A New Round of ITAs for Federal Skilled Trades via Express Entry
On September 24, 2018, the 100th round of the invitations was held through the online selection system Express Entry. This time, the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada surprised the experts by selecting candidates for the Federal Skilled Trades (FST) program. The FST is designed for candidates who work in the trade occupations. In this draw, the government sent out 400 Invitations to Apply (ITA) to the candidates whose CRS score was 284 or higher. Green Light Canada decided to review this program, as well as to analyze its prospects.
It is worth emphasizing that candidates for FST can usually be selected on general grounds if they have a high score. However, candidates in the trade occupations usually don’t get high scores. This is the fourth time the government held separate rounds of invitation exclusively for FST candidates.
Federal Skilled Trades Express Entry rounds
Draw #100 – May 30, 2018
- Number of invitations issued: 400
- CRS score of lowest-ranked candidate invited: 284
Draw #91 – May 30, 2018
- Number of invitations issued: 500
- CRS score of lowest-ranked candidate invited: 288
Draw #76 – November 1, 2017
- Number of invitations issued 505
- CRS score of lowest-ranked candidate invited 241 points
Draw #64 – May 26, 2017
- Number of invitations issued 400
- CRS score of lowest-ranked candidate invited 199 points
As can be seen from these data, in the Express Entry rounds for FST the government does not issue many ITAs, and the CRS score to get the ITA is well below the usual minimum scores for the Federal Skilled Workers. Most candidates if the trade occupations immigrate to Canada through various Provincial Nominee Programs, since the provincial certificate grants an additional 600 points, which is always enough for ITA.
In 2017 a total of 905 candidates were invited through the FST, and only one candidate was invited as part of the regular Express Entry invitation round. The candidates for this program simply did not have a chance to receive an invitation, without having a nomination from the province or the LMIA supported job offer. For this reason, since May 2017, there have been separate rounds of invitation for the FST program.
In 2018, the government has already invited 900 candidates for this program, and probably this year there will not be additional rounds for FST. However, new FST rounds will take place in the new year, and besides that, some provincial programs still have not completed their quotas for 2018.
See also: How to increase your CRS
In general, our experts recommend trade occupations candidates to check the in-demand lists of Provincial Immigration Programs. This way of immigration takes longer time and requires more money, but the chance of moving to Canada in this way is still higher than waiting for the Express Entry invitation rounds aimed at Federal Skilled Trades class.
