CRS takes a dip in the new CEC Draw

A total of 17 points were reduced in the new CEC draw than the previous one.

Canada sent invitations to 5000 Express Entry applicants in order to allow them to apply for a Permanent Residency visa on 1st April 2021.
In order to receive an Invitations to Apply (ITA) for the Canadian Experience Class (CEC), the applicant must have a CRS score of at least 432 which is 17 points less than the previous draw.

The tie-breaker rule for this was to have a minimum CRS score of 432 and must have submitted their Express Entry profile in the pool before February 16, 2021, at 09:51:22 UTC. Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) always issue a tie-breaker rule irrespective of the fact whether there is an actual tie or not.

This draw marked the third-lowest CRS cut-off for the CEC draw during this Coronavirus pandemic. The only two draws that were having CRS score lower than this draw was the history draw of February 13, 2021, and June 25, 2020, over the past year.
As we have seen in the previous draws that IRCC is prioritizing in-Canada Express Entry applicants because the border still being closed due to Covid-19. This has been done in order to compensate for the high immigration standards set by IRCC. The Immigrations targets set for the year 2021 by IRCC were announced to be 401,000 new immigrants.

So to meet these targets amidst these travel restrictions, IRCC is holding out specific program draws to target applications that are already on Canadian soil. CEC applicants must have a working experience of least one year in a skilled occupation. So the applicants who are eligible for the CEC program are likely to be living in Canada as well. As per statistics by IRCC, 90% of the CEC applicants are already living in Canada.

When the borders were closed in March 2020, Canada opted to hold PNP-specific and CEC draw. IRCC went with this pattern until the later part of the year and then again opted for all program draws 

Since the start of this year, IRCC has been holding PNP-specific and CEC draws. IRCC even invited all the eligible CEC candidates to the draw held on February 13. 
In the previous Express Entry draw, IRCC targetted all the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) applicants. These applicants are those who have demonstrated and showed that they possess the necessary skills to support the labour market of the selected provinces.