The Express Entry Tie Break Rule Explained

What is the Canadian Immigration Express Entry Tie Break Rule?

When the Canadian Government makes an offer round they issue two pieces of information about the round of invitations.

1. the lowest qualifying CRS score to receive the invitation in the round is known as “the cut-off score” and
2. a date known as the Tie-Breaking “cut-off date” for people with that cut-off score.
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The government uses this rule to have a fair system to separate people who share the lowest CRS cut-off score on an invitation round.

The Canada Express Entry Tie Break rule is a rule that applies to the Express Entry selection system managed by Canada Immigration.

It states that if two or more candidates in the Express Entry pool earned an equal number of points, and they have both submitted profiles, then the highest-ranked candidate will be awarded an ITA (Invitation to Apply).

The Tie break rule was created so that ties could be broken between already qualified applicants. The aim is to identify the applicants better in order to provide a more accurate applicant ranking score. It also allows candidates who may have been missed during processing, or whose qualifications were not properly identified, to be ranked and to be invited for immigration applications.

The Canada Express Entry Tie Break rule is not only used when two or more candidates have the same rank after applying the point system, but it can also be applied in cases where this rule needs to be followed.

Canada Express Entry Tie Breaks are not always visible in real time, even when an applicant thinks they meet all the conditions for an ITA. This is because there may be other candidates who have applied before them and potentially earned an equal or higher ranking score.

If two applicants have got the same number of points by submitting profiles during a round, then the tie will be broken between these two candidates based on their submission date. If one candidate has submitted their profile earlier than another candidate’s, then that candidate would proceed to receive an ITA while the other would lose their place in line.

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In order to solve a Canada Express Entry Tie Break situation, the system will apply the tie-breaking rule according to the submission dates of their profiles. The date and time at which an Express Entry profile is submitted by an applicant is known as “the effective date” .

The Canada Express Entry Tie Break rule is applied during each and every round. The order of candidates for an Express Entry draw is determined by their effective date. This means that if two or more candidates have the same number of points after applying the point system, but one of them submitted their profile earlier than another candidate, then this first candidate will proceed to receive an ITA while the other would lose their place in line and would not be invited to apply for Canada PR (Permanent Residency).

A Canada Express Entry candidate’s optimal strategy for maximizing their chances of an ITA (Invitation to Apply) includes: submitting a profile as early as possible – ideally before any others; increasing CRS scores by acquiring additional qualifying job offers or Canadian work experience; being upgraded to a higher Express Entry pool by being awarded additional points based on their skill level, language ability, education etc.; and reaching the Comprehensive Ranking System or CRS cut-off point during an Express Entry draw.

How does the Express Entry Tie Break Rule Work?

Let’s use an example to show how the tie break rule works for express entry invitation rounds.

Let’s say Canada wanted to offer 2500 people from the express entry pool an invitation to apply for permanent residency. The offer announcement will come out saying the offer round CRS score and the cut-off date.

Let’s make up an example to show how this works. Let’s say the offer round is 2500 invitations at a CRS of 436 and a cut-off day of July 11th.

How was the Express Entry cut off worked out?

The only piece of information fed into the system is that Canada wants to make 2500 offers in this round.

Once that information is inputted, the invitations start moving through the express entry database, offering 2500 invitation letters starting with the very highest CRS scores first and then moving down through lower and lower CRS scores in the pool until 2500 offers have been made.

Each time the system drops a CRS point in the system it starts to work through that set of applicants on that particular score based on the order of the date they submitted their application – on a first-come-first-served basis.

Once the total number of invitations has been reached – in this case, 2500 invitations, the system stops.

It will have stopped while partway working through a specific CRS score. It will have stopped on a certain date on that lowest score, in this case, it stopped at CRS points of 436 on the 11th July.

This means that every applicant with a score above 437 has received an invitation to apply for Permanent Residency, and everyone who had 436 points who had also submitted their application BEFORE July 11th also received an invitation to apply.

