Draw cutoffs quoted here are from the thread's era (2023–24) — check current draw history; the planning logic is the durable part.A candidate at CRS 492, about to drop to 487 on their birthday, asked whether there was still hope. The group's approach to a shrinking score:
- Know your post-birthday number and plan from it. Members immediately reframed the question around the new score (487), not the current one — any strategy built on a score you're about to lose is fiction. Age deductions land on a known date; model them in advance.
- A high-480s score was 'possible but don't depend on it.' One member thought 487 might get an ITA within the year; others were blunter: 'not really anymore — don't depend on it.' When opinions split like this, treat the optimistic case as a bonus, not a plan.
- Open parallel tracks: PNP and RNIP. The consistent advice was to explore Provincial Nominee Program streams and the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot rather than waiting in the federal pool alone. Category-based and provincial routes don't move with the general cutoff.
- Buy points back with language. The concrete lever offered: retake IELTS for a higher CLB, or add French — language is the one component that can recover (and exceed) what age takes away each year.