Major drop in CRS scores after removal of points for arranged employment
Apr 21, 2025
Significant Shift in Express Entry Candidate Pool Following CRS Changes
The composition of the Express Entry candidate pool has undergone major changes after the removal of points for arranged employment under the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS).
As a result, thousands of candidates have experienced a drop in their CRS scores—by either 50 or 200 points—substantially affecting their chances of receiving an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for Canadian permanent residence.
This article outlines the key changes in the candidate pool and provides a current snapshot of CRS score distribution among Express Entry candidates.
Key Changes in the Candidate Pool
The most notable impact was seen in the 501–600 CRS score range, which lost 5,740 candidate profiles.
Other significant decreases occurred in the following score ranges:
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491–500 CRS points: Decrease of 1,618 profiles
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481–490 CRS points: Decrease of 984 profiles
In total, these high-scoring ranges—representing candidates in the 90th percentile and above—saw 8,342 profiles removed between March 16 and April 14, 2025.
With the removal of arranged employment points, many of these profiles (if not expired) have likely shifted to lower score brackets within the pool.
Note: The figures in this article do not distinguish between natural profile expiration/new entries and those specifically impacted by the CRS changes introduced on March 25, 2025.
Despite these significant reductions, the overall size of the Express Entry pool grew by 7,373 candidate profiles during the same period. This indicates that the removal of arranged employment points was a primary driver behind the reshaping of the candidate distribution.