Anyone on 436 points who applied after July 11th will not receive an offer this round.

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Why is this Express Entry Tie Break Rule needed?

The reason is that there are many people in the system on each and every CRS point level.

Sometimes there are hundreds on each point band. The Government has an exact number of invitations they wish to offer in each draw, in this case only 2500, however, there may have been many more people on 436 points, they can’t offer to everyone on 436 points without going over their 2500 invitations.

So, the fairest way they found was to base the offer rounds on an order of submission basis within each score level.

Does it impact me if I have a higher score than the offer cut off?

In our example, everyone on 437 and above received an offer regardless of their date of submission. And everyone on 436 who submitted before July 11th.

The Tiebreaker date only impacts the applicants who happen to have the score of the offer round, which is the lowest score of the invitation round.

If I update my Express Entry profile will it reset my date of submission making it worse for my application in terms of the Tie Break rule?

Updating your Express Entry profile does not impact your “Express Entry submission date” for the tie-breaking rule. You will stay as “submitted” on the original date of completing your full profile regardless of any subsequent edits or updates you need to apply to your Express Entry profile.  So go ahead and update your profile as needed.

Submit your Express Entry profile as soon as possible to gain the greatest advantage

The main takeaway here is to get your express entry profile submitted as soon as possible to gain the most advantage from the tie-breaking rule, in case it applies to your CRS score in a future offer round.  The sooner you submit your completed Express Entry profile the better off you are in relation to the “tie breaker rule”.

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6 Ways how Canada Express Entry Tie Break Rule Works

1.) If candidates have the same rank and they both submitted profiles then the tie break rule will be applied using effective date : The candidate who submitted his/her profile first would proceed to receive ITA for Canada PR (Permanent Residency).

2.) If candidates have the same rank then we go with tie break rule again: It is important to note that if four or more profiles tied at a given round, such as after an Express Entry draw, then the tie break rule is applied using effective date. The candidate who submitted his/her profile first would proceed to receive an ITA for Canada PR (Permanent Residency).

3.) If two candidates have the same rank and they both have submitted profiles but while one of them has a Job Offer while the other doesn’t then the Tie Break will be applied in order to determine which candidate receives ITA for Canada PR. This means that if two or more profiles are tied at a given round, such as after an Express Entry draw, then this tie break rule will apply using Job Offer Points .

The candidate with better Job Offer score would get ITA for Canada PR (Permanent Residency) whereas the other applicant would lose its place in line.

4.) If two candidates have the same rank and they both have submitted profiles but while one of them has a Job Offer then the Tie Break will be applied in order to determine which candidate receives ITA for Canada PR whereas if same candidates have NO Job Offer then only CRS score will be used for tie break.

This means that if two or more profiles are tied at a given round, such as after an Express Entry draw, then this tie break rule will apply using Comprehensive Ranking System scores .

The candidate with better Comprehensive Ranking System score would get ITA for Canada PR (Permanent Residency anyway) whereas the other applicant would lose its place in line.

5.) If three applicants (for example) have the same rank score then tie break rule will be applied using Job Offer Points.

If two applicants (for example) have the same rank score and they both do NOT have a job offer but one of them has submitted his/her profile earlier than another applicant, then the tie break rule will applied using effective date .

The candidate who submitted his/her profile first would proceed to receive ITA for Canada PR (Permanent Residency).

6.) If three applicants (for example) have the same rank score then tie break rule will be applied using CRS scores.

If two applicants (for example) have the same rank score and they both do NOT have a job offer but one of them has submitted his/her profile earlier than another applicant, then the tie break rule will applied using Comprehensive Ranking System scores .

The candidate who submitted his/her profile first would proceed to receive ITA for Canada PR (Permanent Residency). Experience in Express Entry? We have a dedicated team of lawyers and consultants who have worked on Express Entry immigration system.