In the latest draw of February 13, 2021, Canada has invited 27,332 candidates to apply for permanent residency. This draw is only applicable to the candidates of Canadian Experience Class (CEC), which means the people who have already gained experience in Canada. Surprisingly, it only requires the candidates to have a score of 75 or more in their Canadian Ranking System (CRS).
As an additional criteria for selection, the Canadian immigration system has implemented a tie-breaking rule in which a candidate having the minimum score of 75 is eligible only if they submitted their application by September 12, 2020 at 15:31 UTC. The eligible candidates can expect to receive the invitation from February 13, 2021 to February 14, 2021.
It is seen as a historic step by Canada as a cut-off this low has never been seen. This can be judged by the data given by a news website of Canada that the average CRS score requirement in the last 10 draws has been ranging from 454 to 813 including all categories.
In this difficult time period when the world is facing the difficulties thrown by COVID-19, it is obvious to see that this step taken by the government is to help the people who are already there in Canada. Also, it will reduce the need to invite people from outside of Canada. Nevertheless, it is a sigh of relief for the international students on their work permit who have been waiting for their permanent residents.
It will be interesting to see the steps taken by the government in the upcoming months and the candidates who are still waiting can anticipate a lot.