over 4,40,000 applicants for Express Entry 

IRCC reports a total of 443,004 Express Entry profile submissions by the end of 2021, which is a raise of 23% compared to 2020. From the submissions, 74% were eligible for at least one of the Express Entry programs while 26% are ineligible. The eligibility percentage was higher for women by 6% compared to men.

• The CRS score was between 351 and 400

In Express Entry 2021, 31% of the candidates obtained a CRS score between 351 to 400. The rest of the common scores were 401-450 (27% of profiles), 451-500 (21%), and 301-350 (16%). For PNP-specific draws, the CRS cut-off scores are from 682 points to 813 points, and the CRS scores were between 75 and 462 points for CEC-specific draws.

Around 58% of eligible profiles failed to meet the criteria to be awarded additional points at the time of submission. Over 54% were male candidates, and remaining eligible profiles were with Canadian education and others had siblings in Canada.

• The number of ITAs went up to 6% compared to 2020

Considering 42 program-specific Express Entry draws, 114431 total ITAs were in 2021 which is a raise of six percent from 2020. Canada focused on inviting younger immigrants and it resulted in 64% of ITAs recipients who were 20-29 years old.

ITAs were focused on two programs throughout the year, the CEC (17 draws, accounting for 87% of all ITAs) and the PNP (25 draws, 13% of all ITAs), while no invitations were issued to FSWP or FSTP applicants.

ITAs in 2021 focused on selecting candidates for two programs - CEC 17 draws, accounting for 87% of all ITAs) and the PNP (25 draws, 13% of all ITAs). Meanwhile, there were no invitations for applicants under FSWP or FSTP.

• ITA recipients more worked in food services, admin, and retail

The common occupation that received ITA in 2021 was “Food Services Supervisor”. The National Occupation Classification (NOC) 2021 code for the job role is 62020. Around 13000 ITAs recipients were of the same job role and 60.4% among them were women.

The first five common occupations among ITAs recipients are listed below:

1. Food Service Supervisors (NOC 2021: 62020) – ITAs issued: 13,097
2. Administrative Assistants (NOC 2021: 13110) – ITAs issued: 5,930
3. Retail Sales Supervisors (NOC 2021: 62010) – ITAs issued: 5,020
4. Software Engineers and Designers (NOC 2021: 21231) – ITAs issued: 4,916
5. Cooks (NOC 2021: 63200) – ITAs issued: 4,624

• The ITA recipients resided in India and Nigeria

The foreign applicants who received ITAs were residing in India (3826) or Nigeria (1432).

The top 10 countries of residence among 2021 ITAs recipients are as follows:

1. Canada: 102,806 ITAs issued
2. India: 3,826 ITAs issued
3. Nigeria: 1,432 ITAs issued
4. USA: 806 ITAs issued
5. People’s Republic of China: 687 ITAs issued
6. United Arab Emirates: 465 ITAs issued
7. United Kingdom and Overseas Territories: 348 ITAs issued
8. Pakistan: 269 ITAs issued
9. Morocco: 235 ITAs issued
10. Lebanon: 215 ITAs issued

• Most ITA recipients were citizens of India, China, and Korea

India has been the top country that received a high number of ITAs for the last three years.

The following are the top countries of citizenship among ITA recipients.

1. India: 65,565 ITAs issued
2. People’s Republic of China: 9,592 ITAs issued
3. Republic of Korea: 3,131 ITAs issued
4. Nigeria: 3,123 ITAs issued
5. Brazil: 2,877 ITAs issued
6. Philippines: 2,429 ITAs issued
7. United Kingdom and Overseas Territories: 2,298 ITAs issued
8. Iran: 1,700 ITAs issued
9. Socialist Republic of Vietnam: 1,514 ITAs issued
10. Republic of Ireland: 1,348 ITAs issued

• CEC is the most popular program among Express Entry programs

Nearly 79.6% of permanent residence applications were through CEC Express Entry, from principal applicants. Meanwhile, 12652 were PNP applicants and 8245 applications were Canadian FSWP applicants.

Among all three programs - PNP and CEC applications were mostly submitted by men and FSWP PR applications were mostly by women.

• Most Express Entry applications were processed in nine months

The processing time for all the programs remained the same in 2020 - IRCC finalized 80% of applications in nine months. 80% of CEC applications were finalized within 7 months compared to PNP in 21 months, FSTP in 23 months, and FSWP in 26 months.

• Most immigrants settled in Ontario

Around 96,535 Express Entry applicants are settled in Ontario. The remaining applicants are settled in British Columbia (35,735) and Alberta (12,082). Around 180 permanent residents settled in Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, and Yukon.

Quick update on Express Entry

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