BTJ

So the first draw of Express Entry has been made: Ministerial Instructions

There have been 779 ITAs issued with a cutoff of 886 points meaning either Provincial Nomination or an LMIA will have been required.

If this continues it'll be the effective end of CEC.

ChrisBan

Effective end of CEC? Sounds a bit ridiculous to be honest. That average is bound to change throughout the year given how much harder it appears to be to get an approved LMIA. Also, without looking into it, I imagine PNP routes still have a cap so once those caps are reached there will be less apps at the top end. Then again, who am I to say... I just tend to guess at this particular process.

Anyone else think that 779 is a bit of a low number considering the overall goal to attract 200k new immigrants to Canada in 2015?

BTJ

I agree. I had only meant if the numbers continued as is.

Agree. 2015 planned levels: Notice – Supplementary Information to the 2015 Immigration Levels Plan

In 2015 between FSW/FSTP/CEC the target is up to 74k, so should still be expecting just over 6,000 ITAs per month, not 779! Though I wonder how much the legacy 2014 FSW/CEC/FSTP will reduce the EE allocation by for much of 2015.

So perhaps this low number boils down to:

Guess we'll just need to continue to wait and see.

withabix

The first batch were inevitably going to be high point scores, given that they went for a January draw.

They were probably ALL people already working here on TFW via LMOs who had applied for PNP last year, fast-tracking themselves through the CIC part of the process by taking a quick English test.

It was also likely to be a small number for the first draw, because nobody has any experience in this process.

I can imagine the cut-off score will remain high until they have got through the backlog of 2014 PNP applicants, which is a FAIR way to do it, given that these people have been waiting longer. In BC there would appear to be about 6 months worth of PNP applications just in backlog, as they managed to process up to about 4000 last year and had about 7500 applications. If you assume that at least 2/3 of these are EE-qualifiable and that all the other provinces have similar (or worse) backlogs, these are going to overwhelm the EE system this year.

I'm expecting to be in the next draw or the one after, as I have my English test in two weeks time.

You do have to wonder how many they will be able to process though, given their record, both in terms of recent PNP processing times and the 'speed' that CIC works at....

dishwashing

That's a lot of backlog, withabix. Are you going through the PNP EE then?

doubleym

I don't think any previously nominated PNP applicants have had their nominations confirmed for EE, the 779 that have been selected appear to just have been clearing out all of the LMIA-supported profiles. Would explain the random 779 number.

I'd expect the next draw to hit people in the base 600 point category since getting new LMIAs isn't easy and it looks like PNP is all over the place, with only a couple of provinces being up to speed on EE.

KuroKuro

Interesting news and unfortunately is exactly what I expected. People applying for CEC can't achieve as high scores as people in the other streams, so will possibly be getting screwed over in this "top ranking" draw system, unless they specifically draw for CEC. Of course, you should still be able to be able to succeed, but the timing is looking to be inconvenient for people currently on IEC like myself, as it seems like it will be much later in the year.

The way I view it is this... If you're looking to apply for CEC, wait until they announce an almost achievable score, to utilize the full length of your year application.

beckiwoo

We can but hope...there is very little chance of me getting an LMIA

doubleym

It's worth putting in your EE profile if you qualify for FSW anyway and updating it as you gain more work experience etc.

ChrisBan

I think you have to consider a couple things. Firstly it's become much harder to get an LMIA, something like a 75% drop since the LMO process changed to LMIA. Secondly I believe there are still caps on PNP so once those programs are full the cut off score would surely drop over the coming months as you'd assume they'd make up the bulk of the top end scores.

As for waiting for an achievable score, I'm not sure that's the best approach. That cut off score is bound to change throughout the year, so while it could be lower one month it's entirely possible it'll go up for the next months. Personally, if I had all the paperwork ready to go, I'd submit a profile as soon as possible. You can update profile when necessary throughout that year.

doubleym

Exactly, that's the whole idea behind this system, people can improve their scores with more work experience, qualifications, better language scores etc. There is no advantage to waiting until the minimum score drops but a lot to lose especially considering it's free to submit a profile.

ChrisBan

Yeah my concern with that approach would be, say it goes up one month so you hold off submitting, but then the next month the cut has dropped dramatically so that your score would have been within the cut off had you submitted. That said not sure how likely that is in practice

beckiwoo

Before you can submit, you need the language test and ECAS right? Or can you submit without these and get a lower score?

Tirytory

You definitely need a language score and without an ECA you'd score nothing I believe for education..

beckiwoo

Thanks. The language test i can deal with

I decided to stop asking people questions and look for myself on the page.

I read here that you dont need an ECAS (but obviously it will help the points) if...

If you were educated outside Canada, you may need to have your educational credentials assessed against Canadian standards.
This is not mandatory if:

you got at least one year of recent work experience in Canada, or
your work experience is in a skilled trade (skilled manual work).

Does this mean if you have a year of experience you dont need to submit an ECAS? Thinking of trying my luck without it as i dont know if I will need my degree (unrelated to the job I am currently doing) or my NVQ (related to the job that i am doing) assessed

UPDATE: it looks like WES do assess Vocational qualifications now. Under the heading:vocational and professional education btec diplomas and all other externally examined qualifications.