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Express Entry 9-Month Review: More ITAs So Far In 2019 Than Record-Breaking Year Of 2018

Aug 21, 2019

2019-09-30 – The third quarter of 2019 was the sixth most-prolific on record for the Canada Express Entry immigration system.
From July to September, Canada immigration authorities issued Invitations to Apply to 21,600 immigration candidates, bring the total to 63,400 for the year so far.
It means the total number of ITAs issued remains above 2018 at the nine-month stage.
Therefore, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) remain on track to break the record of 89,800 invites set last year.
To do this, IRCC will need to increase draw sizes beyond 3,600, the number of invites issued for the last six Express Entry draws.
The final quarter of 2018 is the second most-prolific on record for ITAs, with 27,300 invites issued in seven draws of 3,900.

Express Entry 2019: Important Third-Quarter Takeaways

Canada has issued more ITAs in the first 9 months of 2019 than it did in 2018, which went on to break the record for the most invites in a year.

The third quarter of 2019 saw the sixth-highest number of ITAs issued in the history of Express Entry, at 21,600.

The first 9 months of 2019 have seen the largest average draw size of any year so far, at 3,337 ITAs.

The average minimum CRS score crept up to 465 for 2019, higher than both 2017 and 2018 for the first 9 months.

For total ITAs after three quarters, 2017 remains the highest on record, despite less than 15,000 ITAs being issued in the third quarter that year.
IRCC, in the first half of 2017, record two of the top three quarters ever seen in Express Entry, as it looked to create an inventory of profiles moving forwards. Invites then dropped off significantly in the second half of the year.

Total ITAs Issued In Third Quarter

Given 2018 and 2019 are the first two years of Express Entry running at full capacity with a full inventory of profiles, they warrant the most worthwhile comparison.

With just 900 ITAs separating the two years at the nine-month stage, it remains to be seen whether 2019 will eclipse 2018 and surpass the 90,000-invite barrier