Canada invited 381 Express Entry candidates to apply for permanent residence on April 28. Invited candidates needed to have previously received a nomination from a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). This is why the cutoff score was 717 because PNP candidates automatically get 600 points added to their human capital score. This is the lowest score requirement of any PNP-only draw held so far this year.
As per the tie-break rule, candidates who had the minimum score of 717 were only invited if they submitted their Express Entry profile before March 16, 2021 at 21:20:50 UTC. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) publishes the cutoff time for the tie-break rule as an administrative requirement, regardless of whether there was an actual tie.
Since the start of 2021, IRCC has only held Express Entry draws that target candidates who are likely to be in Canada. This is part of an effort to admit 401,000 new permanent residents in 2021. Of these, 108,500, are expected to come through Express Entry-managed programs.
PNP candidates often need work experience, study experience, or some other connection to the province in order to get the nomination. As such, these candidates also have a high proportion of candidates already in the country.
On average, IRCC holds two Express Entry draws every two weeks. One inviting PNP-only candidates, and the other inviting CEC-only candidates. PNP draws tend to have higher score requirements due to the automatic 600-point award. CEC draws tend to have lower score requirements because there are less candidates from other Express Entry-managed programs competing for Invitations to Apply (ITAs).