In the Express Entry draw held on October 16, 500 specialists with work experience in skilled trades were invited to apply for permanent residence within the Federal Skilled Trades Program.
The Express Entry draw held on October 16, 2019 was the second invitation round this year that targeted applicants in the Federal Skilled Trades Program. By holding a draw for a specific program, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) gives candidates with lower scores a chance to receive Invitations to Apply (ITAs).
During the latest draw, the Canadian government sent 500 ITAs to permanent residence candidates. The Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS)’s cut-off score in this draw was 357.
In the previous draw, which was held within all federal immigration programs, the government sent 3,900 invitations, and the cut-off score was 464.
The history of cut-off scores and the number of invitations in the previous Express Entry draws can be found in our summary table.
The Federal Skilled Trades (FST) Program is one of three federal immigration programs that operate within the Express Entry system. This program is intended for foreign citizens who have a job offer from a Canadian employer or a Certificate of Qualification from a province or territory.
The eligible candidates under the Federal Skilled Trades Program are specialists with work experience in the following groups of occupations according to the National Occupational Classification (NOC):
- 72: Industrial, electrical and construction trades
- 73: Maintenance and equipment operation trades
- 82: Supervisors and technical occupations in natural resources, agriculture and related production
- 92: Processing, manufacturing and utilities supervisors and central control operators
- 632: Chefs and cooks
- 633: Butchers and bakers
This year, the total number of ITAs issued by IRCC reached 67,800.
IRCC used the tie-break rule in the draw held on October 16. This means that all Federal Skilled Trades candidates with a CRS score of 357 or higher, who received ITAs in this draw, submitted their profiles in the Express Entry system before March 4, 2019, 08:36:42 pm UTC.