Ontario invites 1,773 Express Entry candidates with tech experience and CRS scores as low as 435

[tacobell fan]

A new Ontario Tech Draw held Thursday, August 1, issued 1,773 invitations to Express Entry candidates with work experience in one of six tech occupations and Comprehensive Ranking System scores as low as 435. 

This was Ontario’s second Tech Draw since their introduction in early July and a total of 3,396 Express Entry candidates have now received invitations, or Notifications of Interest (NOIs).

Ontario is home to several of Canada’s major tech hubs, notably those in the cities of Toronto, Ottawa and Waterloo, and Tech Draws are designed to meet growing labour needs in the sector.

More than 80,000 tech jobs have been created in Ontario’s capital city, Toronto, alone in the last five years, according to the 2019 CBRE Scoring Tech Talent Report.

Tech Draws allow Ontario to search the federal Express Entry pool and invite eligible candidates to apply for provincial nomination.

The Express Entry system is Canada’s main source of skilled foreign workers and candidates with a provincial nomination receive an additional 600 points toward their Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score, effectively guaranteeing an invitation to apply for Canadian permanent residence.

The Express Entry system allows candidates to pursue Canadian permanent resident if they are eligible for the Federal Skilled Worker Class, Federal Skilled Trades Class or Canadian Experience Class. A job offer is not required in order to participate in the Express Entry system.

All candidates in the Express Entry pool are assigned a score under the CRS and the highest-scoring candidates are invited to apply for Canadian permanent residence through regular draws from the pool.

In order to be considered for an invitation from Ontario, candidates must first submit an Express Entry profile.

While many candidates with IT backgrounds and high ranking scores have had success through Express Entry, several provincial immigration streams give candidates with lower CRS scores a chance to improve their rank and obtain an Invitation to Apply for Canadian permanent residence.

Whereas the minimum score to be drawn from the Express Entry pool during the most federal recent draw was 459, this OINP Tech Draw selected candidates with scores as low as 435.

This score was also three points lower than the lowest score drawn through a federal Express Entry invitation round so far this year (438).