IRCC issues 1,000 ITAs in third Express Entry draw this week

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

The department issued 1,000  ITAs in a category-based selection draw for French-speaking proficiency.

Candidates required a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 444 to be considered.

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This was the third Express Entry draw of the week. Earlier  the department invited 1,613 Express Entry candidates with Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) nominations. They required a minimum score of 743. A draw also took place on October 9 inviting 500 candidates from the Canadian Experience Class with a minimum score of 539.

Before this week, the most recent draw occurred on September 19 and invited 4,000 candidates from the Canadian Experience Class -only. These candidates needed a minimum CRS score of 509 to be considered, marking a slight increase over the previous CEC draw on August 27 (507).

In recent months, IRCC has reduced the number of category-based selection draws and there hasn't been a category-based selection draw for any category other than French language proficiency since a draw for candidates in healthcare occupations on July 5.

In contrast, Canadian Experience Class (CEC) draws have been increasingly common over the summer with IRCC issuing 21,800 ITAs to CEC candidates since July. This is line with IRCC’s stated intention to increase the number of “domestic” draws and reduce the number of temporary residents in Canada. This strategy also aims to help the department meet its permanent resident targets for the year.

Today’s draw is the third of the month. Last year, IRCC held four draws throughout October, inviting 9,173 candidates.

What is Express Entry?

Express Entry is an application management system that was launched in 2015 to help IRCC select economic immigration candidates with the capacity to fill urgent labour force gaps.

Candidates who apply to any of the three programs managed by Express Entry (the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Federal Skilled Trades Program, and the CEC) are evaluated using the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS).

The CRS evaluates candidates based on their human capital factors. These include work experience, age, language ability, education, and occupation. Candidates can also get additional points for immigrating with a spouse or partner, having a sibling in Canada or having work experience or education in Canada.

Each factor adds points to a candidate’s overall score and the higher the score, the more likely it is that the candidates will get an ITA in an upcoming Express Entry draw, depending on the draw type.

Category-based selection

CRS scores tend to be lower on average in category-based selection draws. These are draw types that IRCC introduced in May 2023 to help the department select Express Entry candidates who can fill urgent workforce or demographic gaps. The department has six categories for these draws.

• Healthcare
• Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professions
• Trades
• Transport
• Agriculture and agri-food
• French language proficiency

IRCC says the categories were selected following in-depth consultations with multiple stakeholders and consulting labour market conditions, as well as considering the department’s target for admitting 6% of all newcomers into French-minority communities outside of Quebec.

While the CRS cut-off scores for these draws are often less those in program specific or general draws, candidates must still have an application in the Express Entry pool and having a high CRS score is an advantage.

Summary of Express Entry draw results in 2024

Date	Draw Type	Number of ITAs	Minimum CRS
December 3	French language proficiency	800	466
December 2	Provincial Nominee Program	676	705
November 20	Healthcare occupations	3,000	463
November 19	Canadian Experience Class	400	539
November 18	Provincial Nominee Program	174	816
November 15	French language proficiency	800	478
November 13	Canadian Experience Class	400	547
November 12	Provincial Nominee Program	733	812
October 23	Trade occupations	1,800	433
October 22	Canadian Experience Class	400	539
October 21	Provincial Nominee Program	648	791
October 10	French language proficiency	1,000	444
October 9	Canadian Experience Class	500	539
October 7	Provincial Nominee Program	1,613	743
September 19	Canadian Experience Class	4,000	509
September 13	French language proficiency	1,000	446
September 9	Provincial Nominee Program	911	732
August 27	Canadian Experience Class	3,300	507
August 26	Provincial Nominee Program	1,121	694
August 15	French language proficiency	2,000	394
August 14	Canadian Experience Class	3,200	509
August 13	Provincial Nominee Program	763	690
July 31	Canadian Experience Class	5,000	510
July 30	Provincial Nominee Program	964	686
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

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