Canada invites candidates in Express Entry draw for STEM occupations

Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has issued invitations to candidates in the second Express Entry draw of the week.

The department issued 4,500 invitations to apply (ITAs) in a category-based selection draw for candidates in STEM occupations.

Candidates required a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 491 to be considered.

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This was the first draw for candidates in STEM occupations so far this year. Today’s draw follows a general draw from yesterday, April 10. IRCC invited 1,280 candidates with a minimum CRS score of 549, the highest minimum CRS score of any draw in 2024.

The first general draw this year, on January 10, required a CRS score of at least 546 to be considered and general draw scores continued to decrease over the past few months.

The last general draw on March 25 invited 1,980 candidates with a CRS score of 524.

General draws consider candidates from all three Express Entry-managed programs: the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) and the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP). Unlike category-based selection draws, a high CRS score is the main deciding factor in a candidate’s likelihood of receiving an ITA.

Summary of Express Entry draw results in 2024

Date	Draw Type	Number of ITAs	Minimum CRS
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 category-based selection?

Category-based selection draws were introduced in May 2023 as a means for IRCC to better target Express Entry candidates with in-demand skills or human capital attributes.

The department introduced six categories in 2023 and confirmed earlier this year that the same categories will be used throughout 2024. 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
Strong French proficiency

Candidates must already have an application in the Express Entry pool to be considered for category-based selection.

What is Express Entry?

Express Entry is an application management system for three of Canada’s most prominent economic immigration programs: the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) and the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP).

Through these programs, applicants are evaluated based on their human capital factors such as their work experience, occupation, language ability, age and education.

Each factor is assigned a score and added together for a final Comprehensive Ranking System score. Those with the highest scores are the most likely to receive an invitation to apply for permanent resident status.

One of the major benefits of Express Entry is, as the name implies, that a candidate’s final applications for PR will be processed more quickly than other economic immigration programs. IRCC has a published service standard of six months for 80% of all Express Entry applications. The remaining 20% may take longer in complex cases.

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