IRCC invites 1,800 candidates in New Express Entry draw

Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has issued invitations to apply (ITAs) in the third Express Entry draw this week.

The department issued 1.800 ITAs in a category-based selection draw for candidates with French language proficiency.

Candidates required a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 400 to be considered.

Today’s minimum CRS score represent’s the one of the lowest scores of the year for any Express Entry draw. Yesterday’s program-specific draw for 6,300 Canadian Experience Class candidates also had the lowest score of any non-category based selection draw at 515.

Earlier this week IRCC  also invited 1,391 candidates in a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)-only draw with a minimum CRS of 670. Before that, IRCC most recently invited 3,200 candidates in a category-based selected draw  for French proficiency on July 8.

CRS scores for PNP-only Express Entry draws tend to be higher than average because Express Entry candidates who have been successfully nominated for the PNP automatically receive an additional 600 CRS points on top of their existing score. For example, an Express Entry candidate with a score of 300 that is successfully nominated will then have an overall CRS of 900.

So far this month IRCC has issued  19,161 ITAs over seven seperate draws. This has been the busiest month for Express Entry this year.

Summary of Express Entry draw results in 2024

Date Draw Type Number of ITAs Minimum CRS
July 18 French language proficiency 1,800 400
July 17 Canadian Experience Class 6,300 515
July 16 Provincial Nominee Program 1,391 670
July 8 French proficiency 3,200 420
July 5 Healthcare occupations 3,750 445
July 4 Trade occupations 1,800 436
July 2 Provincial Nominee Program 920 739
June 19 Provincial Nominee Program 1,499 663
May 31 Canadian Experience Class 3,000 522
May 30 Provincial Nominee Program 2,985 676
April 24 French proficiency 1,400 410
April 23 General 2,095 529
April 11 STEM occupations 4,500 491
April 10 General 1,280 549
March 26 French language proficiency 1,500 388
March 25 General 1,980 524
March 13 Transport occupations 975 430
March 12 General 2,850 525
February 29 French language proficiency 2,500 336
February 28 General 1,470 534
February 16 Agriculture and agri-food occupations 150 437
February 14 Healthcare occupations 3,500 422
February 13 General 1,490 535
February 1 French language proficiency 7,000 365
January 31 General 730 541
January 23 General 1,040 543
January 10 General 1,510 546

What is Express Entry?

Express Entry is an application management system for three economic immigration programs in Canada: the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) and the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP). Each program is a pathway to permanent residency in Canada.

These programs use the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) to evaluate immigration candidates based on human capital factors such as occupation, age, education, language ability and work experience. Each factor receives a score, and the total creates a candidate’s CRS score.

The system was introduced in 2015 as a means for IRCC to speed up processing time for successful applicants. The department has a published service standard of six months for these applications.

What is category-based selection?

Category-based selection was launched in 2023 as a way for IRCC to further target the Express Entry candidates who are the most likely to help Canada fill urgent gaps in it’s workforce, or strengthen a demographic.

To that end, the department introduced six possible categories in 2023 and earlier this year announced that they would remain in place into 2025. They are:

  • Healthcare occupations
  • Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professions
  • Trades occupations, such as carpenters, plumbers, and contractors
  • Transport occupations
  • Agriculture and agri-food occupations
  • French-language proficiency

Draws for this category are not program-specific and permanent resident applicants must be in the Express Entry application pool to be eligible.

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