The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has sent out 500 invitations for the Permanent Residency (PR) application.

The invitation followed an Express Entry Draw for the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) programme conducted on Tuesday after over three months of waiting.

Recall that Canada paused all programme draws on February 5 to align with its reduced immigration targets and to prioritise candidates who meet specific workforce and integration goals.

The IRCC, however, resumed draws for the CEC programme on Tuesday, inviting 500 out of 250,082 candidates in the pool at a cut-off Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 547.

The cut-off score for the recent draw is the highest for 2025.

Also, in January, the IRCC held two Express Entry Draws for CEC.

One was on January 23, when a total of 4000 invitations were sent out, and the lowest CRS score was 527.

The other was on January 8, when a total of 1,350 invitations were issued, at a 542 cut-off score.

There are, however, hopes that the IRCC would consider conducting larger rounds of invitations under the administration of the new immigration minister, Lena Diab, sworn in on May 13, replacing Rachel Bendayan.